The document discusses nature-inspired coordination for complex multi-agent systems. It provides examples of early nature-inspired coordination models like stigmergy and chemical coordination. It also discusses modern field-based and (bio)chemical coordination models. It addresses basic issues with nature-inspired coordination regarding the environment and incorporating stochastic behavior. It discusses tuple-based coordination models and how Linda inspired many extensions, some of which are nature-inspired. It argues that fully capturing natural systems requires addressing time dependency and stochasticity in coordination models.
Course on "Nature-inspired Coordination Models for Complex Distributed Systems", Part II.
CUSO Seminar on Coordination Models, 20 - 21 November 2014, Fribourg, CH
Autonomy, Interaction & Complexity in Computational Systems. Preliminary NotesAndrea Omicini
The issues of autonomy do not end with autonomous components. Autonomous systems are complex self-organising systems where interaction plays an essential role. Here we discuss some early thoughts on autonomy, interaction, and complexity in artificial systems, and suggest that nature-inspired coordination models should work as the main sources of technologies.
Complexity & Interaction: Blurring Borders between Physical, Computational, a...Andrea Omicini
Complex systems of any sorts are characterised by autonomous components interacting with each other in a non-trivial way. In this paper we discuss how the views on complexity are evolving in fields like physics, social sciences, and computer science, and – most significantly – how they are converging. In particular, we focus on the role of interaction as the most important dimension for modelling complexity, and discuss first how coordination via mediated interaction could determine the general dynamics of complex software system, then how this applies to complex socio-technical systems like social networks.
Nature-inspired Coordination for Complex Distributed SystemsAndrea Omicini
Originating from closed parallel systems, coordination models and technologies gained in expressive power so to deal with open distributed systems. In particular, nature-inspired models of coordination emerged in the last decade as the most effective approaches to tackle the complexity of pervasive, intelligent, and self-* systems. In this talk we survey the most relevant nature-inspired coordination models, discuss the main open issues, and explore the potential for their future development.
[Invited Talk @ IDC 2012, Calabria, Italy, 26/9/2012]
MoK: Stigmergy Meets Chemistry to Exploit Social Actions for Coordination Pur...Stefano Mariani
This talk discusses the paper “MoK: Stigmergy Meets Chemistry to Exploit Social Actions for Coordination Purposes”, presented at SOCIAL:PATH @ AISB 2013.
Course on "Nature-inspired Coordination Models for Complex Distributed Systems", Part II.
CUSO Seminar on Coordination Models, 20 - 21 November 2014, Fribourg, CH
Autonomy, Interaction & Complexity in Computational Systems. Preliminary NotesAndrea Omicini
The issues of autonomy do not end with autonomous components. Autonomous systems are complex self-organising systems where interaction plays an essential role. Here we discuss some early thoughts on autonomy, interaction, and complexity in artificial systems, and suggest that nature-inspired coordination models should work as the main sources of technologies.
Complexity & Interaction: Blurring Borders between Physical, Computational, a...Andrea Omicini
Complex systems of any sorts are characterised by autonomous components interacting with each other in a non-trivial way. In this paper we discuss how the views on complexity are evolving in fields like physics, social sciences, and computer science, and – most significantly – how they are converging. In particular, we focus on the role of interaction as the most important dimension for modelling complexity, and discuss first how coordination via mediated interaction could determine the general dynamics of complex software system, then how this applies to complex socio-technical systems like social networks.
Nature-inspired Coordination for Complex Distributed SystemsAndrea Omicini
Originating from closed parallel systems, coordination models and technologies gained in expressive power so to deal with open distributed systems. In particular, nature-inspired models of coordination emerged in the last decade as the most effective approaches to tackle the complexity of pervasive, intelligent, and self-* systems. In this talk we survey the most relevant nature-inspired coordination models, discuss the main open issues, and explore the potential for their future development.
[Invited Talk @ IDC 2012, Calabria, Italy, 26/9/2012]
MoK: Stigmergy Meets Chemistry to Exploit Social Actions for Coordination Pur...Stefano Mariani
This talk discusses the paper “MoK: Stigmergy Meets Chemistry to Exploit Social Actions for Coordination Purposes”, presented at SOCIAL:PATH @ AISB 2013.
Cyclodextrins merupakan senyawa polisiklik kompleks yang terbentuk dari 6 sampai 8 molekul glukosa yang diikat oleh ikatan glikosida. Senyawa ini berbentuk seperti tabung tanpa tutup dengan rongga ditengahnya. Berdasarkan struktur kimianya, pada bagian dalam rongga bersifat hydrophobic dan bersifat hydrophylic pada permukaan luar rongganya.
How do we describe the bonding between transition metal (ions) and their ligands (like water, ammonia, CO etc) ?
The Crystal Field Model gives a simple theory to explain electronic spectra.
Coordination Models and Technologies toward Self-Organising SystemsAndrea Omicini
Starting from the pioneering work on Linda and Gamma, coordination models and languages have gone through an amazing evolution process over the years. From closed to open systems, from parallel computing to multi-agent systems and from database integration to knowledge-intensive environments, coordination abstractions and technologies have gained in relevance and power in those scenarios where complexity has become a key factor. In this lecture, we outline and motivate 25 years of evolution of coordination models and discuss their potential perspectives in the future of artificial systems.
[Lecture at the AWARENESS Virtual Lecture Series]
Nature-inspired Coordination: Current Status and Research TrendsAndrea Omicini
Tutorial @WI 2017, Leipzig, 23 August 2017
Andrea Omicini & Stefano Mariani, Lecturers
Originating from closed parallel systems, coordination models and technologies gained in expressive power so as to deal with complex distributed systems. In particular, nature-inspired models of coordination emerged in the last decade as the most effective approaches to tackle the complexity of pervasive, intelligent, and self-* systems.
In the first part of the tutorial we introduce the basic notions of coordination and coordination model, and relate them to the notions of interaction and complexity. Then, the most relevant nature-inspired coordination (NIC) models are discussed, along with their relationship with the many facets of tuple-based models. In the third part we discuss the main open issues and explore the trends for future development of NIC. Finally, as a case study, we focus on MoK (Molecules of Knowledge), a NIC model for knowledge self-organisation, where data and information autonomously aggregate and spread toward knowledge prosumers.
