JP2010146246A - Framework computer program for multi-agent system, network system and inter-agent communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inter-agent communication function enabling a shared use by a plurality of multi-agent systems. <P>SOLUTION: In frameworks C1, C2 for a multi-agent system to be used in a network system S having the plurality of multi-agent systems in operation, each of framework C1, C2 includes: an acquisition section 11 capable of acquiring, from a plurality of agents mounted on terminal computers, data to be transmitted to a destination agent in another terminal computer, and destination agent specification information to specify the destination agent; an identification section 12 for identifying the framework in the other terminal computer having the mounted destination agent, as a destination framework, based on the destination agent specification information; and a transmission section 13 for transmitting, to the destination framework, destination agent recognition information to recognize the destination agent by the destination framework and the data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a computer program for causing a computer to function as a framework for a multi-agent system.

  A multi-agent system is a system that attempts to achieve a predetermined purpose by autonomously operating a dedicated agent on a terminal computer such as a PC and by coordinating agents installed in a plurality of terminal computers. is there.

In order to efficiently develop such a multi-agent system, a development platform called PIAX (P2P Interactive Agent eXtensions) is provided (see Non-Patent Document 1).
PIAX, [online], [October 15, 2008 search], Internet <http://www.piax.org/>

  In a multi-agent system, in order to coordinate agents installed in a plurality of terminal computers, an inter-agent communication function for communicating between agents is required. This inter-agent communication function is also provided in the development platform described above. By using the development platform described above, the system developer can provide each agent with a function of searching for and communicating with the agent of the cooperation partner (communication partner).

  Here, in a single network system, not only one multi-agent system is operated, but a plurality of multi-agent systems may be operated. When a plurality of multi-agent systems are operated, a plurality of agents for a plurality of multi-agent systems exist in each terminal computer in the network system.

However, in the development platform described above, the inter-agent communication function is closed and used in one multi-agent system.
Therefore, when a plurality of multi-agent systems are independently constructed and operate, an inter-agent communication function for searching for and communicating with a communication partner agent is also constructed for each multi-agent system.
That is, when a plurality of multi-agent systems operate, each of a plurality of agents mounted on one terminal computer has an inter-agent communication function.

When each of a plurality of agents installed in one terminal computer has an inter-agent communication function, each agent consumes resources such as communication ports.
In addition, even if the required inter-agent communication functions are almost the same, it must be constructed and operated for each multi-agent system.
As a result, there is a problem that the development man-hours increase, the development efficiency of the system developer decreases, and the operation load becomes enormous.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem by enabling the agents of a plurality of multi-agent systems to share the inter-agent communication function.

[Computer program of framework for multi-agent system; transmission function]
(1) The present invention is a computer program for causing a terminal computer used in a network system in which a plurality of multi-agent systems operate as a multi-agent system framework having an inter-agent communication unit, The inter-agent communication unit includes a plurality of agents installed in the terminal computer, the data to be transmitted to the destination agent installed in another terminal computer, and the destination agent specifying information for specifying the destination agent of the data. And a multi-agent system framework in the other terminal computer on which the transmission destination agent is installed based on the acquisition unit that can be acquired from the transmission destination and the transmission destination agent identification information acquired by the acquisition unit. An identification unit for identifying the network, and a transmission unit for transmitting the destination agent recognition information and the data for the transmission destination framework to recognize the transmission destination agent to the transmission destination framework identified by the identification unit; And a computer program characterized by comprising:

  According to the present invention, the agents of a plurality of multi-agent systems can share the inter-agent communication unit of the framework and perform data transmission for inter-agent communication.

(2) The acquisition unit includes, as the transmission destination agent identification information, agent system identification information for identifying a multi-agent system to which the transmission destination agent belongs, and a multi-agent system in the other terminal computer on which the transmission destination agent is mounted. It is preferable that framework specifying information for specifying a framework for the network is acquired, and the identification unit identifies the multi-agent system framework indicated by the framework specifying information as the transmission destination framework. In this case, the identification unit can easily identify the transmission destination framework.
(3) It is preferable that the inter-agent communication unit includes a transmission control unit for controlling a transmission speed of the data transmitted by the transmission unit. In this case, congestion in the network system can be suppressed.

