A verifiable logic-based agent architecture

Abstract

In this paper, we present the SCIFF platform for multi-agent systems. The platform is based on Abductive Logic Programming, with a uniform language for specifying agent policies and interaction protocols. A significant advantage of the computational logic foundation of the SCIFF framework is that the declarative specifications of agent policies and interaction protocols can be used directly, at runtime, as the programs for the agent instances and for the verification of compliance. We also provide a definition of conformance of an agent policy to an interaction protocol (i.e., a property that guarantees that an agent will comply to a given protocol) and a operational procedure to test conformance. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.