From Coordination to Semantic Self-Organisation: A Perspective on the Enginee...Andrea Omicini
After briefly recapitulating the classical lines of the literature on coordination models, we discuss the new lines of research that aim at addressing the coordination of complex systems, then focus on mechanisms and patterns of coordination for self-organising systems. The notions of semantic coordination and self-organising coordination are defined and shortly discussed, then a vision of SOSC (self-organising semantic coordination) is presented, along with some insights over available technologies and possible scenarios for SOSC.
[Lecture at the PhD Mini-school, 11th National Workshop "From Objects to Agents" (WOA 2010) — 05/09/2010, Bologna, Italy.
Complexity & Interaction: Blurring Borders between Physical, Computational, a...Andrea Omicini
Complex systems of any kind are characterised by autonomous components interacting with each other in a non-trivial way. In this short talk, we discuss how the views on complexity are evolving in fields like physics, social sciences, and computer science, and – most significantly – how they are converging. In particular, we focus on the role of interaction as the foremost dimension for modelling complexity, and discuss first how coordination via mediated interaction could determine the general dynamics of complex software system, then how this applies to complex socio-technical systems like social networks.
Self-Organising News Management: The Molecules Of Knowledge ApproachStefano Mariani
This talk discusses the paper “Self-Organising News Management: The Molecules of Knowledge Approach”, presented at the 1st International Workshop on Adaptive Service Ecosystems: Natural and Socially Inspired Solutions (ASENSIS 2012).
Self-Organising News Management: The Molecules of Knowledge ApproachAndrea Omicini
Nowadays, news management systems present new critical challenges in the knowledge management process: the ever-increasing amount of information to handle, its hetero- geneity in structure, and the pace at which it is made available are just a few to mention. Features such as autonomy and self- organisation are apparently essential to face challenges of such a sort: we foresee systems where news are generated in shared spaces – compartments – as molecules of knowledge, which self- aggregate and autonomously move toward news prosumers— e.g., journalists. Along this line, we discuss the Molecules of Knowledge (MoK) model for self-organising news management, featuring biochemical tuple spaces for creation, aggregation, diffusion and consumption of news. We discuss the MoK general computational model and describe its main abstractions, then we focus on news management, showing how to integrate the state-of-art international standards for news representation and dissemination in MoK, thus leading to the MoK-News domain-specific model; finally we discuss our first experiments in self-organising knowledge-oriented coordination for news management.
[ASENSIS @ SASO 2012, Lyon, France — 10/09/2012]
Cyclodextrins merupakan senyawa polisiklik kompleks yang terbentuk dari 6 sampai 8 molekul glukosa yang diikat oleh ikatan glikosida. Senyawa ini berbentuk seperti tabung tanpa tutup dengan rongga ditengahnya. Berdasarkan struktur kimianya, pada bagian dalam rongga bersifat hydrophobic dan bersifat hydrophylic pada permukaan luar rongganya.
How do we describe the bonding between transition metal (ions) and their ligands (like water, ammonia, CO etc) ?
The Crystal Field Model gives a simple theory to explain electronic spectra.
Coordination Models and Technologies toward Self-Organising SystemsAndrea Omicini
Starting from the pioneering work on Linda and Gamma, coordination models and languages have gone through an amazing evolution process over the years. From closed to open systems, from parallel computing to multi-agent systems and from database integration to knowledge-intensive environments, coordination abstractions and technologies have gained in relevance and power in those scenarios where complexity has become a key factor. In this lecture, we outline and motivate 25 years of evolution of coordination models and discuss their potential perspectives in the future of artificial systems.
[Lecture at the AWARENESS Virtual Lecture Series]
Nature-inspired Coordination: Current Status and Research TrendsAndrea Omicini
Tutorial @WI 2017, Leipzig, 23 August 2017
Andrea Omicini & Stefano Mariani, Lecturers
Originating from closed parallel systems, coordination models and technologies gained in expressive power so as to deal with complex distributed systems. In particular, nature-inspired models of coordination emerged in the last decade as the most effective approaches to tackle the complexity of pervasive, intelligent, and self-* systems.
In the first part of the tutorial we introduce the basic notions of coordination and coordination model, and relate them to the notions of interaction and complexity. Then, the most relevant nature-inspired coordination (NIC) models are discussed, along with their relationship with the many facets of tuple-based models. In the third part we discuss the main open issues and explore the trends for future development of NIC. Finally, as a case study, we focus on MoK (Molecules of Knowledge), a NIC model for knowledge self-organisation, where data and information autonomously aggregate and spread toward knowledge prosumers.
From Coordination to Semantic Self-Organisation: A Perspective on the Enginee...Andrea Omicini
After briefly recapitulating the classical lines of the literature on coordination models, we discuss the new lines of research that aim at addressing the coordination of complex systems, then focus on mechanisms and patterns of coordination for self-organising systems. The notions of semantic coordination and self-organising coordination are defined and shortly discussed, then a vision of SOSC (self-organising semantic coordination) is presented, along with some insights over available technologies and possible scenarios for SOSC.
[Lecture at the PhD Mini-school, 11th National Workshop "From Objects to Agents" (WOA 2010) — 05/09/2010, Bologna, Italy.
Complexity & Interaction: Blurring Borders between Physical, Computational, a...Andrea Omicini
Complex systems of any kind are characterised by autonomous components interacting with each other in a non-trivial way. In this short talk, we discuss how the views on complexity are evolving in fields like physics, social sciences, and computer science, and – most significantly – how they are converging. In particular, we focus on the role of interaction as the foremost dimension for modelling complexity, and discuss first how coordination via mediated interaction could determine the general dynamics of complex software system, then how this applies to complex socio-technical systems like social networks.
Self-Organising News Management: The Molecules Of Knowledge ApproachStefano Mariani
This talk discusses the paper “Self-Organising News Management: The Molecules of Knowledge Approach”, presented at the 1st International Workshop on Adaptive Service Ecosystems: Natural and Socially Inspired Solutions (ASENSIS 2012).
Self-Organising News Management: The Molecules of Knowledge ApproachAndrea Omicini
Nowadays, news management systems present new critical challenges in the knowledge management process: the ever-increasing amount of information to handle, its hetero- geneity in structure, and the pace at which it is made available are just a few to mention. Features such as autonomy and self- organisation are apparently essential to face challenges of such a sort: we foresee systems where news are generated in shared spaces – compartments – as molecules of knowledge, which self- aggregate and autonomously move toward news prosumers— e.g., journalists. Along this line, we discuss the Molecules of Knowledge (MoK) model for self-organising news management, featuring biochemical tuple spaces for creation, aggregation, diffusion and consumption of news. We discuss the MoK general computational model and describe its main abstractions, then we focus on news management, showing how to integrate the state-of-art international standards for news representation and dissemination in MoK, thus leading to the MoK-News domain-specific model; finally we discuss our first experiments in self-organising knowledge-oriented coordination for news management.
