Tech Reports

ULCS-02-014

Extending Agent UML Protocol Diagrams

Marc-Philippe Huget

Abstract

Agents in multiagent systems use interaction protocols for the exchange of information, for cooperation and for coordination. The interaction protocols are a specific version of communication protocols. Actually, it is necessary to take into consideration agents' features like autonomy and the ability to coordinate and to cooperate when designing protocols. Interaction protocol designers use classical formal description techniques for describing their protocols but a new class of formalisms appears which is specific to multiagent systems. One of the most important formalisms in this class is Agent UML which inherits features from UML. In this paper, we first describe what protocol diagrams are. Protocols diagrams are the element in Agent UML dealing with protocols. Then, we present what new features we want to insert into protocol diagrams. We present the example of the English Auction Protocol including new Agent UML features.

Keywords: Multiagent systems, Agent UML, Protocol Diagrams

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