Application Of Software Agents Research Articles

Knowledge Management in Multimedia Communication Using Software Agents

This paper presents the problem of knowledge management related to software agents and agent systems (i.e. systems composed of communicating and cooperating software agents). The author presents basic theoretical issues, but the main focus is on the areas of application of software agents in multimedia communication - both existing and prospective applications. Particular attention has been paid to the applications of software agents for: supporting customer service processes through the Contact Centre system; supporting the distance learning system; creating virtual assistants in the form of conversation bots; searching for information in the Semantic Web, and assisting in setting up a video conference call. Software agents are often referred to as 'intelligent' - due to their intelligent behaviour. At their core, they involve: perception, reasoning, learning, communication and operation in complex environments, using all multimedia techniques and procedures. Software agents and agent systems, as presented in this article, represent a new approach to the analysis, design and implementation of complex (usually decentralised and distributed) computer systems, offering a whole range of concepts, techniques and tools to significantly improve the software development process. The ability of software agents to make autonomous decisions have been a subject of considerations. Among other things, they are based on the example of cognitive sciences, which deal with modelling real processes of information processing in humans and building programmes that imitate these processes. Research on the common understanding of shared knowledge and knowledge management in agent-based systems focuses on ontologies, understood as a description of the relationship between the way knowledge is represented and the concept represented by that knowledge. In contrast, research on knowledge sharing has focused on communication languages and their associated - interaction protocol and message transport protocol.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Modeling and Simulation Applications of Software Agents

The aim of this Special Issue is to introduce to the readers a selection of papers from the 3rd Workshop on Applications of Software Agents - WASA 2013 in the area of agent-based modelling and simulation. WASA'2013 was held in Sinaia, Romania, during October 11-13, 2013. The WASA 2013 workshop was organized within the framework of the 17th International Conference on Theory, Control and Computing - ICSTCC'2013. The aim of the WASA series of workshops is to contribute to the advancement of technologies and applications of software agents' by bridging the gap between the theory and practice of software agents. Fifteen papers were accepted for presentation at WASA'2013. Among them, 3 papers were selected, after further extension and additional review, for inclusion in this Special Issue on Modeling and Applications of Software Agents. The article A Supporting the Evaluation of the Operational Effectiveness of Naval Tasks Based on Agent Simulation by Davide Anghinolfi, Alberto Capogrosso, Massimo Paolucci, and Perra Francesco is in the area of agent-based modelling and simulation. The authors propose an agent-based simulation model denoted as denoted as Operational Evaluator Model, for the multi-dimensional analysis of alternative configurations of military naval units to support the design of naval vessels. After the careful consideration of several existing frameworks for agent-based simulation, the authors propose their own framework denoted as ABSF. The paper contains convincing experimental results obtained by simulation of a specific Anti-surface Warfare use case that support the advantages of ABSF over other agent-based simulation frameworks. The article Formal Modelling and of a Multi-Agent Nano-Robotic Drug Delivery System by Marina Ntika, Petros Kefalas, and Ioanna Stamatopoulou is in the area of agent-based modelling and simulation. The authors propose an agent-based simulation model for targeted drug delivery with the help of nano-robots. The simulation model is developed using X-machines, while the simulation itself was achieved using NetLogo. The paper reports interesting experimental results that were obtain by applying the proposed agent-based simulation model, thus supporting the usefulness of formal multi-agent system for the better understanding of collaborative nano-robotic technologies for drug delivery in unhealthy tissues. The article ABVE-Construct: An Agent-Based Virtual Enterprise Model for Civil Engineering by Mihaela Oprea is in the area of agent-based enterprise modelling. This paper proposes a generic framework for virtual enterprises development denoted as VE-Frame. Based on this framework, a new agent-based virtual enterprise model for the civil engineering domain denoted as ABVE-Construct, is formulated. The ABVE-Construct ontology and design model are developed using OWL and Protege, as well as using Prometheus Design Tool. The proposed framework and model are evaluated by considering a specific case study of a residential building construction task. We would also like to thank all the reviewers for their restless reviewing effort and valuable feedback and all the authors who submitted papers to WASA'2013 and to this Special Issue.

