An open system protocol for agent-oriented programming

The concepts of virtual agents (VAs) and virtual communities (VCs) are proposed for interagent communication and cooperation based on `scientific community´ metaphor. VAs are `images´ of autonomous agents (expert decision support systems and human decision makers) dynamically created in a local agent´s `mind´ (or knowledge base) and linked to the remote host through attached network routines. This feature enables VAs to be defined as network domain objects which conceal the details of computer communications and provide an agent-oriented environment for perspective sharing and coordination. Using this protocol, VAs can be organized into VCs and different social protocols may be modeled as virtual sessions in a virtual conference setting. A prototype system is developed in C and C++ using the UDP/IP protocol. The basic ideas are illustrated with an application example. The major advantage of this approach lies in its utility for coordination without coercion