[ASENSIS @ SASO 2012, Lyon, France — 10/09/2012]
Course on "Nature-inspired Coordination Models for Complex Distributed Systems", Part I.
CUSO Seminar on Coordination Models, 20 - 21 November 2014, Fribourg, CH
Complexity in computational systems: the coordination perspectiveAndrea Omicini
In this talk we discuss the role of coordination models and technologies in the engineering of complex computational systems.
Complex Systems Physics Meeting IMT-UNIBO
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna
Bologna, Italy, 15/02/2018
Blending Event-Based and Multi-Agent Systems around Coordination AbstractionsAndrea Omicini
While event-based architectural style has become prevalent for large-scale distributed applications, multi-agent systems seemingly provide the most viable abstractions to deal with complex distributed systems. In this talk we discuss the role of coordination abstractions as a basic brick for a unifying conceptual framework for agent-based and event-based systems, which could work as the foundation of a principled discipline for the engineering of complex software systems.
[Talk by Stefano Mariani @ COORDINATION 2015, 3/6/3015, Grenoble, France]
Molecules Of Knowledge: Self-Organisation In Knowledge-Intensive EnvironmentsStefano Mariani
This talk discusses the paper “Molecules of Knowledge: Self-Organisation in Knowledge-Intensive Environments”, presented at the 6th International Symposium on Intelligent Distributed Computing (IDC 2012).
Molecules of Knowledge: Self-Organisation in Knowledge-Intensive EnvironmentsAndrea Omicini
We propose a novel self-organising knowledge-oriented model based on biochemical tuple spaces, called Molecules of Knowledge (MoK). We introduce MoK basic entities, define its computational model, and discuss its mapping on the TuCSoN coordination model for its implementation.
[IDC 2012, Calabria, Italy, 24/9/2012
The Autonomy of Automated Systems: Social Systems and the Multi-level AutonomyAndrea Omicini
In this part of the presentation, we extend our discussion of the notion of autonomy to include multi-agent, coordinated, and self-organising systems, by introducing the notion of multi-level autonomy.
Coordination Issues in Complex Socio-technical Systems: Self-organisation of ...Stefano Mariani
The thesis proposes the Molecules of Knowledge (MoK) model for self-organisation of knowledge in knowledge-intensive socio-technical systems.
The main contribution is the conception, definition, design, and implementation of the MoK model.
The model is based on a chemical metaphor for self-organising coordination, in which coordination laws are interpreted as artificial chemical reactions ruling evolution of the molecules of knowledge living in the system (the information chunks), indirectly coordinating the users working with them.
In turn, users may implicitly affect system behaviour with their interactions, according to the cognitive theory of behavioural implicit communication, integrated in MoK.
The theory states that any interaction conveys tacit messages that can be suitably interpreted by the coordination model to better support users' workflows.
Design and implementation of the MoK model required two other contributions: conception, design, and tuning of the artificial chemical reactions with custom kinetic rates, playing the role of the coordination laws, and development of an infrastructure supporting situated coordination, both in time, space, and w.r.t. the environment, along with a dedicated coordination language.
Anticipatory Coordination in Socio-technical Knowledge-intensive Environments...Andrea Omicini
ome of the most peculiar traits of socio-technical KIE (knowledge-intensive environments) -- such as unpredictability of agents' behaviour, ever-growing amount of information to manage, fast-paced production/consumption -- tangle coordination of information, by affecting, e.g., reachability by knowledge prosumers and manageability by the IT infrastructure.
Here, we propose a novel approach to coordination in KIE, by extending the MoK model for knowledge self-organisation with key concepts from the cognitive theory of BIC (behavioural implicit communication).
Introductory tutorial on the foundations of agents and multi-agent systems at the 18th European Agent Systems Summer School (EASSS 2016) – 25 July 2016, Catania, Italy
The Distributed Autonomy. Software Abstractions and Technologies for Autonomo...Andrea Omicini
In this short talk, we elaborate on the software issues of autonomous systems, by focussing on their interpretation as multi-agent systems. We suggest that a notion of distributed autonomy needs to be investigated – in particular in the area of (L)AWS – for its potential implications in terms of uncertainty of responsibility and liability.
Similar to Nature-inspired Coordination for Complex Multi-Agent Systems (20)
Explainable Pervasive Intelligence with Self-explaining AgentsAndrea Omicini
Pervasiveness of ICT resources along with the promise of ubiquitous intelligence is pushing hard both our demand and our fears of AI: demand mandates for the ability to inject intelligence ubiquitously; fears compel the behaviour of intelligent systems to be observable, explainable, and accountable. Whereas the first wave of the new "AI Era" was mostly heralded by sub-symbolic approaches, features like explainability are better provided by symbolic techniques. In particular, the notion of explanation should be regarded as a core notion for intelligent systems, rather than just an add-on to make them understandable to humans. Based on symbolic AI techniques to match intuitive and rational cognition, explanation should then be regarded as a fundamental tool for inter-agent communication among heterogeneous intelligent agents in open multi-agent systems. More generally, self-explaining agents should work as the basic components in the engineering of intelligent systems integrating both symbolic and sub-/non-symbolic AI techniques.
On the Integration of Symbolic and Sub-symbolic – Explaining by DesignAndrea Omicini
The more intelligent systems based on sub-symbolic techniques pervade our everyday lives, the less human can understand them. This is why symbolic approaches are getting more and more attention in the general effort to make AI interpretable, explainable, and trustable. Understanding the current state of the art of AI techniques integrating symbolic and sub-symbolic approaches is then of paramount importance, nowadays—in particular in the XAI perspective. In this talk we first provides an overview of the main symbolic/sub-symbolic integration techniques, focussing in particular on those targeting explainable AI systems. Then we expand the notion of “explainability by design” to the realm of multi-agent systems, where XAI techniques can play a key role in the engineering of intelligent systems.
