Publication - Multi-Dimensional, MultiStep Negotiation for Task Allocation in a Cooperative System

Authors: Zhang, XiaoQin; Lesser, Victor; Podorozhny, Rodion
Title: Multi-Dimensional, MultiStep Negotiation for Task Allocation in a Cooperative System
Abstract: We present a multi-dimensional, multistep negotiation mechanism for task allocation among cooperative agents based on distributed search. This mechanism uses marginal utility gain and marginal utility cost to structure this search process, so as to find a solution that maximizes their combined utility. These two utility values together with temporal constraints summarize the agents’ local information and reduce the communication load. This mechanism is anytime in character: by investing more time, the agents increase the likelihood of getting a better solution. that increases the global utility. A set of protocols are constructed and the experimental result shows a phase transition phenomenon as the complexity of negotiation situation changes. A measure of negotiation complexity is developed that can be used by an agent to choose the appropriate protocol, allowing the agents to explicitly balance the gain from the negotiation and the resource usage of the negotiation.
Keywords: Cooperative Negotiation, Multi-Agent Systems, Negotiation
Publication: Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems, Vol: 10, Num: 1, pp. 5 - 40
Date: 2005
Sources: PDF: /Documents/multistep01.pdf
Reference: Zhang, XiaoQin; Lesser, Victor; Podorozhny, Rodion . Multi-Dimensional, MultiStep Negotiation for Task Allocation in a Cooperative System. Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems, Volume 10, Number 1, pp. 5-40. 2005.
bibtex:
@article{zhang-212,
  author    = "XiaoQin Zhang and Victor Lesser and Rodion 
               Podorozhny",
  title     = "{Multi-Dimensional, MultiStep Negotiation for Task
               Allocation in a Cooperative System}",
  journal   = "Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems",
  volume    = "10",
  number    = "1",
  pages     = "5-40",
  year      = "2005",
  url       = "http://mas.cs.umass.edu/paper/212",
}