Understanding the Role of Negotiation in Distributed Search Among Heterogereous Agents

In our research we explore the role of negotia tion for con ict resolution in distributed search among heterogeneous and reusable agents We present negotiated search an algorithm that ex plicitly recognizes and exploits con ict to direct search activity across a set of agents In nego tiated search loosely coupled agents interleave the tasks of local search for a solution to some subproblem integration of local sub problem solutions into a shared solution information exchange to de ne and re ne the shared search space of the agents and assess ment and reassessment of emerging solutions Negotiated search is applicable to diverse ap plication areas and problem solving environ ments It requires only basic search operators and allows maximum exibility in the distribu tion of those operators These qualities make the algorithm particularly appropriate for the integration of heterogeneous agents into appli cation systems The algorithm is implemented in a multi agent framework TEAM that provides the infrastructure required for communication and cooperation