The role of ontology in modelling autonomous agent-based systems

Abstract

An agent-based system is characterised by an agent's autonomous behaviour, which behaviour is the main difference between the concepts of agent and object. Agent autonomous behaviour is the ability of an agent to cooperate instead of integrate; therefore, the structure of agent-based systems consists of loosely coupled agents. In such an environment, the relationship between the agents is unlocked, so conventional, predefined integration software techniques are not an option because the agents need an open-architecture type of integration (cooperation) to achieve their tasks jointly. The aim of this research paper is to provide an evidence of how the ontology approach can play a role in modelling agent autonomous behaviour. The research explores the ontology software technologies used for semantic web applications, and designs a case study as an example of a set of services. In the implementation phase, the research uses the web ontology software development languages XML, RDFS, OWL, and Altova semanticWork to set up and develop the case study. The result is presented and plans for future work are discussed. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.