Modulated Events in Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation

摘要

Agent-based models and multi-agent simulations have been used in many domains to study the dynamic and emergent properties of systems made up of heterogeneous components. In the majority of models, agent behavior and agent-agent interactions are modeled atomically. However, particularly where the durations of events (actions, perceptions, interactions) in the model are heterogeneous, a richer model of event execution is required. We introduce modulated events as a modeling construct which allows us to describe the alteration of an event trajectory due to intervening states and events during event execution. This facilitates the integration of different levels of abstraction in the absence of a complete understanding of the relations between them. In this paper, we show how the construct can be built into the agent-based modeling paradigm and suggest a mechanism for its implementation in simulation.