An application of multi - agent technology to electronic commerce - SAGE :

We are making researches into seamless integration of information distributed over networks under the SAGE (Smart AGent Environment) project. In the SAGE, conversational agents speak in ACL (Agent Communication Language) and cooperate in solving problems focused on retrieval and integration of heterogeneous information. The SAGE consists of user agents which agentify users, database agents which agentify legacy software or database management systems (DBMSs) and mediator agents, called facilitators, which help the interoperation between other agents. To put the SAGE into practical uses, we apply the SAGE to EC (Electronic Commerce). We have already constructed its prototype, called SAGE:Francis, which provides search services for information on commodities. As the result of an experiment with two legacy database applications, Oracle and Access, whose eld names and category structures are di erent, the SAGE:Francis succeeded in integrating information on commodities and the response time was on average 3 seconds within real-world requirements. We report, in this paper, the SAGE:Francis with emphases on services, architecture, facilitation, and user interface.