Performance Models for Multi-agent Systems and Mobile Agent Network

Abstract

This chapter deals with performance issues in multi-agent systems and mobile agent networks applied to the Internet and enterprise systems. A mobile agent network extends the notion of a multi-agent system to the networked and distributed environment defining the Internet and enterprise systems which supports agent hosting, execution, communication and migration, and enables interaction among service users and service providers. The basic performance measures relevant to agent-based Internet applications and enterprise systems are response time and throughput. For performance evaluation purposes, a multi-agent system and a mobile agent network are described as a queuing system where an agent represents an information unit to be served. The problem of establishing and configuring agent-based distributed systems, including agent service capability, allocation of services to agents, and assignment of agents to systems nodes, is elaborated upon. Strategies for distributing services to agents and assigning agents to nodes, and their optimisation are discussed. Operational performance is analysed with network calculus using a theory of deterministic queuing. Case studies, as well as simulation-based performance evaluation results are presented.