Not just for humans: Explanation for agent-to-agent communicationAndrea Omicini
Once precisely defined so as to include just the explanation’s act, the notion of explanation should be regarded as a central notion in the engineering of intelligent system—not just as an add-on to make them understandable to humans. Based on symbolic AI techniques to match intuitive and rational cognition, explanation should be exploited as a fundamental tool for inter-agent communication among heterogeneous agents in open multi-agent systems. More generally, explanation-ready agents should work as the basic components in the engineering of intelligent systems integrating both symbolic and sub-/non-symbolic AI techniques.
Presented by Andrea Omicini @ AIxIA 2020 Discussion Paper Workshop
Blockchain for Intelligent Systems: Research PerspectivesAndrea Omicini
We summarise and compare features of MAS and BCT, and discuss how they could be fruitfully integrated in the engineering of intelligent systems by adopting a long-term research perspective.
Injecting (Micro)Intelligence in the IoT: Logic-based Approaches for (M)MASAndrea Omicini
Pervasiveness of ICT resources along with the promise of ubiquitous intelligence is pushing hard both our demand and our fears of AI: demand mandates for the ability to inject (micro) intelligence ubiquitously, fears compel the behaviour of intelligent systems to be observable, explainable, and accountable.
Whereas the first wave of the new "AI Era" was mostly heralded by non-symbolic approaches, features like explainability are better provided by symbolic techniques.
In this talk we focus on logic-based approaches, and discuss their potential in pervasive scenarios like the IoT and open (M)MAS along with our latest results in the field.
Andrea Omicini, Roberta Calegari
Invited Talk
MMAS 2018, Stockholm, Sweden, 14 July 2018
Novel Opportunities for Tuple-based Coordination: XPath, the Blockchain, and ...Andrea Omicini
The increasing maturity of some well-established technologies – such as XPath – along with the sharp rise of brand-new ones – i.e. the blockchain – presents new opportunities to researchers in the field of multi-agent coordination. In this talk we briefly discuss a few technologies which, once suitably interpreted and integrated, have the potential to impact the very roots of tuple-based coordination as it stems from the archetypal LINDA model.
Micro-intelligence for the IoT: Teaching the Old Logic Dog New Programming Tr...Andrea Omicini
New application scenarios for pervasive intelligent systems open novel perspectives for logic-based approaches, in particular when coupled with agent-based technologies and methods. In this explorative talk we provide some examples of how logic programming and its extensions can work as sources of micro-intelligence for the IoT, at both the individual and the collective level, along with an overall architectural view of IoT systems exploiting logic-based technologies.
Logic Programming as a Service (LPaaS): Intelligence for the IoTAndrea Omicini
Talk @ ICNSC 2017, Calabria, Italy, 16 May 2017
Abstract: The widespread diffusion of low-cost computing devices, such as Arduino boards and Raspberry Pi, along with improvements of Cloud computing platforms, are paving the way towards a whole new set of opportunities for Internet of Things (IoT) applications and services. Varying degrees of intelligence are often required for supporting adaptation and self-management—yet, they should be provided in a light-weight, easy to use and customise, highly-interoperable way. Accordingly, in this paper we explore the idea of Logic Programming as a Service (LPaaS) as a novel and promising re-interpretation of distributed logic programming in the IoT era. After introducing the reference context and motivating scenarios of LPaaS as a key enabling technology for intelligent IoT, we define the LPaaS general system architecture. Then, we present a prototype implementation built on top of the tuProlog system, which provides the required interoperability and customisation. We showcase the LPaaS potential through a case study designed as a simplification of the motivating scenarios.
Privacy through Anonymisation in Large-scale Socio-technical Systems: The BIS...Andrea Omicini
Large-scale socio-technical systems (STS) inextricably inter-connect individual – e.g., the right to privacy –, social – e.g., the effectiveness of organisational processes –, and technology issues —e.g., the software engineering process. As a result, the design of the complex software infrastructure involves also non-technological aspects such as the legal ones—so that, e.g., law-abidingness can be ensured since the early stages of the software engineering process. By focussing on contact centres (CC) as relevant examples of knowledge-intensive STS, we elaborate on the articulate aspects of anonymisation: there, individual and organisational needs clash, so that only an accurate balancing between legal and technical aspects could possibly ensure the system efficiency while preserving the individual right to privacy. We discuss first the overall legal framework, then the general theme of anonymisation in CC. Finally we overview the technical process developed in the context of the BISON project.
Project presentation @ DMI, Università di Catania, Italy, 25 July 2016
The impact of mobile technologies on healthcare is particularly evident in the case of self-management of chronic diseases, where they can decrease spending and improve the patient quality of life. In this talk we propose the adoption of agent-based modelling and simulation techniques as built-in tools to dynamically monitor patient health state and provide feedbacks for self-management. To demonstrate the feasibility of our proposal we focus on Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus as our case study, and provide some preliminary simulation results.
Game Engines to Model MAS: A Research RoadmapAndrea Omicini
Game engines are gaining increasing popularity in various computational research areas, and in particular in the context of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS)—for instance, to render augmented reality environments, improve immersive simulation infrastructures, and so on. Existing examples of successful integration between game engines and MAS still focus on specific technology-level goals, rather than on shaping a general-purpose game-based agent-oriented infrastructure. In this roadmap talk, we point out the conceptual issues to be faced to exploit game engines as agent-oriented infrastructures, and outline a possible research roadmap to follow, backed up by some early experiments involving the Unity3D engine.
Open distributed multi-agent systems featuring autonomous components demand coordination mechanisms for both functional and non-functional properties. Heterogeneity of requirements regarding interaction means and paradigms, stemming from the diverse nature of components, should not affect the effectiveness of coordination. Along this line, in this paper we share our pragmatical experience in the integration of objective and subjective, synchronous and asynchronous, reactive and pro-active coordination approaches within two widely-adopted agent-oriented technologies (JADE and Jason), enabling coordinating components to dynamically adapt their interaction means based on static preference or run-time contingencies.
Towards Logic Programming as a Service: Experiments in tuPrologAndrea Omicini
In this talk we explore the perspective of Logic Programming as a Service (LPaaS), with a broad notion of “service” going beyond the mere handling of the logic engine lifecycle, knowledge base management, reasoning queries execution, etc. In particular, we present tuProlog as-a-service, a Prolog engine based on the tuProlog core made available as an encapsulated service to effectively support the spreading of intelligence in pervasive systems—mainly, Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications scenarios. So, after recalling the main features of tuProlog technology, we discuss the design and implementation of tuProlog as-a-service, focussing in particular on the iOS platform because of the many supported smart devices (phones, watches, etc.), the URL-based communication support among apps, and the multi-language resulting scenarios.
