Browsing by Author "Carter, Jonathan"

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    Architectural components of information sharing societies
    Carter, Jonathan; Ghorbani, Ali, A.; Marsh, Stephen
    Two similar multiagent systems have been designed to address the issue of information sharing within a multiagent system. This paper examines architectural components that have been added to our information sharing societies, ACORN and MP3. Through this exploration, we conclude that these components and their underlying concepts can be added to other information retrieval societies. ACORN consists of a set of information sharing locations referred to as Cafes. Cafes are defined as meeting locations for like-minded agents. Like-minded agents are defined as agents that share a common set of interests. As an example, a cafe may contain agents that are interested in information relating to cars. A dynamic cafe clustering method is developed. The performance evaluation of the proposed structure for the cafe is presented. The concept of a fat/thin agent architecture is introduced. This agent architecture allows for minimizing network traffic as agents traverse the network in search of or distribution of knowledge. The directory server component is presented along with its relation to the fat/thin agent architecture. Lastly, anonymity service provider which allows anonymity for users is introduced. The MP3 society exists with the sole purpose of finding MP3's throughout a given network. Through this society, the core design issues of agent verification, and agent validation are addressed and solutions are presented through respective interface components. Key words: Agent, fat/thin agents, multiagent systems, clustering, MP3, information sharing
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    Reputation formalization for an information sharing multiagent system
    Carter, Jonathan; Bitting, Elijah; Ghorbani, Ali, A.
    We propose that through the formalization of concepts related to trust, a more accurate model of trust can be implemented. This paper presents a new model of trust that is based on the formalization of reputation. A multidisciplinary approach is taken to understanding the nature of trust and its relation to reputation. Through this approach, a practical definition of reputation is adopted from sociological contexts and a model of reputation is designed and presented. Reputation is defined as role fulfillment. In order to formalize reputation, it is necessary to formalize the expectations placed upon an agent within a particular Multiagent System (MAS). In this case, the agents are part of an information sharing society. Five roles are defined along with the ways in which these roles are objectively fulfilled. Through the measurement of role fulfillment, a vector representing reputation can be developed. This vector embodies the magnitude of the reputation and describes the patterns of behavior associated with the direction of the vector. Experiments are conducted to verify the sensibility of the proposed models for role fulfillment and overall reputation. The simulation results shows that the roles, defined for building reputation in an information-sharing MAS environment, react to different agent and user actions in a consistent with the formal definitions. Keywords: Agent, Information Sharing, Multiagent Systems, Reputation, Trust.
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    Towards a Formalization of Trust
    Carter, Jonathan; Ghorbani, Ali A.
    This work focuses on the design and implementation of a new model of trust. The new model of trust is based on the formalizations of reputation, self-esteem, and similarity within an agent. Our previous work establishes the formalization of reputation within an information-sharing Multiagent System. The previous work claims that reputation cannot be universalized. This work universalizes reputation through the use of values within all Multiagent Systems. The following values are shown to be manifested within Multiagent Systems: responsibility, honesty, independence, obedience, ambition, helpfulness, capability, knowledgeability, and cost efficiency. Manifestations of these values result in a more universalized approach to formalizing reputation. Self-esteem is formalized as the reputation an agent has with itself. Lastly, similarity is formalized as the difference in the importance of the values previously mentioned. Combined, the weighted components of self-esteem, similarity, and reputation form a new model of trust. This new model of trust is examined within the context of an e-commerce framework. The multiagent system is comprised of buyers and sellers that wish to conduct business. Sellers can engage in untrustworthy business behavior at the buyer's expense. It is the job of the model to decide whether a selling agent is trustworthy enough to engage in business. The trust model is analyzed with respect to stability, scalability, accuracy in attaining e-commerce objectives, and general effectiveness in discouraging untrustworthy behavior. Based on the experiments, the model appears to be scalable dependent upon the agent population of buyers and sellers. It achieves its primary objective of discouraging untrustworthy behavior as measured through the acceleration of Gross Domestic Product growth over time. Within the simulator, a high degree of random outcomes is possible. Stability is used to examine the predictability of the model (on average) given a fixed set of given data about the simulations. Based on the simulations, the model appears to be quite stable.