A fault-tolerant multi-agent framework

ABSTRACT

To make large-scale multi-agent systems reliable, we propose an adaptive application of replication strategies. Critical agents are replicated to avoid failures. As criticality of agents may evolve during the course of computation and problem solving, we need to dynamically and automatically adapt the number of replicas of agents, in order to maximize their reliability and availability based on available resources. We are studying an approach and mechanisms for evaluating the criticality of a given agent and for deciding what strategy to apply (e.g., active replication, passive) and how to parameterize it (e.g., number of replicas).

REFERENCES

• 1: J.-P. Briot, Z. Guessoum, S. Chapentier, S. Aknine, O. Marin and P. Sens. Dynamic Adaptation of Replication Strategies for Reliable Agents. In Adaptive Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, pp. 10--19, AISB02. Mar 2002
• 2: O. Marin, P. Sens, J.-P. Briot and Z. Guessoum, Towards Adaptive Fault-Tolerance For Distributed Multi-agent Systems, in Proceedings of ERSADS'2001, Bertinoro, Italy, pp. 195--201, May 2001

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
        I.2.11 Distributed Artificial Intelligence
            Subjects: Multiagent systems

General Terms:
Experimentation, Reliability

Keywords:
fault-tolerance, multi-agent, observation, organization, roles, tools