The huge availability of geographical and spatial data, along with the impulse from ubiquitous and pervasive application scenarios, has pushed the boundaries of complex system engineering towards spatial computing. There, space (in any of the many possible acceptations of the term) represents at the same time the physical container of distributed pervasive applications, the source of a huge amount of data, information, and knowledge, and the target of both epistemic and practical actions.
Agents – as the basic abstraction for distributed computing –, rational agents – as the basic units for encapsulating intelligence –, and multi-agent systems (MAS) – as the social abstraction for collective behaviours – represent the most likely candidates for providing an original framework for spatial computing coherehtly covering conceptual, technical, and methodological issues.
In this survey tutorial we elaborate on the state-of-the art of spatial computing, and show how the classical ontological foundation for MAS (agents, societies, and environment) can coherently capture the essential aspects of spatial computing, also providing for original perspectives and research directions in the novel field of "Spatial MAS".
Academic Publishing in the Digital Era: A Couple of Issues (Open Access—Well,...Andrea Omicini
Open Access is the new frontier for academic publishing: however, some non-trivial issues are yet to be addressed.
Meeting “The (r)evolution of academic publication”
Istituti di Studi Avanzati (ISA), Università di Bologna, Italy, 10/05/2016
Self-organisation of Knowledge in Socio-technical Systems: A Coordination Per...Andrea Omicini
Some of the most peculiar traits of socio-technical systems (STS) in knowledge-intensive environments (KIE) – such as unpredictability of agents’ behaviour, ever-growing amount of information to manage, fast-paced production/consumption – tangle coordination of agents as well as coordination of information, by affecting, e.g., reachability by knowledge prosumers and manageability by the IT infrastructure. In this seminar we describe a novel approach to coordination of STS in KIE, grounded on the MoK (Molecules of Knowledge) model for knowledge self-organisation, and inspired to key concepts from the cognitive theory of BIC (behavioural implicit communication).
Event-Based vs. Multi-Agent Systems: Towards a Unified Conceptual FrameworkAndrea Omicini
Event-based systems (EBS) are nowadays the most viable sources of technologies and solutions for large-scale distributed applications. On the other hand, multi-agent systems (MAS) apparently provide the most viable abstractions and coherent methods to deal with complex distributed systems, in particular when advanced features – such as mobility, autonomy, symbolic reasoning, knowledge management, situation recognition – are required. In this talk we discuss how the core concepts of EBS and MAS can in principle be matched and integrated, providing a sound conceptual ground for a coherent discipline for the engineering of complex software systems.
[Keynote Speech @ IEEE CSCWD 2015, May 6, 2015, Calabria, Italy]
Stochastic Coordination in CAS: Expressiveness & PredictabilityAndrea Omicini
Recognising that (i) coordination is a fundamental concern when both analysing and modelling CAS, and that (ii) CAS often exhibit stochastic behaviours, stemming from probabilistic and time-dependent local (interaction) mechanisms, in this talk we argue that (a) measuring expressiveness of coordination languages, and (b) predicting behaviours of stochastic systems based on coordination models are two fundamental steps in the quest for designing well- engineered CAS.
As a concrete ground where to or discussion, we describe some of our current works as well as our ideas for further research.
[with Stefano Mariani @ Dagstuhl Seminar “CAS: Qualitative and Quantitative Modelling and Analysis”, December 14-19th, 2014
Accelerate your Kubernetes clusters with Varnish CachingThijs Feryn
A presentation about the usage and availability of Varnish on Kubernetes. This talk explores the capabilities of Varnish caching and shows how to use the Varnish Helm chart to deploy it to Kubernetes.
This presentation was delivered at K8SUG Singapore. See https://feryn.eu/presentations/accelerate-your-kubernetes-clusters-with-varnish-caching-k8sug-singapore-28-2024 for more details.
Key Trends Shaping the Future of Infrastructure.pdfCheryl Hung
Keynote at DIGIT West Expo, Glasgow on 29 May 2024.
Cheryl Hung, ochery.com
Sr Director, Infrastructure Ecosystem, Arm.
The key trends across hardware, cloud and open-source; exploring how these areas are likely to mature and develop over the short and long-term, and then considering how organisations can position themselves to adapt and thrive.
Essentials of Automations: Optimizing FME Workflows with ParametersSafe Software
Are you looking to streamline your workflows and boost your projects’ efficiency? Do you find yourself searching for ways to add flexibility and control over your FME workflows? If so, you’re in the right place.
Join us for an insightful dive into the world of FME parameters, a critical element in optimizing workflow efficiency. This webinar marks the beginning of our three-part “Essentials of Automation” series. This first webinar is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to utilize parameters effectively: enhancing the flexibility, maintainability, and user control of your FME projects.
Here’s what you’ll gain:
- Essentials of FME Parameters: Understand the pivotal role of parameters, including Reader/Writer, Transformer, User, and FME Flow categories. Discover how they are the key to unlocking automation and optimization within your workflows.
- Practical Applications in FME Form: Delve into key user parameter types including choice, connections, and file URLs. Allow users to control how a workflow runs, making your workflows more reusable. Learn to import values and deliver the best user experience for your workflows while enhancing accuracy.
- Optimization Strategies in FME Flow: Explore the creation and strategic deployment of parameters in FME Flow, including the use of deployment and geometry parameters, to maximize workflow efficiency.
- Pro Tips for Success: Gain insights on parameterizing connections and leveraging new features like Conditional Visibility for clarity and simplicity.
We’ll wrap up with a glimpse into future webinars, followed by a Q&A session to address your specific questions surrounding this topic.
Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your FME expertise and drive your projects to new heights of efficiency.
Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2024 by 91mobiles.pdf91mobiles
91mobiles recently conducted a Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey in which we asked over 3,000 respondents about the TV they own, aspects they look at on a new TV, and their TV buying preferences.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
Generative AI Deep Dive: Advancing from Proof of Concept to ProductionAggregage
Join Maher Hanafi, VP of Engineering at Betterworks, in this new session where he'll share a practical framework to transform Gen AI prototypes into impactful products! He'll delve into the complexities of data collection and management, model selection and optimization, and ensuring security, scalability, and responsible use.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 4DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 4. In this session, we will cover Test Manager overview along with SAP heatmap.
The UiPath Test Manager overview with SAP heatmap webinar offers a concise yet comprehensive exploration of the role of a Test Manager within SAP environments, coupled with the utilization of heatmaps for effective testing strategies.
