An Approach for Fault Tolerance in Multi-Agent Systems using Learning Agents

Abstract

Through this paper, the authors propose a new approach to get fault tolerant multi-agent systems using learning agents. Generally, the exceptions in the multi-agent system are divided into two main groups: private exceptions that are treated directly by the agents and global exceptions that combine all unexpected exceptions that need handlers to be solved. The proposed approach solves the problem of these global exceptions using learning agents. This work uses a formal model called hierarchical plans to model the activities of the system's agents in order to facilitate the exception detection and to model the communication with the learning agent. This latter uses a modified version of the Q Learning Algorithm in order to choose which handler can be used to solve an exceptions. The paper tries to give a new direction in the field of fault tolerance in multi-agent systems by using learning agents, the proposed solution makes it possible to adapt the handler used in case of failure within the context changes and treat repeated exceptions using learning agent experiences.