An Agent-Based Approach to Component Management

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel agent-based framework, SoSAA, that integrates component-based and agent-oriented engineering to improve the development of distributed, self-configurable software systems, demonstrated through an enhanced information retrieval system.

Contribution

It presents a new hybrid architecture, SoSAA, combining CBSE and agent-oriented approaches with reasoning and self-awareness capabilities, applied to real-world MAS development.

Findings

Enhanced IR system performance using the hybrid approach

Demonstrated integration of component-based elements into agent frameworks

Highlighted benefits of combining CBSE and agent-oriented engineering

Abstract

This paper details the implementation of a software framework that aids the development of distributed and self-configurable software systems. This framework is an instance of a novel integration strategy called SoSAA (SOcially Situated Agent Architecture), which combines Component-Based Software Engineering and Agent-Oriented Software Engineering, drawing its inspiration from hybrid agent control architectures. The framework defines a complete construction process by enhancing a simple component-based framework with reasoning and self-awareness capabilities through a standardized interface. The capabilities of the resulting framework are demonstrated through its application to a non-trivial Multi Agent System (MAS). The system in question is a pre-existing Information Retrieval (IR) system that has not previously taken advantage of CBSE principles. In this paper we contrast these two systems so as to highlight the benefits of using this new hybrid approach. We also outline how component-based elements may be integrated into the Agent Factory agent-oriented application framework.