Flexibility measurement model of multi-agent systems

Flexibility is considered as one of the key objectives of agent-based technology. Despite this, we still lack a fundamental understanding of just what “flexibility in multi-agent system (MAS)” really is. Two main questions must be asked. First, how do agents and MAS achieve a high degree of flexibility? Second, what makes one agent or one MAS more flexible than others agents or others MASs? This paper addresses the answer to these two questions by proposing an ontology of the flexibility property and a mathematical measurement model for this property. The proposed ontology gives a comprehensive view of the flexibility by decomposing it on several characteristics and presents several techniques for implementing each characteristic. In addition, it relates these characteristics to MAS components. The proposed model presents a set of metrics for measuring the different characteristics of the flexibility property. The proposed metrics have been applied to JADE applications using a tool developed for this purpose.