Publication - A Generic Model for Intelligent Negotiating Agents

Authors: Laasri, B.; Laasri, H.; Lander, S.; Lesser, V.
Title: A Generic Model for Intelligent Negotiating Agents
Abstract: Research in Cooperative Distributed Problem Solving (CDPS) considers how problem-solving tasks should be allocated among a group of agents and how the agents should coordinate their actions to achieve effective problem solving. For some CDPS systems, negotiation plays an important role in how agents cooperate. We define negotiation as the process of information exchange by which the agents act to resolve inconsistent views and to reach agreement on how they should work together in order to cooperate effectively. We describe a generic model, the Recursive Negotiation Model (RNM), that can serve as a basis for classifying and specifying where conflict resolution among multiple experts, viewpoints, or types of reasoning is needed in building a sophisticated CDPS system. This model defines where and how negotiation can be applied during problem solving based on structuring problem solving into four stages: problem formulation, focus-of-attention, allocation of goals or tasks to agents, and achievement of goals or tasks. We further discuss how the degree of agent participation in control decisions, including decisions about assigning responsibility to agents, influences the nature of negotiation within a particular system. Through this model, we emphasize that negotiation may be a recursive, complex, and pervasive process that is used to resolve conflicts in both domain-level and control-level problem solving. Finally, we survey existing negotiation frameworks and how they relate to our generic model.
Keywords: Conflict Resolution, Cooperative Negotiation, Distributed AI, Distributed Problem Solving, Multi-Agent Systems, Negotiation
Publication: International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems, Vol: 1, Num: 2, pp. 291 - 317
Date: June 1992
Sources: PDF: /Documents/LaasriIJICIS92.pdf
HTML: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0218215792000210
Reference: Laasri, B.; Laasri, H.; Lander, S.; Lesser, V.. A Generic Model for Intelligent Negotiating Agents. International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems, Volume 1, Number 2, pp. 291-317. June 1992.
bibtex: 
@article{Laasri-77,
  author    = "B. Laasri and H. Laasri and S. Lander and V.
               Lesser",
  title     = "{A Generic Model for Intelligent Negotiating Agents}",
  journal   = "International Journal of Cooperative Information
               Systems",
  volume    = "1",
  number    = "2",
  pages     = "291-317",
  month     = "June",
  year      = "1992",
  url       = "http://mas.cs.umass.edu/paper/77",
}