JP3706738B2 - Agent cooperative processing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a program including a knowledge base and a rule base, and relates to an agent cooperative processing apparatus that performs schedule adjustment and user search using an agent and an expert system acting on behalf of a user.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Currently, there is an expert system disclosed in JP-A-6-4287. As shown in FIG. 15, there are many ideas inside the expert system. However, in the expert system in which the expert systems are connected by a network and exchanged by a message, the message directly disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-231184 is directly transmitted. There are many things to interpret. In addition, there is a method using a shared blackboard (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-214613) for exchange between expert systems.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-mentioned conventional expert system, many messages are directly interpreted and used, and received messages are accumulated before interpretation, and operations such as change of order, reference, deletion, addition, and composition cannot be performed. There are the following problems in message exchange between multiple expert systems.
Check and delete messages that are out of time, such as multicast or broadcast, use new messages for old messages, link to detailed messages later, retrieve multiple related messages, Receiving a response message for a broadcast message is a problem because there are many impossible functions such as message processing related to the content of the message, such as resuming processing when a necessary message is received before a specified timeout.
[0004]
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described conventional problems, and to provide various functions for received messages and to deal with them more flexibly.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a schedule knowledge storage means for storing schedule information of an owner user who is an owner of the agent cooperative processing device in an agent cooperative processing device that transmits and receives messages to and from other agents. Agent whereabouts knowledge storage means for storing whereabouts information of the other agent, where the agent cooperative processing device needs to contact the owner user, and where the owner user is located When not sure, the schedule knowledge storage means is referred to, the owner user's location is determined from the owner user's schedule, and the owner user's location is determined by referring to the agent location knowledge storage means. Recognize the other agent in your location Transmitting an owner search request message for causing the other agent in the location of the owner user to perform an output for confirming the location of the owner user, receiving the owner search request message, and receiving the owner user The owner search response is received from the other agent in the location where the search is performed, and the search result information is obtained from the owner search response to recognize the location of the owner user. .
In the present invention, an agent configured with knowledge description and behavior description as an element queues a message, looks at the contents of the message, and operates in relation to other processing (time measurement, etc.). It is something that can be done.
[0006]
As a result, for a large number of messages to the agent, the necessary messages are fetched, the other messages are not processed, the processing is performed when the necessary messages are obtained, the use of newer messages, the message of new messages Various processing for messages such as refinement and relations becomes possible.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is a schedule knowledge storage means for storing schedule information of an owner user who is an owner of the agent cooperative processing apparatus in an agent cooperative processing apparatus that transmits / receives a message to / from another agent. And agent location knowledge storage means for storing the location information of the other agent, and the agent cooperative processing device needs to contact the owner user when the owner user's location information is stored. When the location is unknown, the owner user who refers to the schedule knowledge storage means, wins the location of the owner user from the schedule of the owner user, and wins the location by referring to the agent location knowledge storage means Recognize the other agent in the location of An owner search request message for causing the other agent in the location of the owner user to perform output for confirming the location of the owner user is transmitted, the owner search request message is received, and the owner user's The owner search response is received from the other agent in the location where the search is performed, and the search result information is obtained from the owner search response to recognize the location of the owner user. As a result, it is possible to estimate the user's whereabouts based on whereabouts, schedule name, time, person name, etc. as the contents described in the schedule, and specify the whereabouts of the user via the agent of the whereabouts. It has an effect that it can be easily searched.
[0013]
FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an agent cooperative processing apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. The user inputs a user schedule, a meeting adjustment request, a search request, and the like to the user agents 103 and 104 through the interface agents 101 and 102. The coordinator agent 105 obtains and adjusts a corresponding schedule from each user agent in response to a conference adjustment request from the user agents 103 and 104. The result is reported through the user agents 103 and 104 and the interface agents 101 and 102.
[0014]
Further, in response to a user search request from the user agents 103 and 104, the cooperation promoter 106 performs multicasting of a search message to a registered user agent.
[0015]
The agent environment server group includes a name server, an ID server, and an agent management server for the agent.
[0016]
Of the overall configuration as described above, the following mainly describes the user agent 103 in the first to third embodiments.
