A layered approach to complex negotiations

In this paper, we present a layered agent framework in which the negotiation process is performed at different levels of abstractions. In a real time, multiple-tasking, resource-bounded environment, negotiation is not an isolated process but one that interleaved with agent’s many other activities, such as scheduling, execution, and other negotiations. To make the complexities of negotiation more tractable, the negotiation process is performed at two abstraction levels to reduce the complexity of the search. The upper level deals with the formation of high-level goals and objectives for the agent, and the decision about whether or not to negotiate with other agents to achieve particular goals, in what order the multiple related negotiations should be performed, and what negotiation attitude should be used for each negotiation. Negotiation at this upper level determines the rough scope of the commitment (i.e. the time and the quality characteristics) and the cost of the commitment. The lower level deals with feasibility and implementation operations, such as the detailed analysis of candidate tasks and actions and the formation of the detailed temporal/resource-specific commitments among agents; negotiation at this level involves refinement of the rough commitments proposed at the upper level. The experimental work shows this two-level negotiation framework enables the agent to handle complicated negotiation issues and uncertainties in a more efficient way. Keyword: layered negotiation, autonomous agents, multi-agent systems