Architectural Properties of Multi-Agent Systems

One aspect of multi-agent systems (MAS) that has been only partially studied is their role in software engineering, and in particular their merit as a software architecture style. As we demonstrate, multi-agent systems developed to date have several common architectural characteristics, even though differences in their design and implementation result in variations in their strengths and weaknesses. A large portion of the research in the design and implementation of MAS addresses questions such as: given a computational problem—can one build a MAS to solve it? What should be the properties of this MAS given the problem? Having developed a MAS, what is the class of problems that this MAS, either as developed or with slight modifications, can solve? MAS research has provided several answers to the questions above. However, more fundamental questions were left un-answered: given a computational problem—is a MAS an appropriate solution? If it is, what type of MAS should be preferred? Asking these questions (and answering them) should precede the previous ones, lest multiagent systems may be designed and implemented where much simpler, more efficient solutions apply. In this report we provide analysis guidelines which—although do not explicitly answer these questions—support designers in their assessment of the suitability of MAS as a solution to computational problem they address. We discuss the architectural properties that should be considered when analyzing such systems and support our work with case-studies of several MAS.