Participants will gain insights into the responsibilities, challenges, and best practices associated with test management in SAP projects. Additionally, the webinar delves into the significance of heatmaps as a visual aid for identifying testing priorities, areas of risk, and resource allocation within SAP landscapes. Through this session, attendees can expect to enhance their understanding of test management principles while learning practical approaches to optimize testing processes in SAP environments using heatmap visualization techniques
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into SAP testing best practices
2. Heatmap utilization for testing
3. Optimization of testing processes
4. Demo
Topics covered:
Execution from the test manager
Orchestrator execution result
Defect reporting
SAP heatmap example with demo
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
Nature-inspired Coordination for Complex Multi-Agent Systems
1. Nature-inspired Coordination
for Complex Multi-Agent Systems
Andrea Omicini
andrea.omicini@unibo.it
Dipartimento di Informatica – Scienza e Ingegneria (DISI)
Alma Mater Studiorum—Universit` di Bologna
a
EUMAS 2012
European Workshop on Multi-Agent Systems
Dublin, Ireland – 18th of December 2012
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 1 / 55
2. Outline
1 Why?
2 Examples
Early
Modern
Issues
3 Tuples
4 Trends
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 2 / 55
3. Disclaimer
Disclaimer
Talking about Multi-Agent Systems (MAS)
For many, MAS is about “Agents”
For many others, it is more about “Multi”(-Agents)
Today, we focus mostly on the “Systems” part
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 3 / 55
4. Why?
Outline
1 Why?
2 Examples
Early
Modern
Issues
3 Tuples
4 Trends
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 4 / 55
5. Why?
Why Nature-inspired Models?
Complex natural systems
such as physical, chemical, biochemical, biological, social systems
natural system exhibit features
such as distribution, opennes, situation, fault tolerance, robustness,
adaptiveness, . . .
which we would like to understand, capture, then bring to
computational systems
Nature-Inspired Computing (NIC)
For instance, NIC [Liu and Tsui, 2006] summarises decades of
research activities, putting emphasis on
autonomy of components
self-organisation of systems
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 5 / 55
6. Why?
Why Multi-Agent Systems?
MAS as complex systems [Omicini and Zambonelli, 2004]
Agents as sources of complexity
Autonomy Unpredictable behaviour
Sociality Non-compositional behaviours
Situatedness Unpredictable interaction with the environment
Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) as sources of complexity
Multiplicity of interacting components
Global vs. local structure and behaviour—macro vs. micro level
MAS for complex systems [Zambonelli and Omicini, 2004]
MAS as tools for
Modelling complex systems
Engineering complex system
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 6 / 55
7. Why?
Why Coordination?
Interaction
most of the complexity of complex computational systems – MAS
included – comes from interaction [Omicini et al., 2006]
along with an essential part of their expressive power [Wegner, 1997]
Coordination
since coordination is essentially the science of managing the space of
interaction [Wegner, 1997]
coordination models and languages [Ciancarini, 1996] provide
abstractions and technologies for the engineering of complex
computational systems [Ciancarini et al., 2000]
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 7 / 55
8. Why?
Why Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS?
Coordination issues in natural systems
coordination issues did not first emerge in computational systems
[Grass´, 1959] noted that in termite societies “The coordination of
e
tasks and the regulation of constructions are not directly dependent
from the workers, but from constructions themselves.”
Coordination as the key issue
many well-known examples of natural systems – and, more generally,
of complex systems – seemingly rely on simple yet powerful
coordination mechanisms for their key features—such as
self-organisation
it makes sense to focus on nature-inspired coordination models as the
core of complex nature-inspired MAS
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 8 / 55
9. Examples
Outline
1 Why?
2 Examples
Early
Modern
Issues
3 Tuples
4 Trends
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 9 / 55
10. Examples Early
Stigmergy I
Stigmergy in insect societies
nature-inspired models of coordination are grounded in studies on the
behaviour of social insects, like ants or termites
[Grass´, 1959] introduced the notion of stigmergy as the fundamental
e
coordination mechanism in termite societies
in ant colonies, pheromones act as environment markers for specific
social activities, and drive both the individual and the social
behaviour of ants
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 10 / 55
11. Examples Early
Stigmergy II
Stigmergy in computational systems
nowadays, stigmergy generally refers to a set of nature-inspired
coordination mechanisms mediated by the environment
digital pheromones [Parunak et al., 2002] and other signs made and
sensed in a shared environment [Parunak, 2006] can be exploited for
the engineering of adaptive and self-organising MAS
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 11 / 55
12. Examples Early
Chemical Coordination
Chemical reactions as (natural) coordination laws
inspiration comes from the idea that complex physical phenomena are
driven by the (relatively) simple chemical reactions
coordinating the behaviours of a huge amount of agents, as well as
the global system evolution
Chemical reactions as (computational) coordination laws
Gamma [Banˆtre and Le M´tayer, 1990] is a chemistry-inspired
a e
coordination model—as for the CHAM (chemical abstract machine)
model [Berry, 1992]
coordination in Gamma is conceived as the evolution of a space
governed by chemical-like rules, globally working as a rewriting system
[Ban˘tre et al., 2001]
a
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 12 / 55
13. Examples Modern
Field-based Coordination
Computational fields as coordination laws
field-based coordination models like Co-Fields
[Mamei and Zambonelli, 2006] are inspired by the way masses and
particles move and self-organise according to
gravitational/electromagnetic fields
there, computational force fields – generated either by the mobile
agents or by the pervasive coordination infrastructure – propagate
across the environment, and drive the actions and motion of the
agent themselves
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 13 / 55
14. Examples Modern
(Bio)chemical Coordination
Chemical reactions as coordination laws
chemical tuple spaces [Viroli et al., 2010] exploit the chemical
metaphor at its full extent—beyond Gamma
data, devices, and software agents are represented in terms of
chemical reactants, and system behaviour is expressed by means of
chemical-like laws
which are actually time-dependent and stochastic
embedded within the coordination medium
biochemical tuple spaces [Viroli and Casadei, 2009] add
compartments, diffusion, and stochastic behaviour of coordination
primitives
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 14 / 55
15. Examples Issues
Basic Issues of Nature-inspired Coordination I
Environment
environment is essential in nature-inspired coordination
it works as a mediator for agent interaction — through which agents
can communicate and coordinate indirectly
it is active — featuring autonomous dynamics, and affecting agent
coordination
it has a structure — requiring a notion of locality, and allowing agents
of any sort to move through a topology
! nowadays, everybody knows about the essential role of environment in
a MAS [Weyns et al., 2007]
? do we also know how to design and engineer MAS environment?