(4) It is preferable that the transmission control unit can control the transmission speed of the data transmitted by the transmission unit independently for each of a plurality of agents installed in the terminal computer. In this case, the transmission speed can be controlled for each agent.

(5) It is preferable that the transmission control unit controls the transmission speed of the data according to the priority of each of a plurality of agents installed in the terminal computer. In this case, the transmission speed can be controlled according to the priority of the agent.

[Multi-agent system framework computer program; reception function]
(6) A computer program for causing a terminal computer used in a network system in which a plurality of multi-agent systems operate to function as a framework for a multi-agent system including an inter-agent communication unit. The inter-agent communication unit receives the data transmitted from the multi-agent system framework of another terminal computer and the destination agent recognition information for recognizing the agent that is the transmission destination of the data. And a data transfer for passing the data received by the receiving unit to an agent indicated by the destination agent recognition information received by the receiving unit among a plurality of agents installed in the terminal computer A computer program characterized by comprising a part, the.

  According to the present invention, agents of a plurality of multi-agent systems can receive data for inter-agent communication by sharing the inter-agent communication unit included in the framework.

[Network system]
(7) From another viewpoint, the present invention is a network system in which a plurality of multi-agent systems are operated, and each terminal computer in the network system is equipped with the computer program. System.

[Inter-agent communication method]
(8) From another viewpoint, the present invention provides a first terminal computer on which a plurality of agents and a first framework for the plurality of agents are mounted, a plurality of agents and a second for the plurality of agents. In the network system in which a plurality of multi-agent systems are operated, the first agent that is one of the agents installed in the first terminal computer, A method for performing inter-agent communication with a second agent that is one of the agents installed in the second terminal computer,
The first framework acquires, from the first agent, data to be transmitted to the second agent and transmission destination agent identification information for identifying the second agent that is the transmission destination of the data; A first framework identifying the second framework as a destination framework based on the destination agent identification information obtained from the first agent; and the first framework comprising the destination frame Transmitting the destination agent recognition information and the data for the work to recognize the destination agent to the destination framework; and the second framework transmitting the transmission from the first framework. Destination agent recognition information and the data receiving data And the second framework recognizes the destination agent based on the received destination agent recognition information and passes the received data to the recognized destination agent; Is a communication method between agents including

  According to the present invention, agents of a plurality of multi-agent systems can perform inter-agent communication by sharing the inter-agent communication unit included in the framework.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1. Overall configuration of network system having multiple multi-agent systems]
FIG. 1 shows the entire network system S according to the embodiment. This network system S is configured by connecting a plurality of terminal computers 1 and 2 and a management server 3 via a network. The terminals 1 and 2 have an arithmetic processing unit (CPU) and storage means, and an agent computer program and a framework computer program, which will be described later, are stored in the storage means. The storage means is constituted by a semiconductor memory such as a RAM or a flash memory, or a computer-readable recording medium such as an HDD or a DVD.
Three or more terminal computers may be connected to the network, or a plurality of management servers 3 may be connected. In addition to a PC (personal computer), the terminal computer may be a mobile phone, a personal information terminal, an in-vehicle device, a home appliance, or various embedded devices such as office equipment. Hereinafter, the terminal computers 1 and 2 are simply referred to as “terminals”.

In this network system S, a plurality of types of multi-agent systems are operating. Examples of the multi-agent system include an information tracking system that tracks the flow of information in the network and a file transfer system.
In the following, two multi-agent systems “multi-agent system A” and “multi-agent system B” are assumed as a plurality of multi-agent systems in the network system S. These multi-agent systems A and B have different functions, are created independently, and operate independently.

  The agent of each terminal constituting the multi-agent system A is referred to as “agent A1” or “agent A2”, and the agent of each terminal constituting the multi-agent system B is designated “agent B1” or “agent B2”. Is written.