[0017]
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the agent according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 201 is a message input means for receiving messages from other agents and interface agents that input / output users, 202 is a message queuing means for storing received messages, and 203 is a message from message queuing means. , A process for the corresponding message is found from the knowledge / rulebase storage means, and a knowledge / rulebase interpretation means for executing the process, 204 is a knowledge / rulebase storage means for storing the knowledge / rulebase, and 205 A time measuring means 206 for measuring and notifying time according to an instruction from the knowledge / rule base interpreting means; a message queue operating means for operating a message in the message queuing means according to an instruction from the knowledge / rule base interpreting means; 2 7 is a message output means for sending messages to other agents or interface agent by an instruction from the knowledge rule-based interpretation means.
[0018]
The operation of the agent 103 configured as described above will be described below. Note that the agent 104 performs the same operation.
[0019]
FIG. 3 is a knowledge / rulebase description stored in the knowledge / rulebase storage means 204 used by the agent 103. This description consists of a description of the operation and knowledge of the user agent 103 that became the originator of the conference. The description of knowledge is a line starting from “knowledge”, and the operation description is a part of the form “? >>>>[?]-> [?].”. ? Is described in detail by each operation description. A series of operations in which the user agent 103 who becomes the originator collects schedule information and creates an adjustment plan for a specified period from each user agent and transmits a decision plan to the originator in response to a conference start request from the interface agent 101 in FIG. Will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
[0020]
FIG. 4 shows an operation procedure of the agent 103. Hereinafter, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. 4 on the assumption that the knowledge / rulebase description as shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the knowledge / rulebase storage means 204.
[0021]
4, first, the message input means 201 corresponds to the part A of “A >> [B] ---> [C].” In the description of the schedule adjustment plan creation request in FIG. 3 from the interface agent. A message is obtained (step 401). The message queuing means 202 accumulates this message (step 402). The knowledge / rulebase interpreting means 203 takes out one message from the message queuing means 202 and matches the operation description of the schedule adjustment proposal creation request by the description of FIG. 3 stored in the knowledge / rulebase storage means 204, The operation is executed (step 403). As the operation, from the description “for_all_receiver (...)”, The message output means 207 transmits a message requesting schedule information to each user agent to the destination “ReceiversUaList” (step 404).
[0022]
Next, the time-out time is referred to from the knowledge description, and here, 60 seconds is set in the time measuring means 205 and is reported when the time is up. Further, when the designated message arrives at the message queuing means 202, the message is obtained, and when a message is returned from the designated destination, the following processing is set. The “queing _...” portion of FIG. 3 (step 405).
In response to the schedule information request message, schedule information responses from other agents pass through the message input means 201 and are stored in the message queuing means 202. The message queuing means 206 checks whether the designated message has arrived at the message queuing means 202 from the designated destination (step 406).
[0023]
If the designated message has arrived from all the designated destinations before the designated time, the process proceeds to the next process, the adjustment process of FIG. If it has not arrived, adjustment processing is performed based on the information received up to that point. Then, the adjustment result is reported to the initiator through the interface agent by the message output means 207 (step 407).
[0024]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the next operation can be performed at the time when all necessary messages are received or at the designated time by the operation and time measurement for the message queue and the message queue.
[0025]
(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an agent according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 501 denotes a message input means for receiving a message from an interface agent 101 that inputs / outputs other agents and users, 502 denotes a message queuing means for storing received messages, and 503 denotes a message from the message queuing means 502. A message is extracted, a process for the corresponding message is found from the knowledge / rulebase storage means 504, and a knowledge / rulebase interpretation means for executing the process, 504 is a knowledge / rulebase storage means for storing the knowledge / rulebase, 505 Is a message queue operation means for manipulating the message in the message queuing means 502 according to an instruction from the knowledge / rule base interpretation means 503, and 506 is a message according to the execution result of the knowledge / rule base interpretation means 503. Message queuing means for manipulating messages accumulated in the message queuing means 502 to be accumulated, 507 is message queuing means for accumulating messages according to the execution result of the knowledge / rule base interpretation means 503, and 508 is knowledge / rule base interpretation This is a message output means for transmitting a message to another agent or interface agent in accordance with an instruction from the means.
[0026]
The operation of the agent configured as described above will be described below. FIG. 6 shows a description of the knowledge / rule base stored in the knowledge / rule base storage means 504 used in the agent. This description includes a conference opening notification and a description of the operation of the user agent regarding the operation when the user logs in. Regarding the series of operations in which the participant's user agent receives meeting information and notifies the message if the user is logged in, and accumulates and notifies when the user logs in if the user is not logged in. This will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
[0027]
FIG. 7 shows an operation procedure of the agent 103. Hereinafter, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. 7 assuming that the knowledge / rulebase description of FIG. 6 is stored in the knowledge / rulebase storage means 504.
