Efficient agent interaction in automation networks: A simulation study

Multiagent systems (MAS) have widely been recognized as a suitable technology to develop robust, fault tolerant and reconfigurable control systems. However, practical applications, especially on the real-time manufacturing control level are currently limited by the lack of a sufficiently efficient yet unified agent architecture. As agent communication is one of the decisive factors for the overall performance of a MAS, this paper suggests an improved approach to service discovery and inter-agent negotiation, using the well known Contract Net protocol as an example. The approach eliminates the need for a central Directory Facilitator, reduces network load and enables timely decision making. The results are backed by a simulation based performance study.