The C-IPS Agent Architecture for Modeling Negotiating Social Agents

The basic concepts in agent negotiation are negotiation object, negotiation protocol and reasoning process. While aiming to transfer sociological concepts into multi-agent systems, where agents coordinate themselves by negotiation, we recognized the need for a more detailed structure. Therefore we developed C-IPS, which is presented in this article. It distinguishes between external constraints and internal reasoning processes. The reasoning process covers decisions regarding the negotiation issue, the partner, and a particular step. Its modularization supports the development of agents with different degrees of autonomy. The components of the C-IPS architecture are modeled according to the BDI approach. As an example for the application of C-IPS we consider agents that are required for the INKA project.