[0028]
7, first, the message input means 501 sends a message corresponding to the part A of “A >> [B] ---> [C].” In the description of the schedule notification in FIG. 6 from the interface agent. Obtain (step 701). The message queuing means 502 stores this message (step 702). The knowledge / rulebase interpreting means 503 takes out one message from the message queuing means 502, matches the action description of the event schedule notification by the description of FIG. 6 stored in the knowledge / rulebase storage means 504, and the action Is executed (step 703).
[0029]
As the operation, from the description “notify (...)”, If the user is logged in, the message obtained now is transmitted to the interface agent through the message output means 508, and the schedule notification is displayed to the user. If is not logged in, this message is stored in the message queuing means 506 (step 704).
[0030]
A message corresponding to the login of the user shown in FIG. 6 arrives from the message input means 501 (step 705), is stored in the message queuing means 502 (step 706), and the knowledge / rule base interpretation means 503 uses the user shown in FIG. If the message matches with the login message, execute the “Interpret: ...” part. In the description of the same FIG. 6, if a notification item is requested by the user, the notification item is notified. Match and do the action there. In this operation, whether there is a notification item is checked through the message queue operation unit 505. If there is a notification item, the notification item is collected from the message queuing unit 507 (step 707). And send to. (Step 708).
[0031]
As described above, in this embodiment, the message queue operation unit 505 associates two message queues so that notification items can be notified at the time of user login.
[0032]
Also, for example, send the meeting information as a message, send the minutes message to the user agent of the user who did not attend, and link the meeting information message and the minutes message by label etc., link There are many application examples, such as effectively notifying the user by combining or synthesizing, or deleting accumulated messages related to meetings and schedules that have been held using time measurement time. .
[0033]
(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an agent according to the third embodiment. In FIG. 8, reference numerals 801 and 810 denote message input means for receiving messages from other agents and interface agents 101 that perform user input / output, 802 denotes message queuing means for storing received messages, and 803 and 811 denote message queues. The message is taken out from the ingestion means 802, the processing for the corresponding message is found from the knowledge / rulebase storage means 804, and the knowledge / rulebase interpretation means for executing the processing, 804 and 812 are the knowledge / rulebase storing the knowledge / rulebase. Rule base storage means 805 is a time measuring means for measuring and notifying time according to an instruction from the knowledge / rule base interpretation means 803, and 806 is a message queuing means 802 according to an instruction from the knowledge / rule base interpretation means 803. Message queue operation means 807 and 813 for operating the messages in the message, message output means for sending messages to other agents and interface agents 101 in accordance with instructions from the knowledge / rule base interpretation means 803, and schedule knowledge for storing schedule information 808 Storage means 809 is agent location knowledge storage means for storing the agent name and its location information. The interface agents 101 and 102 serve as interfaces between corresponding agents and users, and communicate through message input means and message output means.
[0034]
The operation of the agent 103 configured as described above will be described below. The knowledge / rulebase description as shown in FIG. 9 is stored in the knowledge / rulebase storage means 804, the knowledge / rulebase description as shown in FIG. 10 is stored in the agent location knowledge storage means, and the knowledge / rulebase description as shown in FIG. The description is stored in the knowledge / rule base storage unit 812, and the knowledge / rule base description as shown in FIG. 12 is stored in the schedule knowledge storage unit 808. With these descriptions, when an owner search request from a user agent is made, the user's schedule is referred to, and the user's whereabouts are confirmed through the user agent in the whereabouts based on the whereabouts information described in the schedule. It consists of knowledge description and action description. This series of operations will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
[0035]
13 and 14 show the operation procedure of this agent. The operation will be described below assuming that the knowledge / rulebase description from FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 is stored in each storage means according to the operation flow shown in FIGS.
[0036]
In FIG. 8, first, the message input means 801 receives a message from the interface agent 101 or another agent (steps 1301 and 1502). The message queuing means 802 accumulates this (step 1503).
[0037]
The knowledge / rulebase interpreting means 803 takes out one message from the message queuing means 802, matches the operation description for the owner search task by the description of FIG. 9 stored in the knowledge / rulebase storage means 804, and The operation is executed (step 1304). As the operation, the following operation is performed in the description “search_owner (...) .First, the schedule knowledge stored in the schedule knowledge storage means 808, the schedule that matches the current time is selected from FIG. If the schedule information from 18:00 to 20:00 on March 11, 1998 in the first row is the current time, agent location knowledge storage means 809 storing the description of FIG. The agent names matching “conference room 1” are “user1_ua” and “user2_ua.” The message output means 807 transmits an owner search request to these user agents (step 1305). ).