  Further, among the agents A1, A2, B1, and B2, the agent A1 or the agent B1 that is resident in the first terminal 1 is referred to as a “first agent”, and the agent A2 or the agent B2 that is resident in the second terminal 2 is It is referred to as “second agent”.

  The agents A1, A2, B1, and B2 are functions in the terminal computers 1 and 2 that are exhibited when the agent computer program is executed by the terminal computers 1 and 2.

[2. Multi-agent system framework configuration]
The terminals 1 and 2 are equipped with multi-agent system frameworks C1 and C2 that provide a function that can be shared by a plurality of agents A1, A2, B1, and B2 mounted on the terminals 1 and 2, respectively. The multi-agent system framework is hereinafter simply referred to as “framework”.
The frameworks C1 and C2 are functions in the terminal computers 1 and 2 that are exhibited when the framework computer program is executed by the terminal computers 1 and 2.

  Each of the plurality of first agents A1 and B1 installed in the first terminal 1 can use the function of the second framework C1 installed in the first terminal 1. Further, each of the plurality of second agents A2 and B2 installed in the second terminal 2 can use the function of the second framework C2 installed in the second terminal 2.

  In FIG. 1, the agents A1, A2, B1, and B2 and the frameworks C1 and C2 exist as independent application processes in the terminals 1 and 2, respectively. However, as shown in FIG. 2, the agents A1, B1 and the framework C1 coexist in one application process P1 in the terminal 1, and the agents A2, B2 and the framework exist in one application process P2 in the terminal 2. C2 may coexist.

In order to operate application programs that are originally separate without affecting each other in the same application process, for example, there is a method using an OSGi (http://www.osgi.org/) framework. It is not limited to this.
When operating as application processes independent of each other, each agent and the framework are called with each other by a method such as RPC (Remote Procedure Call), and when the agent and the framework coexist in the same application process. Can communicate with each other by mutually calling API (Application Programming Interface) published by each.
In the following, description will be given based on FIG.

The frameworks C1 and C2 include inter-agent communication units D1 and D2, respectively. The inter-agent communication units D1 and D2 are functions for realizing communication between the agents A1, A2, B1, and B2.
The inter-agent communication of the present embodiment is performed through inter-framework communication by the inter-agent communication units D1 and D2.
The inter-framework communication is performed by the common frameworks C1 and C2 regardless of the type of the multi-agent system. When the agents A1, A2, B1, and B2 perform inter-agent communication, the data may be passed to the frameworks C1 and C2 or received from the framework.

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the framework C1 (inter-agent communication unit D1) resident in the first terminal 1. Note that the framework C2 residing in another terminal 2 also has the same function as the framework C1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the inter-agent communication unit D1 of the framework C1 includes an acquisition unit 11, a transmission destination framework identification unit 12, and a transmission unit 13 in order to transmit data to other terminals 2.
The inter-agent communication unit D1 includes a receiving unit 14 and a data passing unit 15 in order to receive data from the other terminals 2.
Further, the inter-agent communication unit D1 includes a terminal list table 16 for recognizing a transmission destination terminal, and a permitted agent list table 17 for recognizing an agent suitable as a transmission destination agent.

The acquisition unit 11 stores data (transmission data) to be transmitted to the agents A2 and B2 of the other terminals 2 and transmission destination agent identification information for identifying the transmission destination agents A2 and B2 of the transmission data. Is obtained from the agents A1 and B1 installed in the.
The transmission data is data exchanged between agents for cooperation processing between agents, for example, image data, audio data, document data, mail messages, and the like.
The agents A1 and B1 installed in the first terminal 1 have a framework identifier (hereinafter referred to as “framework ID”) and an application identifier (data to be transmitted to the destination agents A2 and B2). (Hereinafter referred to as “application ID”) is given to the acquisition unit 11 as the transmission destination agent specifying information, and the acquisition unit 11 receives these.