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 15 / 55
16. Examples Issues
Basic Issues of Nature-inspired Coordination II
Stochastic behaviour
complex systems typically require probabilistic models
don’t know / don’t care non-deterministic mechanisms are not
expressive enough to capture all the properties of complex systems such
as biochemical and social systems
probabilistic mechanisms are required to fully capture the dynamics of
coordination in nature-inspired systems
coordination models should feature (possibly simple yet) expressive
mechanisms to provide coordinated systems with stochastic behaviours
? do we know how to embed stochastic behaviours in a MAS?
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 16 / 55
17. Tuples
Outline
1 Why?
2 Examples
Early
Modern
Issues
3 Tuples
4 Trends
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 17 / 55
18. Tuples
The Ancestor
Linda [Gelernter, 1985]
Linda is the ancestor of all tuple-based coordination models
[Rossi et al., 2001]
in Linda, agents synchronise, cooperate, compete
based on tuples
available in the tuple spaces, working as the coordination media
by associatively accessing, consuming and producing tuples
the same holds for any tuple-based coordination model
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 18 / 55
19. Tuples
Linda is not a Nature-inspired Model
So, why Linda?
Why tuple-based models???
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 19 / 55
20. Tuples
Why Tuple-based Models? I
Expressiveness
Linda is a sort of core coordination model
making it easy to face and solve many typical problems of complex
distributed systems
complex coordination problems are solved with few, simple primitives
whatever the model used to measure expressiveness of coordination,
tuple-based languages are highly-expressive [Busi et al., 1998]
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 20 / 55
21. Tuples
Why Tuple-based Models? II
Environment-based coordination
generative communication [Gelernter, 1985] requires permanent
coordination abstractions
so, the coordination infrastructure provides agents with tuple spaces
as coordination services
coordination as a service (CaaS) [Viroli and Omicini, 2006]
they can be interpreted as coordination artefacts shaping
computational environment [Omicini et al., 2004]
and used with different levels of awareness by both intelligent and
“stupid” agents [Omicini, 2013]
as such, they can be exploited to support environment-based
coordination [Ricci et al., 2005]
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 21 / 55
22. Tuples
Why Tuple-based Models? III
Extensibility
whatever its expressiveness, Linda was conceived as a coordination
model for closed, parallel systems
so, in fact, some relevant problems of today open, concurrent systems
cannot be easily solved with Linda either in practice or in theory
as a result, tuple-based models have been extended with new simple
yet powerful mechanisms
generating a plethora of tuple-based coordination models
[Rossi et al., 2001]
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 22 / 55
23. Tuples
Why Tuple-based Models? IV
Nature-inspired extensions
Linda may not be nature-inspired, but many of its extensions are
many of the coordination models depicted before
stigmergy [Parunak, 2006]
field-based [Mamei and Zambonelli, 2004]
chemical [Viroli et al., 2010] and biochemical [Viroli and Casadei, 2009]
along with many others, such as
cognitive stigmergy [Ricci et al., 2007]
pervasive ecosystems [Viroli et al., 2012]
are actually nature-inspired tuple-based coordination models
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 23 / 55
24. Tuples
Toward Self-organising Coordination I
Just some is not enough
capturing just some of the principles and mechanisms of natural
systems does not ensure to capture their essence
for instance, chemical coordination models such as Gamma and
CHAM exploit the raw schema of computation as chemical reaction,
but are not expressive enough to fully reproduce any non-trivial
chemical system
in fact, e.g., even the simplest model for real chemical reactions
requires a notion of reaction rate
neither Gamma nor CHAM provide for such a notion, they are not
expressive enough to fully match the behaviour of real chemical
systems
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 24 / 55
25. Tuples
Toward Self-organising Coordination II
Self-organising coordination [Viroli et al., 2009]
most of the traditional coordination models feature abstractions
enacting coordination laws that are typically reactive, (mostly)
deterministic, and global as well
in complex systems featuring self-* properties, instead, coordination
patterns typically appear at the global level by emergence, from
probabilistic, time-dependent coordination laws based on local criteria
in particular, many coordination models either implicitly or explicitly
recognise that full expressiveness requires addressing the issues of
time dependency and stochasticity
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 25 / 55
26. Tuples
Examples I
StoKlaim
StoKlaim [De Nicola et al., 2006] – a stochastic extension of the
Linda-derived Klaim model for mobile coordination
[De Nicola et al., 1998] – adds distribution rates to coordination
primitives—thus making it possible the modelling of non-deterministic
real-life phenomena such as failure rates and inter-arrival times
SwarmLinda
SwarmLinda [Tolksdorf and Menezes, 2004] enhances Linda
implementation with swarm intelligence to achieve features such as
scalability, adaptiveness, and fault-tolerance—by modelling tuple
templates as ants, featuring probabilistic behaviour when looking for
matching tuples in a distributed setting
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 26 / 55
27. Tuples
Examples II
Time-aware ReSpecT
ReSpecT [Omicini and Denti, 2001] generally addresses time
dependency by capturing time events and supporting the definition
and enforcement of timed coordination policies
[Omicini et al., 2005]—so, ReSpecT-programmed tuple centres can
work as time-dependent abstractions for MAS coordination
[Omicini et al., 2007]
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 27 / 55
28. Tuples
Enough?
