Specifying Agent Observable Behaviour

摘要

This paper investigates the application of a formal framework for the observation issue in agent-based systems to the specification of the individual agent interactive behaviour. An abstract architecture is defined for agents that is based on the idea of viewing them as observable sources - of knowl-edge, services, capabilities. In this model, only the agent portion that is directly involved in managing the interactions with the environment is explicitly represented, abstracting away from agent internal and hidden details while focussing on their observable effect. The applicability of the formal framework as a specification tool is put to test showing how different interactive behaviours can be modelled - including reactive and proactive message sending, and notification capabilities.