Here, the framework ID is an identifier (framework specifying information) for uniquely identifying the framework installed in each of the terminals 1 and 2. The framework ID is assigned by the framework itself at the first operation after the framework C1 is installed in the terminal 1. That is, each of the frameworks C1 and C2 has its own framework ID information.
In the present embodiment, since only one framework is mounted on one terminal, the framework ID also functions as an identifier for identifying each terminal. However, a plurality of frameworks may be mounted on one terminal.
In this embodiment, the framework ID of the first framework C1 (first terminal 1) is “001”, and the framework ID of the second framework C2 (second terminal 2) is “002”. To do.

The application ID is an identifier (agent system specifying information) for uniquely identifying each multi-agent system. That is, the agents A1 and A2 constituting the multi-agent system A have a common application ID, and the agents B1 and B2 constituting the multi-agent system B have other common application IDs. This application ID is allocated by the developer of the multi-agent system.
In this embodiment, the application ID of the multi-agent system A is “xxx”, and the application ID of the multi-agent system B is “yyy”.

The individual agents A1, A2, B1, and B2 in the network system S can be uniquely specified by the combination of the framework ID and the application ID. That is, it is possible to specify which terminal is installed on the basis of the framework ID, and it is possible to specify which agent among the agents of the terminal is based on the application ID.
Therefore, the combination of the framework ID and the application ID functions as destination agent specifying information for specifying a destination agent in inter-agent communication.
For example, when the destination agent is the agent A2 of the second terminal 2, the destination agent specifying information is framework ID = 002 & application ID = xxx.

As described above, the acquisition unit 11 acquires a combination of a framework ID and an application ID together with transmission data as transmission destination agent specifying information.
Then, the transmission destination framework identification unit 12 can recognize the framework indicated by the framework ID acquired by the acquisition unit 11 as the transmission destination framework. This transmission destination framework is a transmission destination in inter-framework communication for realizing inter-agent communication.
In this embodiment, the transmission destination agent identification information received from the agent by the framework includes the transmission destination framework ID itself, so that the transmission destination framework identification unit 12 can easily recognize the transmission destination framework. .
The framework has a reference table that defines the relationship between the destination agent identification information received from the agent and the framework ID, and the transmission destination framework identification unit 12 refers to the reference table, You may recognize the destination framework.

  Further, the transmission destination framework identification unit 12 refers to the terminal list table 16 and searches for the terminal 2 on which the transmission destination framework is mounted.

  The terminal list table 16 records a list of terminals 1 and 2 where the frameworks C1 and C2 reside. In the terminal list table 16, “framework ID”, “IP address”, and “port number” for each of the terminals 1 and 2 are recorded. The “framework ID” recorded in the terminal list table 16 is an ID of a framework installed in the terminal, the “IP address” is the IP address of the terminal, and the “port number” is the terminal This is a standby port number used by the framework installed in the communication between agents (communication between frameworks).

The transmission destination framework identification unit 12 searches the terminal list table based on the framework ID, thereby waiting for the IP address of the transmission destination terminal and the transmission destination framework installed in the transmission destination terminal. The port number can be recognized.
Here, unlike the present embodiment, when the inter-agent communication function is provided for each multi-agent system, each agent A1, B1 has the IP address and the standby of the destination terminal on which the destination agents A2, B2 are mounted. It is necessary to provide a function for recognizing a port number.
On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, since the framework C1 shared by the plurality of agents A1 and B1 has the inter-agent communication unit D1, it is not necessary to provide each agent with the above function.

The transmission unit 13 transmits the application ID and data acquired from the agent A1 or B1 to the terminal 2 recognized as the transmission destination. This application ID is transmission destination agent recognition information for the framework C2 installed in the transmission destination terminal 2 to recognize the transmission destination agent A2 or B2.
However, the transmission unit 13 determines whether or not the designated transmission destination agent is permitted as a transmission destination prior to the transmission, and when the transmission destination agent is an agent permitted as the transmission destination. However, if the agent is an unauthorized agent, the data can be discarded without transmission.
Whether or not the transmission destination agent is permitted as the transmission destination is determined by the transmission unit 13 referring to the permitted agent list table 17. The permitted agent list table 17 defines, for example, agents that have a relationship in which communication is permitted. When agents are in a communication-permitted relationship, for example, the destination agent and source agent belong to the same multi-agent system, or the destination agent and source agent belong to different multi-agent systems. The multi-agent system is developed by the same system development company. In other cases, communication is prohibited.
By determining whether or not the transmission destination agent is permitted as a transmission destination, the transmission unit 13 can prevent unlimited communication between different types of agents. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a malicious third party from misusing the framework to communicate with a specific multi-agent system.
Instead of or in addition to the permitted agent list table 17, a prohibited agent list table that defines agents that are prohibited from communicating may be provided.

