Distributed approach to dynamic resource management based on temporal influence

Abstract

The paper describes an approach to resource management in uncertain domains, which is based on the concept of temporal influence. The Distributed Interactive Scheduling with Abstractions Project is aimed at building a scheduling system designed to address the uncertainties of real-world domains. The system has two main features; it is distributed, taking a multi-agent view, and it uses a solution method that employs temporal abstractions to aid decision-making. The multi-agent view is a novel architecture based on a hierarchical representation of time and a dynamic heterogenetic structure for problem-solving agents. Temporal abstractions in the form of summarisations and generalisations are used for problem reduction and conflict resolution, providing a second novel idea. An additional goal of this project is to provide the user with the environment and information necessary to allow useful and intelligent interaction with the problem-solving process. Temporal abstractions also play an important role in the satisfaction of this goal.