Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Standardizing Agent Interoperability: The FIPA Approach

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Multi-Agent Systems and Applications (ACAI 2001)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 2086))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

A prolific number of different Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) and associated applications have been developed in numerous research institutes and industrial laboratories world-wide. Perhaps the most important barrier to MAS making a successful transition from this research environment towards widespread adoption for consumer products and businesses, is the lack of interoperability between heterogeneous MA Systems. In 1996, the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) was formed to provide a forum for developing specifications for agent systems. Since its formation, FIPA has increasingly focussed more on standardizing (multi-agent system) agent interoperability. As a result, it is often said that FIPA really stands for the Foundation for InteroPerable Agents. In this article, we discuss both technical and scientific issues in defining standards for interoperability between agents in different MA systems with a particular focus on the FIPA agent interoperability standards.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. FIPA, The Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents, home web-page, http://www.fipa.org

  2. Franklin, S., Graesser A.:.“Is it an Agent, or just a Program? A Taxonomy for Autonomous Agents”.. In: Proceedings of Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages, ECAI workshop, Budapest, Hungary, August, (1996) 193–206

    Google Scholar 

  3. Wooldridge, M., Jennings, N.R., Kinny, D.: The Gaia Methodology for Agent-Oriented Analysis and Design. In:Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. Vol. 3No.3 (2000) 285–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Nwana H.S.: Software agents: an overview. Knowledge Engineering Review, Vol.11,No.3, (1995) 205–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Wooldridge, M., Jennings, N.R.: Intelligent agents: theory and practice. Knowledge Engineering Review, Vol. 10,No.2, (1995) 115–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. FIPA Abstract Architecture Specification. FIPA00001. FIPA Abstract Architecture Specification. Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  7. FIPA Agent Message Transport Service Specification. FIPA00067. Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  8. FIPA Request Interaction Protocol Specification. FIPA00026. Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Bauer, B., Mueller, J P. and Odell J: Agent UML: A formalism for specifying multiagent software systems. In: Ciancarini, P., Wooldridge, M. (eds.): Agent-Oriented Software Engineering. Proceedings of the First International Workshop (AOSE-2000). Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Pitt, J., Kamara, L., Artikis A: Interaction Patterns and Observable Commitments in a Multi-Agent Trading Scenario. 5th Int. Conf on Autonomous Agents, Montreal, Canada (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  11. FIPA Agent Management Specification. FIPA00023. Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Wooldridge, M.: Semantic Issues in the Verification of Agent Communication Languages. In: Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. Vol. 3, No. 1 (2000) 9–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Singh, M.: Agent Communication Languages: rethinking the principles. IEEE Computer. Vol.13,No. 12, (1998) 40–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Agentcities. Testbed for a Worldwide Agent Network: EU Research and Development Project, IST-2000-28385, http://www.agentcities.org/ (2001)

  15. Poslad, S., Buckle, P., Hadingham, R.G.: Open Source, Standards and Scaleable Agencies. Autonomous Agents 2000 Workshop on Infrastructure for Scalable Multi-agent Systems, Barcelona, June, (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Charlton, P., Bonnefoy, D., Lhuilier, D.N.: Dealing with Interoperability for Agent-Based Services, Autonomous Agents, Montreal, Canada, (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Searle, J.R.: Speech Acts. Cambridge University Press Cambridge, UK (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  18. FIPA ACL Message Structure Specification. FIPA00061. Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Charlton, P., Cattoni, R.: Evaluating the Deployment of FIPA Standards when developing Application Services, IJPRAI, Vol. 15,No.3, (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Bellifemine, F., Rimassa, G., Poggi, A.: JADE-A FIPA-compliant Agent Framework. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference and Exhibition on The Practical Application of Intelligent Agents and Multi-Agents, London (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Poslad, S.J., Buckle P., Hadingham R.: The FIPA-OS agent platform: Open Source for Open Standards. Proceedings of PAAM 2000, Manchester, UK, (2000) 355–368

    Google Scholar 

  22. Nwana, H., Ndumu, D., Lee, L., Collis, J.: ZEUS: A Tool-Kit for Building Distributed Multi-Agent Systems. In Applied Artifical Intelligence Journal, Vol. 13,No.1, (1999) 129–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Cathedral and Bazaar. HYPERLINK http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/

  24. April Agent Platform. HYPERLINK http://sourceforge.net/projects/networkagent/

  25. Java Agent Services, JSR-000087, HYPERLINK http://www.java-agent.org.

  26. FACTS: FIPA Agent Communication Technologies and Services, EU Project Number ACTS-1997-AC317. http://www.labs.bt.com/projects/facts/

  27. LEAP:.Lightweight Extensible Agent Platform., EU Project Number IST-1999-10211, http://www.cordis.lu/ist/projects/99-10211.htm.

  28. Poslad, S., Laamanen, H., Malaka, R., Nick, A., Buckle, P., Zipf, A.: CRUMPET: Creation of User-friendly Mobile services PErsonalised for Tourism. 3G2001 IEE conference, London, (2001)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic Engineering, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS

    Stefan Poslad

  2. Centre de Recherche de Motorola-Paris, 91193, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Patricia Charlton

Authors
  1. Stefan Poslad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patricia Charlton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronics and Computer Science Highfield, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Michael Luck

  2. Facultiy of Electr. Engineering, Dept. of Cybernetics Technicka 2, Czech Technical University, 166 27, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Vladimír Mařík  & Olga Štěpánková  & 

  3. Dept.of Med. Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence, University of Vienna, Freyung 6, 1010, Vienna, Austria

    Robert Trappl

  4. Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Schottengasse 3, 1010, Vienna, Austria

    Robert Trappl

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Poslad, S., Charlton, P. (2001). Standardizing Agent Interoperability: The FIPA Approach. In: Luck, M., Mařík, V., Štěpánková, O., Trappl, R. (eds) Multi-Agent Systems and Applications. ACAI 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 2086. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-47745-4_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-47745-4_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-42312-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47745-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation