An agent-based compositional framework

Abstract

Web services requirements for means of automating the coordination of distributed heterogeneous applications have been addressed by a two-pronged initiative. One has been driven by process management technologies, represented by the compositional language BPEL4WS, and the other by the Semantic Web technologies, represented by ontologies and agents. The framework presented in this paper integrates agent technology with BPEL4WS, to enable two levels of coordination, namely local and centralised coordination through composition, and wider, distributed coordination by means of negotiation between agents. This framework takes advantage of the efficient management of processes in BPEL4WS and of the flexibility and versatility of agents. A design and run-time environment, called SOA, has been developed to evaluate the feasibility of the framework. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.