  The transmission unit 13 includes a transmission control unit (band limiting unit) 13 that controls data transmission. When the size of the transmission data received by the framework C1 from the agents A1 and B1 exceeds the threshold, the transmission control unit 13 divides the transmission data into a plurality of divided data of a predetermined size in order to avoid congestion in the network. And has a bandwidth control function for transmitting them at predetermined time intervals. With this bandwidth control function, the amount of data per unit time (data transmission speed) transmitted from the framework C1 can be suppressed, and a large amount of data can be prevented from flowing to the network all at once.

  When transmission data is divided by the bandwidth control function of the transmission control unit 13a, a sequence number is assigned to each divided data by the transmission control unit 13a. Further, the transmission unit 13 notifies the transmission destination framework C2 of the division number or sequence number of transmission data. The destination framework C2 can restore the original transmission data from the received divided data based on the number of transmission data divisions and the sequence number.

Further, while the transmission control unit 13a is performing bandwidth control for a certain agent A1 (multi-agent system A), a request for data transmission having a size exceeding the threshold is received from another agent B1 (multi-agent system B). Thus, it may be necessary to perform bandwidth control. In this case, the transmission control unit 13a compares the priorities of the plurality of multi-agent systems A and B, and performs bandwidth control according to the priorities.
In bandwidth control according to priority, for example, the divided data transmission interval for a multi-agent system with high priority is made shorter than the divided data transmission interval of a multi-agent system with low priority, or The number of data divisions for the agent system can be made smaller than the number of data divisions for the multi-agent system having a low priority.
The priority of the multi-agent system can be specified by a system administrator or the like.

  This prioritized bandwidth control function allows data transmission processing to be terminated quickly according to the priority among multi-agent systems, while avoiding network congestion caused by transmitting large data. It becomes.

The receiving unit 14 can receive data and application ID (destination agent recognition information) transmitted from the framework C2 of another terminal 2.
Further, the data passing unit 15 passes the received data to the agent of the multi-agent system corresponding to the received application ID.

Each agent includes a destination & data passing unit 21 and a terminal list table 22 for passing destination agent specifying information and data to the framework as shown in FIG. The transmission destination & data passing unit 21 outputs, together with the transmission data, the framework ID of the transmission destination framework and the application ID of the multi-agent system to which the transmission destination agent belongs as the transmission destination agent specifying information.
In the terminal list table 22 possessed by the agent, the “framework ID” for each of the terminals 1 and 2 is recorded in the terminal list table 16. The contents of the terminal list table 22 are acquired from the framework of the terminal on which the agent is installed.

[3. Preprocessing for agent-to-agent communication]
5 to 8 show preprocessing for inter-agent communication using the frameworks C1 and C2.
[3.1 Agent registration process]
FIG. 5 shows a registration process for registering an agent in the framework of a terminal on which the agent operates. This registration process is performed, for example, when the agent is installed on the terminal.
Here, a case where the agent A1 is registered in the first framework C1 of the first terminal 1 will be described as an example.

In the registration process, first, the application ID (= xxx) of the multi-agent system to which the agent A1 belongs is notified to the framework C1 (step S1).
Then, the framework C1 acquires an application ID (= xxx) from the agent A1 (step S2). The framework C1 registers the acquired application ID in its own storage area (step S3).

  Through this registration process, the framework C1 can recognize the agent A1 operating in the terminal on which it is installed, and the framework C1 has received the registered data addressed to the agent A1 from the other framework C2. Sometimes, the data can be passed by calling the agent A1 that is the destination of the received data.

