Information processing apparatus and method and information processing program recording medium

• US 6,925,486 B2
• Filed: 03/21/2003
• Issued: 08/02/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Nagai, Yasuo, Ohsuga, Akihiko, Hattori, Masanori, Irie, Yutaka, Honiden, Shinichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughn, Jr., William C.
• Application Number:
  US10/392,839
• Publication Number:
  US 20040044737A1
• Time in Patent Office: 865 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-203, 709/249, 709/223, 706/15, 706/46, 706/49, 714/1, 714/4, 714/26, 719316-319, 705/8, 705/9, 705/37, 718100-108
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A planning means generates a plan to be executed by agents on a node. In the case where the plan generated uses an uncertain knowledge required to be processed in other nodes, a judging means judges the communication line connecting the node and a network is low or high in reliability. In the case where the reliability of the communication line is low, an agent management unit moves the agent for executing the plan to another node for processing the uncertain knowledge. In the case where the reliability of the communication line is high, on the other hand, a cooperation protocol realization means requests an agent on another node to process the uncertain knowledge. An agent execution means executes the plan generated.

Claims

1. An agent system in which a plurality of agents operate over a distributed node network, comprising:

a platform on one node of the network, on which a plurality of fields of activity and a set of knowledge that are divided into a plurality of knowledge of subsets are provided;

an agent generation unit configured to generate an agent in response to a request;

a planning unit configured to generate a plan that satisfies the request for the agent;

a determination unit configured to determine a reliability of a communication line when an uncertain knowledge is used to generate the plan by the planning unit, wherein the uncertain knowledge is processed by other nodes;

a selection unit configured to select one of a processing of a movement of the agent and a processing based on a contract net protocol in accordance with the reliability;

an execution unit configured to execute the plan after the processing of the uncertain knowledge by the other nodes; and

a field management unit configured to manage the plurality of fields of activity wherein the field management unit assigns one of the plurality of fields of activity to the agent, and assigns one of the plurality of knowledge subsets used for generating the plan by the planning unit, to the agent.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of blackboard systems associated with the plurality of fields of activity.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein a first field of activity in which a first agent operates is independent of a second field of activity in which a second agent operates preventing the first agent from interfering with the second agent.

4. A method of managing a plurality of agents that operate over a distributed node network in an agent system, wherein a node of the network includes a platform on which a plurality of fields of activity and a set of knowledge divided into a plurality of knowledge subsets are provided, the method comprising:

generating an agent in response to a request;

assigning one of the plurality of fields of activity to the agent;

assigning one of the plurality of knowledge subsets to the agent; and

generating a plan that satisfies the request for the agent by using one of the assigned knowledge subsets;

determining a reliability of a communication line when an uncertain knowledge is used to generate the plan, wherein the uncertain knowledge is processed by other nodes;

selecting one of a processing of a movement of the agent and a processing based on a contract net protocol in accordance with the reliability;

executing the plan after the processing of the uncertain knowledge by the other nodes.

5. A method according to claim 4, further comprising;

associating the plurality of fields of activity with a plurality of blackboard systems.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein a first field of activity in which a first agent operates is independent of a second field of activity in which a second agent operates preventing the first agent from interfering with the second agent.

7. An information processing apparatus that serves as a node in an agent system, which is connected to a distributed node network in which a plurality of agents operate, comprising:

a platform on which a plurality of fields of activity and a set of knowledge divided into a plurality of knowledge subsets are provided;

an agent generation unit configured to generate an agent in response to a request;

a planning unit configured to generate a plan that satisfies the request for the agent;

a determination unit configured to determine a reliability of a communication line when an uncertain knowledge is used to generate the plan by the planning unit, wherein the uncertain knowledge is processed by other nodes than the information processing apparatus;

a selecting unit configured to select one of a processing of a movement of the agent and a processing based on a contract net protocol in accordance with the reliability;

an execution unit configured to execute the plan after the processing of the uncertain knowledge by the other nodes; and

a field management unit configured to manage the plurality of fields of activity, wherein the field management unit assigns one of the plurality of fields of activity to the agent, and assigns one of the plurality of knowledge subsets used for generating the plan by the planning unit to the agent.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a plurality of blackboard systems associated with the plurality of fields of activity.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a first field of activity in which a first agent operates is independent of a second field of activity in which a second agent operates preventing the first agent from interfering with the second agent.