MULTIAGENT SYSTEMS A Modern Approach to Distributed Artificial Intelligence edited by Gerhard Weiss The MIT Press ISBN 0-262-23203-0 643pp. US$60 (cloth) includes Glossary, Exercises, and Subject Index

General Features

This is a comprehensive introduction to multiagent systems and contemporary distributed artificial intelligence. The book is primarily designed to be suitable as a textbook for the field that can used for teaching as well as self-study. Unlike traditional textbooks, the book brings together many leading experts, guaranteeing a broad and diverse base of knowledge and expertise. It emphasizes aspects of both theory and application, and covers core themes of the field as well as several closely related themes. Other unique features of this book are: it provides many illustrations and examples; it includes many thought-provoking exercises of varying degrees of difficulty; and it offers a twenty-page glossary of terms found in the study of agents, multiagent systems, and distributed artificial intelligence.

Readership

The book is intended to meet the interests of several audiences: professors and students who require an in-depth source of material for their courses; researchers who wish to branch out beyond their area of specialization; and software practitioners and industrial professionals interested in multiagent technologies. In view of the interdisciplinary nature of the field, it will be a useful reference not only for computer scientists and engineers, but for social scientists and management and organization scientists as well.

Table of Contents and Contributors

- Preface (pages xxi-xxiii)
- Prologue (1-23)

- PART I:     B A S I C   T H E M E S

1   Intelligent Agents (27-78)

Michael Wooldridge

1.1 Introduction

1.2 What Are Agents?

1.3 Abstract Architecture for Intelligent Agents

1.4 Concrete Architectures for Intelligent Agents

1.5 Agent Programming Languages

1.6 Conclusions

1.7 Exercises

1.8 References

2   Multiagent Systems and Societies of Agents (79-120)

Michael N. Huhns and Larry M. Stephens

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Agent Communications

2.3 Agent Interaction Protocols

2.4 Societies of Agents

2.5 Conclusions

2.6 Exercises

2.7 References

3   Distributed Problem Solving and Planning (121-164)

Edmund H. Durfee

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Example Problems

3.3 Task Sharing

3.4 Result Sharing

3.5 Distributed Planning

3.6 Distributed Plan Representations

3.7 Distributed Planning and Execution

3.8 Conclusions

3.9 Exercises

3.10 References

4   Search Algorithms for Agents (165-200)

Makoto Yokoo and Toru Ishida

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Constraint Satisfaction

4.3 Path-Finding Problem

4.4 Two-Player Games

4.5 Conclusions

4.6 Exercises

4.7 References

5   Distributed Rational Decision Making (201-258)

Tuomas W. Sandholm

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Evaluation Criteria

5.3 Voting

5.4 Auctions

5.5 Bargaining

5.6 General Equilibrium Market Mechanisms

5.7 Contract Nets

5.8 Coalition Formation

5.9 Conclusions

5.10 Exercises

5.11 References

6   Learning in Multiagent Systems (259-298)

Sandip Sen and Gerhard Weiss

6.1 Introduction

6.2 A General Characterization

6.3 Learning and Activity Coordination

6.4 Learning about and from Other Agents

6.5 Learning and Communication

6.6 Conclusions

6.7 Exercises

6.8 References

7   Computational Organization Theory (299-330)

Kathleen M. Carley and Les Gasser

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Organizational Concepts Useful in Modeling Organizations

7.3 Dynamics

7.4 Methodological Issues

7.5 Conclusions

7.6 Exercises

7.7 References

8   Formal Methods in DAI: Logic-Based Representation and Reasoning (331-376)

Munindar P. Singh, Anand S. Rao, and Michael P. Georgeff

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Logical Background

8.3 Cognitive Primitives

8.4 BDI Implementations

8.5 Coordination

8.6 Communications

8.7 Social Primitives

8.8 Tools and Systems

8.9 Conclusions

8.10 Exercises

8.11 References

9   Industrial and Practical Applications of DAI (377-421)

H. Van Dyke Parunak

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Why Use DAI in Industry?

9.3 Overview of the Industrial Life-Cycle

9.4 Where in the Life Cycle Are Agents Used?

9.5 How Does Industry Constrain the Life Cycle of an Agent-Based System?

9.6 Development Tools

9.7 Conclusions

9.8 Exercises

9.9 References