On the role of multiply sectioned bayesian networks to cooperative multiagent systems

Abstract

We consider a common task in multiagent systems where agents need to estimate the state of an uncertain domain so that they can act accordingly. If each agent only has partial knowledge about the domain and local observations, how can the agents accomplish the task with a limited amount of communication? Multiply sectioned Bayesian networks (MSBNs) provide an effective and exact framework for such a task but also impose a set of constraints. Are there simpler frameworks with the same performance but with less constraints? We identify a small set of high level choices which logically imply the key representational choices leading to MSBNs. The result addresses the necessity of constraints of the framework. It facilitates comparisons with related frameworks and provides guidance to potential extensions of the framework.