Agents with Bounded Temporal Resources

Abstract

In this chapter we introduce a common framework for both the logical specification and execution of agents. This logical framework provides the basis for the specification and execution of agents comprising dynamic (temporal) activity, deliberation concerning goals, and reasoning about belief.

We here focus in particular on the ability of this approach to capture an important aspect of practical agents, notably their resource-bounded nature. We present a logic in which resource-boundedness can be specified both in terms of temporal reasoning, and reasoning about belief. Then we consider how specifications within this logic can be directly executed. The mechanism we use to capture finite resources in reasoning about beliefs is to employ a multi-context representation of belief, thus providing tight control over the agent’s reasoning capabilities where necessary. The mechanism we use to capture finite resources in temporal reasoning is to use a linear time temporal logic with both finite past and finite future.