Designing Multi-Agent Systems from Logic Specifications - Distributed Artificial Intelligence, Agent Technology, and Collaborative Applications - page 20

conclusion

We present a program construction method by verifying specifications in first-order logic. In this method,
programs in γ-Calculus are constructed directly from logical specifications. The constructed programs
are parallel programs, thanks to the inherently parallel nature of the Gamma computational model. We
exploited the use of this method in the design of the architectures of multi-agent systems. Starting from
logic specification of the architecture, which defines the input/output relationship among the interacting
agents, a semantic verification program in γ-Calculus is constructed in a systematic rewriting process
by recursively applying a set of rules. The method is effective in the architectural design due to the
automation of the process. The method translates the specification from logic level to operational level
and this furnishes transformational design of the system in an incremental fashion. We used this method
in the design of a course information management system. The derived specification of the system in
Gamma language described the architecture of the interacting agent system and guided the correct
implementation of the system. The implementation of the system is also presented.

acknowledg Ment

This research is supported by the National Science Foundation grant (#0619312) and U.S. Army
Research Office award (#W911NF-04-1-0024) through Scholars Academy of University of Houston-
Downtown.

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