Specifying DIMA Multi-agents Models Using Maude

Process-oriented design and implementation of concurrent systems has important benefits. However, the inherent complexity of concurrent processes’ communication imposes challenges such as verifying consistency between the process-oriented design and implementation of a concurrent system. To deal with such a challenge, we use Galois connections, Failures and Category Theory to construct a formal framework for designing, implementing, analyzing and verifying consistency of concurrent systems. For the purpose of illustrating the framework, a running concurrent system is designed by Communicating Sequential Processes, implemented by a process-oriented programming language Erasmus.

The specification and implementation of a class of concurrent systems is investigated in this paper using PARLOG as the implementation language, guided by specifications in CCS. This class of systems is restricted to an illustrative subset, including buffers and queues. A comparison is made between the computational models of concurrency that are expressed by each language. Illustrative programs are given which highlight the differences in operational behaviour between programs in the two languages. We investigate the ways in which equivalences in CCS programs may be used to compare PARLOG programs, and the areas of PARLOG programming which are not covered by this comparison. The advantages and disadvantages of CCS compared with PARLOG as a ‘specification-implementation’ language are discussed.

Using Failures and Category Theory to Verify Process Communications between Design and Implementation of Concurrent Systems

We develop a logic-based framework for formal specification and algorithmic verification of homogeneous and dynamic concurrent multi-agent transition systems. Homogeneity means that all agents have the same available actions at any given state and the actions have the same effects regardless of which agents perform them. The state transitions are therefore determined only by the vector of numbers of agents performing each action and are specified symbolically, by means of conditions on these numbers definable in Presburger arithmetic. The agents are divided into controllable (by the system supervisor/controller) and uncontrollable, representing the environment or adversary. Dynamicity means that the numbers of controllable and uncontrollable agents may vary throughout the system evolution, possibly at every transition. As a language for formal specification we use a suitably extended version of Alternating-time Temporal Logic, where one can specify properties of the type “a coalition of (at least) n controllable agents can ensure against (at most) m uncontrollable agents that any possible evolution of the system satisfies a given objective gamma″, where gamma is specified again as a formula of that language and each of n and m is either a fixed number or a variable that can be quantified over. We provide formal semantics to our logic {mathcal {L}}_{textsc {hdmas}} and define normal form of its formulae. We then prove that every formula in {mathcal {L}}_{textsc {hdmas}} is equivalent in the finite to one in a normal form and develop an algorithm for global model checking of formulae in normal form in finite HDMAS models, which invokes model checking truth of Presburger formulae. We establish worst case complexity estimates for the model checking algorithm and illustrate it on a running example.

The lack of formal semantics in the existing formalisms describing multi-agents models, combined with the complexity of multi-agents systems, are sources of several problems during their development process. The formal methods are known to bring rigorous and precise descriptions. They offer the possibility of checking the correction of specifications. In this framework and in previous papers (Ferber J, Gutknecht O (2002) MadKit user’s guide. Version 3.1) [23], we have proposed a formal and generic framework called DIMA-Maude, allowing formal description and validation of the DIMA model [15] with the Maude language [22]. This language, based on rewriting logic [21], offers a rich notation supporting formal specification, implementation, validation through simulation, and verification through accessibility analysis and model checking of concurrent systems (Koning JL (1999) Algorithms for translating interaction protocols into a formal description. In: IEEE Int Conf Syst Man Cybernet Conf, Tokyo, Japan). In this paper, we propose a rewriting logic-based tool for creating a DIMA model. This tool allows the edition and the simulation of a DIMA system. It allows the user to draw a DIMA system graphically and translates the graphical representation of the drawn DIMA model to a Maude specification. Then the Maude system is used to perform the simulation of the resulting Maude specification. This tool allows preserving the graphic notations offered by the DIMA model for clarity and getting a formal specification in Maude for analysis.KeywordsModel CheckFunctional ModuleConcurrent SystemMethod IsAliveProactive AgentThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

UCM Use Case Maps notation helps designers to capture system requirements and visualise design. UCM is mainly focused on system functionalities and they are easy to learn and understand. However, UCM suffers from a lack of standard formal semantics. This weakness can lead, in the rest of the development process, to several problems of inconsistency and ambiguity. In this paper, we present a novel approach for formalising UCM notation as an executable formal specification described in the Maude language Strategy, a recent extension of Maude. The main motivation of our work is essentially to provide a sound and rigorous description of complex systems described by UCM, which can help analysts, designers and developers, to automating their verification and validation processes. The proposed approach is applied on multi-agent systems MAS through of a real case study.

