Inter-agent operations in cooperating knowledge based systems

A cooperating knowledge based system (CKBS) is a collection of autonomous, often heterogeneous, knowledge based systems (or agents), which cooperate together in solving complex problems in a decentralised environment. This is a new area of research where ideas from distributed databases and distributed AI can be blended together for better systems. Compared to multidatabase systems, query decomposition in CKBS is dynamic and may additionally involve execution-time negotiation. The author investigates some inter-agent operational issues in CKBS, and presents a technique for the resolution of rule conflicts and a model for consensus formation in paper selection based on the diverse opinions of referees. This work has been carried out as part of the COSMOS Collaboration in the UK.<>