[3.2 Framework registration processing to the management server]
FIG. 6 shows a process for registering the frameworks C1 and C2 of the terminals 1 and 2 in the management server 3, in other words, the terminal list table 3 indicating the terminals 1 and 2 on which the frameworks C1 and C2 are mounted. 3 shows processing to be created.
As shown in FIG. 6, each of the terminal frameworks C1 and C2 has a framework ID held by itself, an IP address of a terminal on which the framework is mounted, and a standby port number used by the framework during communication. It transmits to the management server 3 (step S11).
Information necessary for communication with the management server 3 such as the IP address and port number of the management server 3 is set in the frameworks C1 and C2.

  The execution timing of the transmission in step S11 includes a predetermined time determined by a timer, when there is an instruction from the terminal user, and when the framework is activated. By transmitting the framework ID to the management server 3 as necessary, the contents of the terminal list table 31 held by the management server 3 are always kept up-to-date.

  When the management server 3 receives the framework ID and the like from the framework (step S12), the management server 3 stores the received framework ID, IP address, port number, and the like in the terminal list table 31 (step S13). The contents of the terminal list table 31 become master data of the terminal list table 16 distributed to the frameworks C1 and C2 in the network system.

[3.3 Terminal List Table Distribution Processing from Management Server to Framework]
FIG. 7 shows a process in which the frameworks C1 and C2 of each terminal acquire the terminal list table 31 distributed from the management server 3.
First, the framework requests a terminal list from the management server 3 (step S21). The execution timing of the request in step S21 includes a predetermined time determined by a timer, when there is an instruction from a terminal user, and when the framework is started. By requesting the terminal list to the management server 3 as necessary, the contents of the terminal list table 16 held by the framework are always kept up-to-date.

When receiving the terminal list request (step S22), the management server 3 transmits the contents of the terminal list table 31 to the framework (step S23).
When the framework receives the contents of the terminal list table 31 from the management server 3 (step S24), the framework stores it in its own terminal list table 16 (step S25).

The network system may not have the management server 3. In this case, the terminal list table 31 required by the frameworks C1 and C2 of the terminals 1 and 2 is included in any of the terminals (terminals 1 and 2 or other terminals) in the network system S. can do.
For example, one of the frameworks in the network system S has a terminal list management function for holding and managing the terminal list table 31, and the other frameworks have the terminal list table 31 managed by the terminal list management function. You may acquire.
Here, a plurality of frameworks having a terminal list management function may exist. When there are a plurality of frameworks, it is sufficient for each framework to hold the terminal list table 31 for some terminals existing in the network system S. In this case, in order for the framework of a certain terminal A to acquire the IP address or the like of another terminal B, a framework (management framework) k (1 ≦ k ≦ n: n is 2 or more) having a terminal list management function The management framework k may not hold the information of the terminal B even if the inquiry is made to the positive number). In that case, the management framework k inquires of another management framework, acquires the information of the terminal B, passes it to the framework of the terminal A, and the management framework k itself also caches the information of the terminal B (terminal The information of terminal B is added to the list table 31). As a result, the management framework k can answer a subsequent inquiry more quickly.
Each framework may grasp the existence of the management framework in advance or may dynamically discover it. In order to grasp the existence of the management framework in advance, information such as the IP address of the management framework only needs to be distributed in advance to the framework of each terminal. In this case, based on the distributed information, the framework of each terminal can select an optimal management framework.
Also, in order for each framework to dynamically discover the management framework, a method of transmitting a broadcast or IP multicast to which the management framework responds can be considered.

[3.4 Acquisition of terminal list table by agent]
FIG. 8 shows a process in which the agent A1 acquires the contents of the terminal list table 16 from the framework C1 installed in the first terminal 1 on which the agent A1 operates.
First, the agent A1 requests a terminal list from the framework C1 (step S31). This terminal list request is preferably made prior to data transmission when the agent A1 transmits data to the agent A2 of another terminal 2.

