Towards a Real-Time Multi-Agent System Architecture

Over the last few years, the application of the agent/multiagent system paradigm seems appropriate for solving complex problems which require intelligence and bounded response times. This paper presents SIMBA: an architecture based on ARTIS agents as its main component for the development of real-time multiagent systems. The ARTIS agent architecture guarantees an agent response that satisfies all its critical temporal restrictions in a real-time environment. The main feature of SIMBA systems is their applicability for complex, distributed, real-time domains. The architecture allows the communication among agents taking into account their hard temporal restrictions. Also, the SIMBA architecture is open, allowing the interaction with external agents or FIPA-compliant agent platforms and offering temporallybounded services.