Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Process Algebra for Agent Communication: A General Semantic Approach

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Communication in Multiagent Systems

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 2650))

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the process algebra acpl, which models the basics of agent communication. This algebra combines the information-processing aspects of Concurrent Constraint Programming (ccp) with a generalisation of the synchronous handshaking communication mechanism of Communicating Sequential Processes (csp). The operational semantics of acpl is given in terms of a transition system that consists of local and global transition rules. The local rules describe the operational behaviour of agents, like the local effects of communication actions. The global rules define the operational behaviour of multi-agent systems including the matching of communication actions. We show how acpl provides a general basis to address the semantics of agent communication languages such as kqml and fipa-acl. Finally, we address several extensions of the basic algebra.

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. Austin, J.L.: How to do Things with Words. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1962)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Baeten, J.C.M., Middelburg, C.A.: Process algebra with timing: real time and discrete time. In: Bergstra, J.A., Ponse, A., Smolka, S.A. (eds.) Handbook of Process Algebra. Elsevier, Amsterdam (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bergstra, J.A., Klop, J.W.: Process algebra for synchronous communication. Information and Control 60, 109–137 (1984)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  4. de Boer, F.S., van Eijk, R.M., van der Hoek, W., Meyer, J.-J.C.: Fully-abstract model for the exchange of information in multi-agent systems. Theoretical Computer Science 290(3), 1753–1773 (2003) (to appear)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  5. de Boer, F.S., Palamidessi, C.: A process algebra of concurrent constraint programming. In: Proceedings of the Joint International Conference and Symposium on Logic Programming (JICSLP 1992), pp. 463–477. MIT Press, Cambridge (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Brookes, S.D., Hoare, C.A.R., Roscoe, W.: A theory of communicating sequential processes. Journal of ACM 31, 499–560 (1984)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  7. Dijkstra, E.W.: Go to statement considered harmful. Communications of the ACM 11(3), 147–148 (1968)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  8. Dijkstra, E.W.: A Discipline of Programming. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1976)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  9. van Eijk, R.M., de Boer, F.S., van der Hoek, W., Meyer, J.-J.C.: Information-passing and belief revision in multi-agent systems. In: Rao, A.S., Singh, M.P., Müller, J.P. (eds.) ATAL 1998. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 1555, pp. 29–45. Springer, Heidelberg (1999)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  10. van Eijk, R.M., de Boer, F.S., van der Hoek, W., Meyer, J.-J.C.: Generalised object-oriented concepts for inter-agent communication. In: Castelfranchi, C., Lespérance, Y. (eds.) ATAL 2000. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 1986, pp. 260–274. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. van Eijk, R.M., de Boer, F.S., van der Hoek, W., Meyer, J.-J.C.: On dynamically generated ontology translators in agent communication. International Journal of Intelligent Systems 16(5), 587–607 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. van Eijk, R.M., de Boer, F.S., van der Hoek, W., Meyer, J.-J.C.: A verification framework for agent communication. Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (2003) (to appear)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Finin, T., McKay, D., Fritzson, R., McEntire, R.: KQML: An Information and Knowledge Exchange Protocol. In: Fuchi, K., Yokoi, T. (eds.) Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing. Ohmsha and IOS Press (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  14. FIPA. Foundation for intelligent physical agents. Communicative act library specification (2000), http://www.fipa.org

  15. Gärdenfors, P.: Knowledge in flux: Modelling the dynamics of epistemic states. Bradford books. MIT, Cambridge (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Greaves, M., Holmback, H., Bradshaw, J.: What is a conversation policy? In: Dignum, F.P.M., Greaves, M. (eds.) Issues in Agent Communication. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 1916, pp. 118–131. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  17. Guerin, F., Pitt, J.: A semantic framework for specifying agent communication languages. In: Proceedings of fourth International Conference on Multi-Agent Systems (ICMAS-2000), pp. 395–396. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos (2000)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  18. Henkin, L., Monk, J.D., Tarski, A.: Cylindric Algebras (Part I). North-Holland Publishing, Amsterdam (1971)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  19. Hoare, C.A.R.: Communicating sequential processes. Communications of the ACM 21(8), 666–677 (1978)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Jifeng, H., Josephs, M.B., Hoare, C.A.R.: A theory of synchrony and asynchrony. In: Proc. of the IFIP Working Conference on Programming Concepts and Methods, pp. 446–465 (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Labrou, Y., Finin, T., Peng, Y.: Agent communication languages: The current landscape. IEEE Intelligent Systems 14(2), 45–52 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Milner, R.: A Calculus of Communication Systems. LNCS, vol. 92. Springer, Heidelberg (1980)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  23. Milner, R.: Communicating and Mobile Systems: the π-Calculus. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1999)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  24. Pitt, J., Mamdani, A.: Some remarks on the semantics of FIPA’s agent communication language. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 2(4), 333–356 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Plotkin, G.: A structured approach to operational semantics. Technical Report DAIMI FN-19, Computer Science Department, Aarhus University (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Reiter, R.: On closed world data bases. In: Gaillaire, H., Minker, J. (eds.) Logic and Data Bases, New York, pp. 55–76. Plemum Press (1978)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  27. Saraswat, V.A.: Concurrent Constraint Programming. The MIT Press, Cambridge (1993)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  28. Saraswat, V.A., Rinard, M., Panangaden, P.: Semantic foundations of concurrent constraint programming. In: Proceedings of the 18th ACM Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (POPL1991), pp. 333–352 (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Searle, J.R.: Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1969)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  30. Singh, M.P.: Agent communication languages: Rethinking the principles. IEEE Computer 31(12), 40–47 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Steels, L.: The origins of ontologies and communication conventions in multi-agent systems. Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 1(2), 169–194 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Thomsen, B.: A calculus of higher order communicating systems. In: Conference Record of the 16th Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages, pp. 143–153 (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  33. de Vries, W.: Agent Interaction: Approaches to Modelling, Abstraction, Programming and Verification of Multi-Agent Systems. PhD thesis, Utrecht University, Mathematics and Computer Science (2002) (to appear)

    Google Scholar 

  34. de Vries, W., de Boer, F.S., Hindriks, K.V., der Hoek, W., Meyer, J.-J.C.: Programming language for coordinating group actions. In: Dunin-Keplicz, B., Nawarecki, E. (eds.) CEEMAS 2001. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 2296, pp. 313–321. Springer, Heidelberg (2002)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Information and Computing Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.089, 3508 TB, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Rogier M. van Eijk, Frank S. de Boer & John-Jules Ch. Meyer

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZF, United Kingdom

    Wiebe van der Hoek

Authors
  1. Rogier M. van Eijk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Frank S. de Boer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wiebe van der Hoek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. John-Jules Ch. Meyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz-MAGMA, 46, Avenue Felix Viallet, 38031, Grenoble, France

    Marc-Philippe Huget

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

van Eijk, R.M., de Boer, F.S., van der Hoek, W., Meyer, JJ.C. (2003). Process Algebra for Agent Communication: A General Semantic Approach. In: Huget, MP. (eds) Communication in Multiagent Systems. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 2650. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-44972-0_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-44972-0_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-40385-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44972-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation