Main topics of DAI : a review

Abstract

A new branch of artificial intelligence, distributed AI, has developed in the last years. Topic is the cooperation of AI-systems which are distributed among different autonomous agents. The thereby occuring problems extend the traditional AI spectrum and are presented along the major DAI-relevant topics: Knowledge representation, task-decomposition and -allocation, interaction and communication, cooperation, coordination and coherence, organizational models, agent's modelling of other agents and conflict resolution strategies (e.g. negotiation). First we try to describe the role of DAI within AI. Then every subsection will take up one special aspect, illuminate the occurring problems and give links to solutions proposed in literature. Interlaced into this structure are sketchy descriptions of a few very prominent and influential DAI systems. In particular we present the Contract Net Protocol, the Distributed Vehicle Monitoring Testbed, the Air Traffic Control problem and the Blackboard Architecture.