A Secure Protocol for Indian Healthcare Sector during Multiparty Computation

This paper presents an application of software agents in a specific engineering problem: multitarget surveillance with several cameras sensing a closed environment. Each agent controls a cam- era, and from the coordination of them will emerge an improvement of the global surveillance task. Agents emulate human camera oper- ators and, therefore human-like reasoning and human-like communi- cation is pursued. Agents cooperate by exchanging speech-act based messages that allow them to interpret the situation faced locally.

Assisting Learners to Dynamically Adjust Learning Processes through Software Agents

To make online learning more productive, software agent technology has been applied to provide services for learners in order to assist them to construct knowledge in constructivist ways. This paper is focused on the application of software agents in assisting learners to dynamically adjust learning processes. Unlike pedagogical agents, the agents in this application do not hold domain knowledge but simply assist learners to get through learning processes by a variety of supportive services. They assist learners to develop personalized preferred learning plans and to guide them to dynamically adjust learning toward their goals. In this article, the online learning process is first investigated, and an approach to assisting learners to dynamically adjust learning is outlined. Then, the structure of the UOL (unit of learning) database that provides links between a practical learning scenario and the required services is explored. A multi-agent architecture for realizing the services is configured, and the roles of the involved agents are described. After that, the related agent algorithms for guiding learners to dynamically adjust learning are described.

Software Agent Technology

Software agent technology is an exciting paradigm which can be efficiently applied to many distributed computing problems, particularly those that require dynamic behavior to reach a solution. Software agent technology has emerged as an enhancement of, if not an alternative to, the traditional client/server model in such an environment. Mobile agents can migrate to a desired remote peer and take advantage of local processing rather then relying on remote procedure calls (RPC) across the network, as in the case of client/server systems. Also, agents are entities which function continuously and autonomously in a particular environment, and are able to carry out activities in a flexible and intelligent manner that is responsive to the dynamically changing environment. Ideally, an agent that functions continuously would be able to learn from experience and have capabilities to adapt to ad-hoc events and apply suitable functionality depending on the circumstances. Employment of the agent technology in the traditional client-server environments could result in more robust, flexible and better performing solutions for many applications. In this special issue, we have collected five cutting edge research papers which are the extended versions of a selected group of the papers already published in Intelligent Agent Systems 2005 (IAS 05) special track at the 18th International FLAIRS Conference. The first paper, Agents Go Traveling, by D. O'Kane, D. Marsh, S. Shen, R. Tynan and G. M. P. O'Hare, is concerned with the infrastructure support for nomadic agents. The authors have introduced the Agent Travel Metaphor (ATM) which offers a metaphor fostering integration of control and security. The second paper is entitled Exploiting Shared Ontologies with Default Information for Web Agents, by Y. Ma, B. Jin and M. Zhou. This paper uses distributed description logic (DDL) to model the mappings between ontologies used by different agents and further makes an extension to the DDL model. A WS-Agreement Based Resource Negotiation Framework for Mobile Agents is the title of the third paper by D. G. A. Mobach, B. J. Overeinder, and F. M. T Brazier. This paper presents a negotiation infrastructure with which agents acquire time-limited resource contracts through negotiation with one or more mediators instead of individual hosting systems. The fourth paper, Agent Composition via Role-Based Infrastructures, by G. Cabri, proposes to build infrastructures based on roles, which are abstractions that enable the composition of different agents in an open scenario. Finally the last paper, unlike the first four papers, presents an application of software agents for support of student mobility. This paper is authored by M. Ganzha, W. Kuranowski and M. Paprzycki. We have tried our best to present quality works in this special issue and certainly hope that we have achieved this goal. Shahram Rahimi, Raheel Ahmad

Software agents and agency: A personal information management perspective

This paper considers the concept of agency and the applications of software agents within the field of Personal Information Management (PIM). PIM addresses the complex activities undertaken by individuals when organising their personal information. In the context of Personal Information Management, effective software agents may allow users to obtain information relevant to their tasks, and present it in a form that is directly targeted to the needs of the user.