No.
in the overall, the above-mentioned models fail to capture all the
essential features of nature-inspired coordination
this is why many novel research lines stretch existing tuple-based
models to achieve the expressive power required to model and build
MAS with a complexity comparable to natural systems
[Omicini and Viroli, 2011]
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 28 / 55
29. Trends
Outline
1 Why?
2 Examples
Early
Modern
Issues
3 Tuples
4 Trends
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 29 / 55
30. Trends
Blending Metaphors
Mixing abstractions & mechanisms from different conceptual sources
most natural systems, when observed in their whole complexity,
exhibit layers each one featuring its own metaphors and mechanisms
correspondingly, many novel approaches to complex MAS
coordination integrate diverse sources of inspiration, e.g.:
TOTA [Mamei and Zambonelli, 2004] exploits mechanisms from both
stigmergic and field-based coordination
the SAPERE coordination model for pervasive service ecosystems
[Zambonelli et al., 2011, Viroli et al., 2012] integrates
the chemical metaphor for driving the evolution of coordination
abstractions
biochemical abstractions for topology and diffusion
the notion of ecosystem in order to model the overall system structure
and dynamics
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 30 / 55
31. Trends
Expressing Full Dynamics
Expressing the full dynamics of complex natural systems
mostly, coordination models just capture some of the overall system
dynamics
which makes them basically fail
for instance, Gamma mimics chemical reactions, but does not capture
essential issues in chemical processes such as reaction rates and
concentration [Banˆtre and Le M´tayer, 1990, Ban˘tre et al., 2001]
a e a
instead, (bio)chemical tuple spaces fully exploit the chemical metaphor
by providing time-dependent and stochastic chemical laws
[Viroli et al., 2010, Viroli and Casadei, 2009]
more generally, the goal is to allow coordinated MAS to capture and
express the full dynamics of complex natural systems
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 31 / 55
32. Trends
Core Mechanisms
Understanding the basic elements of expressiveness
Linda is a glaring example of a minimal set of coordination
mechanisms providing a wide range of coordination behaviours
the goal is understanding the minimal set of coordination primitives
required to design complex stochastic behaviours
for instance, uniform coordination primitives – that is, Linda-like
coordination primitives returning tuples matching a template with a
uniform distribution [Gardelli et al., 2007] – seemingly capture the
full-fledged dynamics of real chemical systems within the coordination
abstractions
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 32 / 55
33. Trends
Predicting Complex Behaviours
Engineering unpredictable systems around predictable abstractions
coordination models are meant to harness the complexity of complex
MAS [Ciancarini et al., 2000]
coordination abstractions are often at the core of complex MAS
while this does not make complex MAS generally predictable, it
makes it possible in principle to make them partially predictable,
based on the predictably of the core coordinative behaviour
suitably-formalised coordination abstractions, along with a
suitably-defined engineering methodology, could in principle ensure
the predictability of given MAS properties within
generally-unpredictable MAS
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 33 / 55
34. Trends
Coordination for Simulation I
Simulation of complex systems is a multidisciplinary issue
. . . ranging from physics to biology, from economics to social sciences
no complex system of any sort can be studied nowadays without the
support of suitable simulation tools
nowadays, experiments done in silico are at least as relevant as those
in vitro and in vivo
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 34 / 55
35. Trends
Coordination for Simulation II
Interaction issues are prominent in complex systems
coordination technologies potential core of agent-based simulation
frameworks
in particular, self-organising nature-inspired coordination models are
well suited for the simulation of complex systems
so, coordination middleware could play a central role in the
development of rich agent-based simulation frameworks for complex
systems
e.g., [Gonz´lez P´rez et al., 2013]
a e
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 35 / 55
36. Trends
Knowledge-oriented Coordination I
Integrating nature-inspired with knowledge-oriented coordination
intelligent MAS in knowledge intensive environments – as well as
complex socio-technical systems, in general – require automatic
understanding of data and information
knowledge-oriented coordination exploits coordination abstractions
enriched so as to allow for semantic interpretation by intelligent
agents [Fensel, 2004, Nardini et al., 2013]
for instance
chemical tuple spaces
SAPERE coordination abstractions and mechanisms
semantic tuple centres [Nardini et al., 2011]
all relay on the semantic interpretation of coordination items
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 36 / 55
37. Trends
Knowledge-oriented Coordination II
Self-organisation of knowledge
explicit search of information is going to become ineffective while the
amount of available knowledge grows at incredible rates
knowledge should autonomously organise and flow from producers to
consumers
knowledge self-organisation for knowledge-intensive MAS
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 37 / 55
38. Trends
Knowledge-oriented Coordination III
MoK (Molecules of Knowledge) [Mariani and Omicini, 2012a]
Molecules of Knowledge is a a nature-inspired coordination model
promoting knowledge self-organisation, where
sources of knowledge continuously produce and inject atoms of
knowledge in biochemical compartments
knowledge atoms may then aggregate in molecules and diffuse
knowledge producers, managers and consumers are modelled as
catalysts, whose workspaces are biochemical compartments, and their
knowledge-oriented actions become enzymes influencing atoms
aggregation and molecules diffusion
so as to make relevant knowledge spontaneously aggregate and
autonomously move towards potentially interested knowledge workers
the first application scenario for experimenting with MoK is news
management [Mariani and Omicini, 2012b]
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 38 / 55
39. Conclusion
Conclusion I
History and evolution
starting from early chemical and stigmergic approaches,
nature-inspired models of coordination evolved to become the
potential core of complex MAS—such as pervasive,
knowledge-intensive, and self-* MAS
in this talk we shorty surveyed their history, devise their main issues,
and point out the most promising trends
focussing in particular on tuple-based coordination models, and
adopted a systemic view over MAS
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 39 / 55
40. Conclusion
Conclusion II
In the overall. . .
nature-inspired models of coordination already have a long history
behind them
and apparently a huge potential for development still to be explored
to provide core abstractions and technologies for the engineering of
complex MAS
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 40 / 55
41. Conclusion
Thanks to. . .
. . . everybody here for listening
. . . Greg o’Hare for inviting me
. . . the SAPERE Project for the support 1
1
This work has been supported by the EU-FP7-FET Proactive project SAPERE
Self-aware Pervasive Service Ecosystems, under contract no. 256873.
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
a Nature-inspired Coordination for MAS EUMAS 2012, 18/12/2012 41 / 55
42. Bibliography
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43. Bibliography
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53. Extras
Slides
On APICe
http://apice.unibo.it/xwiki/bin/view/Talks/InvitedEumas2012
On SlideShare
http://www.slideshare.net/andreaomicini/
natureinspired-coordination-for-complex-multiagent-systems
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
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54. Extras
Related Articles
On APICe
http://apice.unibo.it/xwiki/bin/view/Publications/
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http://apice.unibo.it/xwiki/bin/view/Publications/
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On Publisher’s Sites
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http://www.isrn.com/journals/se/aip/384903/
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
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55. Nature-inspired Coordination
for Complex Multi-Agent Systems
Andrea Omicini
andrea.omicini@unibo.it
Dipartimento di Informatica – Scienza e Ingegneria (DISI)
Alma Mater Studiorum—Universit` di Bologna
a
EUMAS 2012
European Workshop on Multi-Agent Systems
Dublin, Ireland – 18th of December 2012
A. Omicini (DISI, Universit` di Bologna)
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