ContractNet protocol

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The ContractNet protocol has two parts --- the agent (manager) that announces the intention to receive bids, and the agents (bidders) making the bids. There are a number of variations of this protocol, and here let us discuss a very simple one. Basically, the protocol starts by with the manager making an announcement, and then waits for some time to collect the bids, and based on the bids it received, it awards the contract to one of the bidder. The bidders can choose not to make a bid, of course.

This sounds trivial, but when you design the FSM for it, you still need to be careful.

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