Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
that this stimulation sequence can start again as soon as it finishes the last step.
These definitions reflect the assumptions about the agent model we consider [10],
which, in particular, defines precise - internal - consequences for each of these
stimulation steps.
Agents interact by stimulating each other. But to have this capability, it is
first necessary to define that an agent's action causes a stimulation in another
agent. This is done through action transformers , which specifies that if agent
ag 1 performs the action a , then agent ag 2 should be stimulated with s .
Definition 6 (Action Transformer). An action transformer is a tuple
ag 1 ,a,s,ag 2
such that:
- ag 1
is an agent profile
n, S 1 ,A 1
;
- ag 2
is an agent profile
m, S 2 ,A 2
;
- a is an action such that a
A 1 ;
- s is a stimulus such that s
S 2 ;
Moreover, the corresponding π -calculus expression for the action transformer is
defined as:
[
ag 1 ,a,s,ag 2 ] π =
T
emit a ,stop a ,absent s , beginning s ,stable s ,ending s
,destroy s,m
(
a,n )
where
T ( emit, stop, absent, beginning, stable, ending, destroy )=
Normal behavior
emit.beginning.stable.stop.ending.absent .
T ( emit, stop, absent, beginning, stable, ending, destroy ))+
destroy
To disable the action transformer
(
The above definition can be divided in two parts. First, there is its normal
behavior, which merely defines the correct sequence through which an action is
transformed in a stimulus. Once such a sequence is completed, a recursive call to
the process definition restarts the action transformer. Second, there is the part
that allows the transformer to be destroyed. By performing destroy , the action
transformer disappears, since this event is not followed by anything. Figure 1
shows an example of environment in which the role of action transformers can
be appreciated.
We choose to have an intermediate structure such as the action transformer
between the agents instead of allowing a direct communication because an agent's
actions may have other effects besides stimulation. In particular, the environ-
ment can also respond to such actions in custom ways through the specified
environment behaviors.
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search