Integrating Ontologies into Multiagent Systems Engineering

Multiagent systems have received much attention in recent years due to their advantages in complex, distributed environments. A number of methodologies have been proposed for engineering multiagent systems, however, these methodologies do not adequately address the information domain of the system, which is an integral part of designing proper system execution. Previous work at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has developed a methodology for analyzing, designing, and developing multiagent systems, called Multiagent Systems Engineering (MaSE). This research extends the MaSE methodology to include the use of ontologies for information domain specification. The extensions allow the designer to specify information flow by using objects from the ontology as parameters in agent conversations. The developer can then ensure system functionality by verifying that each agent has the information required to accomplish the system goals.

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