An Extended Atms for Decomposable Problems

When dealing with nearly decomposable problems such as those described by Simon(1973), the problem components may be worked on by different problem solvers thatare spatially and temporally separated, with each problem solver constrained byassumptions it makes about the activities and choices of other problem solvers, that isby partial knowledge of the global problem. There are advantages to maintaining multiplesolutions locally for as long as possible, even though a single final solution isdesired. When it becomes less desirable to retract certain assumptions, these becomeconstraints for other problem solvers and can be communicated to them via a truthmaintenance system. We describe an extended architecture for an ATMS for thesekinds of decomposable problems