Title: A coordination framework for Cooperative Information Gathering

Authors: Issam Bouslimi, Chihab Hanachi, Hassan Tout, Khaled Ghedira

Addresses: Institute Superieur de Gestion de Tunis (SOIE) 41, Rue de la Liberte, Cite Bouchoucha, le Bardo 2000, Tunisie. ' University Toulouse 1, IRIT Laboratory, 1 Place Anatole France, 31042 Toulouse Cedex, France. ' University Toulouse 1, IRIT Laboratory, 1 Place Anatole France, 31042 Toulouse Cedex, France. ' Institute Superieur de Gestion de Tunis (SOIE) 41, Rue de la Liberte, Cite Bouchoucha, le Bardo 2000, Tunisie

Abstract: Cooperative Information Gathering Systems (CIGS) require the coordination of multiple agents executing tasks in a distributed, open and heterogeneous setting. In this complex and highly interactive context, it is essential to include explicit coordination models to ensure the coherent and efficient behaviour of cooperative agents. The paper identifies the three main issues which are essential for addressing this problem and expresses them in three interrelated models. The information model is implemented in Protege as a combination of an OWL ontology and SWRL rules. The task and organisational models are represented by High Level Petri Nets and extended And/Or graphs.

Keywords: CIG; cooperative information gathering; MAS; multi-agent systems; engineering coordination; Petri nets; And/Or graphs; agent-based systems; cooperative agents.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAIP.2008.020820

International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms, 2008 Vol.1 No.1, pp.60 - 79

Published online: 17 Oct 2008 *

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