Analyses of conflict among exception in multi-agent system and an integrated management mechanism

Currently much research has been made on multi-agent system (MAS) in CSCD field, especially on exception handling, which is not yet well-addressed due to its sophistication. Conflict between and among agents is of primary in exception presentation, consequently conflict resolution (CR) still plays a central role in collaborative design system. In this paper we discuss the taxonomy of conflict, as well as an integrated conflict management mechanism focusing on conflict resolution in a knowledge-based system consisting of both machine-based and human design agents. To date, there has been little research involving conflict resolution in such a system. A general CR scheme and system architecture is also presented.