Two Concepts of Module, for Agent Societies and Inter-societal Agent Systems

Abstract

This paper introduces two concepts of module, for agent societies and inter-societal agent systems. The first concept defines modules on the basis of agent organizations, the second, on the basis of whole agent societies. The former serves the modularization of agent societies. The latter, the modularization of inter-societal agent systems. Both are shown to serve as agent-based modules for conventional software systems. The two concepts are first defined formally and, then, illustrated generically with the help of an informally proposed module language for agent societies. Finally, a case study sketches a concrete example of the use of agent organizations for the modular construction of agent societies.