Coordination in a Distributed Problem Solving Network,

Abstract

Distributed problem solving networks provide an interesting application area for high-level network coordination through the use of organizational structuring. We describe a decentralized approach to the coordination of these networks that relies on each node making sophisticated local activity decisions. Each node is guided by a high-level strategic plan for cooperation among nodes in the network and must balance its own perceptions of appropriate problems solving activity with activities deemed important by other nodes. The high-level strategic plan, which is a form of meta-level control, is represented as a network organizational structure specifying in a general way the information and control relationships among the nodes. In addition to its application to Distributed Artificial Intelligence, this research has implications for organizing and controlling complex knowledge-based systems that involve semi-autonomous problem solving agents.