Agent-based simulation of competitive and collaborative mechanisms for mobile service chains

A new paradigm for a mobile service chain’s competitive and collaborative mechanism is proposed in this study. The main idea of the proposed approach is based on a multi-agent system with optimal profit of the pull, push, and collaborative models among the portal access service provider (PASP), the product service provider (PSP), and the mobile service provider (MSP). To address the running mechanism for the multi-agent system, an integrated system framework is proposed based on the agent evolution algorithm (AEA), which could resolve all these modes. To examine the feasibility of the framework, a prototype system based on Java-Repast is implemented. The simulation experiments show that this system can help decision makers take the appropriate strategies with higher profits. By analyzing the expectations and variances (or risks) of each player’s profit, the interaction between and among entities in the chain is well understood. It is found that in the situation where a collaborative mechanism is applied, the performance of players is better as compared to the other two situations where a competitive mechanism is implemented. If some constraints are applied, the risk will be kept at a low level.