When the framework C1 receives the terminal list request (step S32), the framework C1 passes the contents of the terminal list table 16 to the agent A1 (step S33).
When the agent A1 receives the terminal list (step S34), the content is stored in its own terminal list table 22 (step S35).

[4. Agent communication processing]
FIG. 9 shows a data transmission process from the first agent A1 of the first terminal 1 to the second agent A2 of the second terminal 2.
First, the transmission destination & data transfer unit 21 of the agent A1 transfers the transmission destination agent identification information together with the transmission data to the first framework C1 (the transmission destination agent identification information here is the second frame that is the transmission destination framework). This is a combination of the work framework ID (= 002) and the application ID (= xxx) of the multi-agent system A to which the first agent A1 and the second agent A2 belong.
Note that even if the source agent and the destination agent belong to the same multi-agent system (communication between the same agent) as described above, they belong to different multi-agent systems (communication between different agents). ). When communicating between different types of agents, an application ID indicating another type of multi-agent system capable of communication may be designated in advance for each agent. For example, each agent may be provided with an agent list table 23 indicating other types of agents that can communicate. The agent list table 23 stores application IDs of communicable multi-agent systems. The transmission destination & data passing unit 21 can grasp and specify the application IDs of different types of multi-agent systems by referring to the agent list table 23.
Further, the transmission destination & data passing unit 21 can pass the application ID of the multi-agent system to which the transmission source agent belongs in addition to the application ID of the multi-agent system to which the transmission destination agent belongs to the framework C1.

  The acquisition unit 11 of the first framework C1 acquires transmission destination agent identification information (here, framework ID and application ID) from the transmission destination & data passing unit 21 of the agent A1 together with the transmission data. The transmission destination framework identification unit 12 searches the terminal list table 16 based on the framework ID, and recognizes the IP address and port number of the second terminal 2 that is the transmission destination terminal (step S42).

  The transmission unit 13 of the first framework C1 transmits an application ID as agent identification information together with the transmission data to the second framework C2 of the second terminal 2 (step S43). When determining whether or not the destination agent is an agent permitted as a destination, for example, the transmission unit 13 determines the application ID of the multi-agent system to which the destination agent belongs and the multi-agent system to which the source agent belongs. The application ID is compared. If the two match, it is communication between the same agents, so it is determined that the destination agent is an agent permitted as a destination, and the transmission unit 13 executes the transmission. If the two are different, the communication is between different agents, so the transmission unit 13 determines whether or not the transmission is possible according to the permitted agent list table 17 (or the prohibited agent list table). In the case of communication between different agents, the transmission unit 13 of the first framework C1 may transmit the application ID of the multi-agent system to which the transmission destination agent and the transmission source agent belong to the second framework C2. Further, in the communication between the first framework C1 and the second framework C2, the above-described bandwidth control is performed as necessary.

  When the second framework C2 of the second terminal receives the application ID and data (step S44), the second framework C2 is a second agent that is an agent of the multi-agent system A indicated by the received application ID (= xxx). The received data is transferred to the agent A2 (step S45), and the second agent A2 receives it.

As described above, when inter-agent communication is performed using the frameworks C1 and C2 according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to provide the inter-agent communication function for each of the agents A1, A2, B1, and B2. Since only one framework is required, the number of ports used for communication can be reduced (typically, one port may be used for one framework, but one or more ports may be used). When two or more frameworks are installed in one terminal, even if different ports are used for each framework, each framework provides the agent inter-agent communication function to reduce the number of required ports. it can.
The main function for inter-agent communication is a framework shared by multiple agents, so when developing and operating multiple multi-agent systems, the functions required for each multi-agent system Can reduce the number of individual multi-agent system development man-hours and operational load.

The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the meanings described above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.
For example, the framework does not have to have both a transmission function and a reception function for communication between agents, and may have only a transmission function or only a reception function. In the above-described embodiment, the transmission unit 13 determines whether the designated agent is permitted as a transmission destination agent according to the permitted agent list table (or the prohibited agent list table). 11 may do. Further, instead of or in addition to this, the receiving unit 14 (or the data passing unit 15) determines whether or not to receive (whether or not to pass data) according to the permitted agent list table. Also good.

