Adaptation Patterns in Multi-Agent Architectures: The Gathering Pattern

Self-adaptation has been recently recognized as a basic architectural concern, required to deal with the growing complexity and the open nature of next-generation software systems. Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) describe self-aware and adaptable structures; their advanced approaches use organizations to provide further structuring, defining complex MAS architectures. The purpose of our work is to provide the basis for adaptive organizations, with an emphasis in the coordination mechanism, which is also adaptive. Our service-oriented agents gather in the context of predefined controls and protocols, creating an aggregate which can evolve using adaptation patterns. Eventually it would reach the stable form of an agreement. We provide a case study showing the interest of this approach, focusing specifically in the definition of adaptation patterns.