Agent configuration management
WORKPLAN 2000
Draft, editor Bernard Burg
The objective of this workplan is to specify a ‘system and reification’ agnostic Agent Configuration Management allowing to manage and maintain clusters of platforms or agents, define configurations, dependencies, save and restore methods.
· Multi-agent management
· Cross platform management
· Multi-platform management
· Dependency on agent management specifications
· Dependency notation
· Primitives to support agent management (monitor,…)
Agent Configuration Management (old denomination FIPA Spec – 1999 – 015 – 0.1)
· This workplan should start at the Boston meeting in July 2000 and take12 months until it reaches the stage of preliminary specifications.
This work carries out the terms of reference defined in January 1999. This work is much needed for the deployment of FIPA at large scales, and under various forms, the maintenance and administration of clusters of agent and platforms.
The following dependencies have been identified:
1. FIPA architecture specification
2. FIPA Agent Management
Imperial College, Stefan Poslad Committed
Fujitsu, Jonathan Dale Committed
Motorola, Bernard Burg Committed
Nortel Phil Buckle Committed
NTT, Kiyoshi Kogure Committed
Toshiba TakahiroKawamura Committed
Siemens Michael Berger Committed
Call for Proposal to be issued in Lisbon
Agent Configuration Management
FIPA wishes to address the area of agent and platform configuration management to allow both agents and platforms to be managed individually or collectively.
3.1.2 Topics
The following are divided between normative topics (i.e. those areas where FIPA wishes to mandate the use of its technology) and informative topics (i.e. areas where background information or clarification of issues is required).
3.1.2.1 Normative Topics
· Mechanisms to support the semi-automatic configuration and deployment of agents,
· Expressing service level agreements and dependency information between agents (agent profiles),
· Facilitating federations of platforms (platform profiles),
· Managing the life cycles of agents and platforms,
· Mechanisms for monitoring the states of agents and platforms,
· Description of agent and platform ontologies,
· Enhancing the capabilities of the AMS/DF to support agent configuration management.
3.1.2.2 Informative Topics
· An informative annex will give examples of how to use the requirement and dependency information of agents.