[0038]
At this time, the time-out time for these messages is set in the time measuring means 805 (step 1306), and the message queue operating means 806 checks whether it has been received (step 1307). The message output unit 807 receives the message from the transmitted agent and outputs the owner search result to the interface agent 101 or the like.
[0039]
Further, the user agent that has received the owner search request receives the message input means of FIG. 8 (step 1401), and the owner search request is stored according to the description of FIG. 11 stored in the knowledge / rule base storage means 812 of FIG. Are matched (step 1402) and transmitted to the interface agent 102 through the message output means 813 (step 1403).
[0040]
The interface agent 102 outputs a message such as “Is looking for Mr. ~? Do you like Mr. ~” and obtains information about whether Mr. ~ is present (step 1404). The information is obtained by the message input means 810 (description portion of the owner search response from the interface agent in FIG. 11) (step 1405), and the response to the searcher is sent by the knowledge / rulebase interpretation means 811 to the searcher by the message output means 813. Transmit (step 1407).
[0041]
As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to search for users using schedule information and using other user agents. Here, the location information of the schedule was used, but a lot of schedule information was used, such as information on human relations such as participants described in the schedule, and estimating the user's whereabouts from the tendency of multiple schedules. A user search method is conceivable.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the operation of the message queue and the message queue and the time measurement enable the next operation at the time when all necessary messages are received or at the specified time. On the other hand, it is possible to realize flexible cooperative processing by changing the order and providing various functions such as reference, deletion, addition, and composition.
[0043]
Further, it is possible to easily make a search using the schedule information and search for a user using another user agent.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an agent cooperative processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an agent according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an agent knowledge / rule according to the first embodiment. Base Description FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the agent in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the agent in the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a knowledge / rule base description of the agent in the second embodiment. 7 is a flowchart showing an agent procedure in the second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the agent in the third embodiment. FIG. 9 is a knowledge / rulebase description of the agent in the third embodiment. Agent knowledge / rulebase description in form 3 [FIG. 11] Agent in form 3 Knowledge / Rulebase Description [FIG. 12] Knowledge / Rulebase Description of Agent in Embodiment 3 [FIG. 13] Flow Diagram showing Procedure 1 of Agent in Embodiment 3 [FIG. 14] Procedure of Agent in Embodiment 3 FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional expert system.
101 Interface Agent 102 Interface Agent 103 User Agent 104 User Agent 105 Coordinator Agent 106 Cooperation Promoter 107 Agent Environment Server Group 201 Message Input Means 202 Message Queuing Means 203 Knowledge / Rule Base Interpretation Means 204 Knowledge / Rule Base Storage Means 205 Time Measurement means 206 Message queue operation means 207 Message output means 501 Message input means 502 Message queuing means 503 Knowledge / rule base interpretation means 504 Knowledge / rule base storage means 505 Message queue operation means 506 Message queue operation means 507 Message queuing means 508 Message output means 801 Message input means 802 Message queuing means 803 Knowledge / rule base interpretation means 804 Knowledge / rule base storage means 805 Time measurement means 806 Message queue operation means 807 Message output means 808 Schedule knowledge storage means 809 Agent location knowledge storage means 810 Message input means 811 Knowledge / Rule base interpretation means 812 Knowledge / rule base storage means 813 Message output means

Claims (1)

In the agent cooperative processing device that sends and receives messages with other agents,
Schedule knowledge storage means for storing schedule information of an owner user who is an owner of the agent cooperative processing apparatus, and agent location knowledge storage means for storing the location information of the other agent,
When it is necessary for the agent cooperative processing device to contact the owner user and the whereabouts of the owner user is unknown, the schedule knowledge storage means is referred to and the owner user's schedule is used to determine the ownership. The other user in the whereabouts of the owner user is recognized by referring to the agent whereabouts knowledge storing means, and the other agent in the whereabouts of the owner user is recognized. An agent search request message for causing the agent to confirm the location of the owner user is transmitted, the owner search request message is received, and the owner user search is performed. An owner search response is received from another agent, and search result information is obtained from the owner search response. Agent collaboration processing apparatus characterized by recognizing the location of the owner user Rukoto.

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