Effective Coordination of Multiple Intelligent Agents for Command and Control

Abstract

RETSINA (REusable Task-based System of Intelligent Network Agents) is an open Multi-Agent System (MAS) in which heterogeneous agents engage in relations with the support of distributed infrastructure services. The goal of RETSINA project has been to provide the necessary infrastructure and agent types to allow an open system of agents whose interactions are facilitated rather than managed by infrastructure components. Another goal has been to create autonomous software agents functioning robustly in distributed environments, agents that are reusable in different application contexts, and that respond intelligently to changes in their environments. This development of a flexible, extensible and decentralized MAS is consistent with the shared vision of an interactive World Wide Web of Services (WWWS), a dynamic web where software agents act autonomously and cooperatively to effect changes in their environments, performing numerous and complex tasks for their human counterparts. RETSINA is scalable system designed to support individual users and teams of users in utilizing the results of information gathering and fusion for decision support, task management, cooperative interaction, and many other functions, in an open and dynamic environment, eventually to encompass the World Wide Web. In RETSINA, multiple agents cooperate to process user requests appropriately and flexibly, matching them to information sources that may be distributed over the Internet and other accessible information environments, such as intranets or other databases.