Modelling Simple Market Structures in Process Algebras with Locations

One potential barrier to electronic trading is the almost complete absence of any guarantees, for either trading party, that each will meet their obligations. Trust can be acquired from the use of a well-known name with an established reputation, when people are involved, but if the traders are software agents, names mean very little in the absence of reputation models. Thus, we aim to establish confidence by the use of verifiable trading frameworks, which we call electronic institutions, and which specify rules for interaction, roles that (electronic) agents may play, the forms of discourse (via speech acts) in which agents may participate and the obligations that agents may acquire. We are aiming to ground our specification of electronic institutions in process algebras augmented with places and in this paper we examine the specification of some key aspects of a prototypical e-institution using the Seal and (typed Safe) Ambient calculi, in order to compare their properties. Places offer a nice correspondence with some aspects of our modelling approach, but although the type systems do permit the statement of some desirable (static) properties, our needs are not fully met, nor are there yet adequate tools to support our objectives.