Abstract: On the web, several key emerging technologies are shaping the landscape and creating for members of web-based communities a whole new experience. In particular the semantic web, web services, The Grid and related technologies are on their way to transform the way users interact on the web. As an illustration of this potential transformation, we propose in this article the application of the semantic web technology to a new breed of web-based community called weblogs. For convenience, parts of the content of blogs are described in the Rich Site Summary (RSS) format to be automatically read by an aggregator called a feed reader. However, the enormous number of blogs on the web makes it difficult for a single person to track down all documents of interest on a particular subject. To assist a blog user, we developed a search service based on the semantic web technology.
Abstract: The idea of a software entity that performs tasks on behalf of a user across the Internet is now well established. We introduce in this paper a new approach to service discovery and QoS negotiation over the Internet. Our approach presents a framework for service discovery and QoS negotiation at the network level that rely on two concepts: multi-agent systems and agent communication languages (ACL). In this framework, a user and service agents engage in a structured communication through the m ediation of a QoS Broker Agent and a Facilitator Agent. Here, the Facilitator Agent acts on behalf of several service agents. It acquires information from these service agents and acts as a single point of contact to supply this information to the User Agent via the QoS Broker Agent. A number of service discovery protocols like the Service Location Protocol (SLP), and Sun Microsystem’s Jini has been designed for restricted environments and do not scale to the entire Internet. In order to pro vide an infrastructure for large scale Internet applications, we designed a prototype multi-agent system that is able to discover resources and negotiate QoS at the network level.
Abstract: Like societies of humans, there is a need for agents in a multi-agent system to rely on one another, enlist the support of peers in order to solve complex tasks. Agents will be able to cooperate only through a meaningful communication language that can bear correctly their mental states and convey precisely the content of their messages. In search for the ideal agent communication language (ACL), several initiatives like the pioneering work of the Knowledge Sharing Effort and the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) are paving the way for a platform where all agents would be able to interact regardless of their implementation environment. ACL is a new field of study that could gain from a survey in expanding its application areas. For this purpose, we examine in this paper the state of the art in ACL design and suggest some principles for building a generalized ACL framework. We then evaluate some existing ACL models, and present the current issues in ACL research, and new perspectives.