1 is an overall view of a network system having a plurality of multi-agent systems. It is a general view which shows the other example of the network system which has a several multi agent system. It is a functional block diagram of a framework. It is a functional block diagram of an agent. It is a flowchart which shows an agent registration process. It is a flowchart which shows the registration process of a framework. It is a flowchart which shows a terminal list distribution process. It is a flowchart which shows the acquisition process of the terminal list by an agent. It is a flowchart which shows a communication process between agents.

Explanation of symbols

S network system A multi-agent system A1 agent A2 agent B multi-agent system B1 agent B2 agent 1 terminal computer 2 terminal computer 3 management server 11 acquisition unit 12 transmission destination framework identification unit 13 transmission unit 13a transmission control unit 14 reception unit 15 data Delivery section 16 Terminal list table 21 Transmission destination & data delivery section 22 Terminal list table 31 Terminal list table

Claims (8)

A computer program for causing a terminal computer used in a network system in which a plurality of multi-agent systems operate as a framework for a multi-agent system including an inter-agent communication unit,
The inter-agent communication unit is
An acquisition unit capable of acquiring data to be transmitted to a destination agent installed in another terminal computer, and destination agent specifying information for specifying a destination agent of the data from a plurality of agents installed in the terminal computer When,
Based on the transmission destination agent identification information acquired by the acquisition unit, an identification unit that identifies the multi-agent system framework in the other terminal computer on which the transmission destination agent is mounted as a transmission destination framework;
A transmission unit for transmitting the destination agent recognition information and the data for the transmission destination framework to recognize the transmission destination agent to the transmission destination framework identified by the identification unit;
A computer program comprising: The acquisition unit includes, as the destination agent specifying information, agent system specifying information for specifying a multi-agent system to which the destination agent belongs, and a framework for a multi-agent system in the other terminal computer on which the destination agent is mounted. Get framework specific information to identify
The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the identification unit identifies a multi-agent system framework indicated by the framework identification information as the transmission destination framework. The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the inter-agent communication unit includes a transmission control unit for controlling a transmission speed of the data transmitted by the transmission unit. The computer program according to claim 3, wherein the transmission control unit is capable of independently controlling a transmission speed of the data transmitted by the transmission unit for each of a plurality of agents installed in the terminal computer. The computer program according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the transmission control unit controls the transmission speed of the data according to the priority of each of a plurality of agents installed in the terminal computer. A computer program for causing a terminal computer used in a network system in which a plurality of multi-agent systems operate as a framework for a multi-agent system including an inter-agent communication unit,
The inter-agent communication unit is
A receiving unit that receives data transmitted from a framework for a multi-agent system of another terminal computer and transmission destination agent recognition information for recognizing an agent that is a transmission destination of the data;
A data passing unit that passes the data received by the receiving unit to an agent indicated by the destination agent recognition information received by the receiving unit among a plurality of agents installed in its terminal computer;
A computer program comprising: A network system in which a plurality of multi-agent systems operate,
A network system in which the computer program according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is installed in each terminal computer in the network system. A first terminal computer having a plurality of agents and a first framework for the plurality of agents; a second terminal computer having a plurality of agents and a second framework for the plurality of agents; In a network system in which a plurality of multi-agent systems are operated, one of the agents installed in the second terminal computer is changed from the first agent that is one of the agents installed in the first terminal computer. A method for inter-agent communication to a second agent,
The first framework acquires, from the first agent, data to be transmitted to the second agent and transmission destination agent identification information for identifying the second agent that is a transmission destination of the data;
The first framework identifying the second framework as a destination framework based on the destination agent identification information obtained from the first agent;
The first framework transmitting destination agent recognition information and the data for the destination framework to recognize the destination agent to the destination framework;
The second framework receiving the destination agent identification information and the data transmitted from the first framework;
The second framework recognizes the destination agent based on the received destination agent recognition information, and passes the received data to the recognized destination agent;
Agent-to-agent communication method including

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