Formal design of cooperative systems

This paper starts with a formal definition of the concept of cooperation in distributed systems. The proposed model is based on the use of graphs and of logic, where logic expresses contradiction and pragmatism. The dynamic structuring of such systems leads to the concept of multi-connection at the cooperation level and to a layered top-down formal design methodology. The protocol providing the multi-connection management or membership service will be specified and verified using the VAL tool and a Petri net based specification. It will be shown how the resulting system can be proven correct. The VAL description is then translated into an Estelle description that has been implemented on top of a distributed platform. Private possible conversation subgroups (PCSs) inside a cooperative group of agents have also been introduced.

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