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A generic model for representing openness in multi-agent systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2021

Sondes Hattab Open the ORCID record for Sondes Hattab [Opens in a new window]  and
Wided Lejouad Chaari
Sondes Hattab
Affiliation:
National School of Computer Sciences, COSMOS Laboratory, University of Manouba, Manouba, Tunisia e-mails: sondes.hattab@ensi-uma.tn, wided.chaari@ensi-uma.tn
Wided Lejouad Chaari
Affiliation:
National School of Computer Sciences, COSMOS Laboratory, University of Manouba, Manouba, Tunisia e-mails: sondes.hattab@ensi-uma.tn, wided.chaari@ensi-uma.tn
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Abstract

Openness is a challenging property that may characterize multi-agent systems (MAS). It refers to their ability to deal with entities leaving and joining agent society over time. This property makes the MAS behaviour complex and difficult to study and analyze, hence the need for a representative model allowing its understanding. In this context, many models were defined in the literature and we propose to classify them into three categories: structural models, functional models and interactional models. The existing models were proposed either for representing structural openness or for modelling functional or interactional ones independently. But, none of them was oriented to represent MAS openness in a global way while considering its three aspects at once. Besides, each one was defined in order to realize a specific objective and in a particular domain of application. In this paper, we propose an evolving KAGR graph. The latter provides a common understanding of openness and unifies its structural, functional and interactional aspects in a generic way. Our model is finally tested and validated on a multi-agent rescue simulator.

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Research Article
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The Knowledge Engineering Review , Volume 36 , 2021 , e3
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© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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