Agent-Based Technology for Facility Design Software Integration

The application of a novel technology called Agent-Based Software Engineering to facility design software integration is presented. The technology is founded on the notion of design agents as design software that use Agent Communication Language for communication of design information and knowledge. Communication among design agents is made possible by system programs called Facilitators. Facilitators and design agents are linked forming an architecture for communication called Federation Architecture. First, the federation architecture for linking design software is introduced. Next, the standard language for communicating facility design information and knowledge is briefly discussed. A formal description of design software and design agents is then presented. The role of facilitators in coordinating the exchange of design information among design agents is discussed. A highlight of the current development of an integrated distributed facility design environment is given. Finally, the paper is concluded with a few remarks.