The issue of creating an information security system is very relevant in the world today. One of the urgent tasks is to solve the issues of effective protection of information from both external and internal threats through the creation and implementation of information security management systems in automated systems of enterprises, which, among other things, requires the formalization of the task of protecting information for its subsequent implementation by software and other means. Now there are security analysis systems, for example, that examine the security elements settings of workstations and servers operating systems, analyze the network topology, look for unprotected network connections, examine the settings of firewalls. The disadvantage of these systems is that they are not suitable for monitoring large volumes of network traffic. The solution to this problem is the use of monitoring tools capable of analyzing large amounts of data in real time. Therefore, a significant place in the article is given to the review of developments based on artificial intelligence technologies, namely multi-agent systems, review of information security models, threat risk assessment in automated systems. The functional architecture of the information security management system based on a multi-agent system has been proposed to search in real time for information security optimal solutions through the selection of such coalitions of protection mechanisms agents that will allow to build the optimal protection of the automated system according to the selected criteria. The model with complete overlapping of threats has been substantiated and adopted as a basis, which allows to analyze the overall situation and choose strategically important decisions directly during the organization of information security. The essence of of multi-agent systems functioning that implement a decentralized control system based on the work of autonomous agents that can be implemented programmatically has been revealed. The role of threat agents, resource agents, agents of protection mechanisms and their functional purpose have been defined. The problem of searching a set of protection mechanisms agents coalition for the current state of the automated system as a problem of optimal search by the criterion of protection cost, taking into account the value of information, has been generalized. Due to the modularity of the multi-agent system, the further work will be aimed at detailing its components and perfection.

In this paper we present our approach allowing the translation of Real Time Multi-Agents Systems (RT-MAS) organizational requirements described by extended AUML (Agent UML Language) diagrams into a formal specification written in Real Time Maude language (RT-Maude). In fact, the approach is an extension of our previous work [1] that consists in extending AUML diagrams (Temporal AUML organization use case diagram and Temporal AUML organization class diagram) by using stereotypes notions and meta-model organizations entities for taking into account RT-MAS specificities. Once elaborated, these different diagrams undergo a validation to assure inter-and intra model coherence. The formal and object oriented language RT-Maude, base on rewriting logic, supports formal specification and programming of concurrent systems. The main motivations of this work are: (1) formalizing the organizational requirements of RT-MAS by using RT-Maude language, and (2) integrating the validation of the coherence models, since the analysis phase.

This article describes first steps towards the formal specification and verification of multi-agent systems, through the use of temporal belief logics. The article first describes Concurrent METATEM, a multi-agent programming language, and then develops a logic that may be used to reason about Concurrent METATEM systems. The utility of this logic for specifying and verifying Concurrent METATEM systems is demonstrated through a number of examples. The article concludes with a brief discussion on the wider implications of the work, and in particular on the use of similar logics for reasoning about multi-agent systems in general.

The MAS (Multi-Agent System) theory is already widely applied to the mechanical machining, especially the study on the robot. This paper puts forward a multi-Agent alliance control model that is made up of the series robot Agent, the parallel moving platform Agent and the polishing tool system Agent and so on by the MAS theory. Through the introduction of point-curve constraint, the dynamics of the constraint multi-rigid body equation for the polishing system is established in order to accurately program the moving track of the robots. Meanwhile, the control parameters during the polishing can be optimized. The satisfied polishing effect on the curved surfaces can be obtained and the demand of the polishing can be achieved by the MAS.

In this paper we present a logic to provide a framework for the formal specification of multiagent real-time systems which allows explicit reasoning about the actions of agents, the nondeterministic model of interaction between agents and environment, the cooperation and competition of agents and the reaction time limits of a system. The logic combines Propositional Dynamic Logic PDL and Alternating-time Temporal Logic ATL and extends the formalism with reaction time constraints. We introduce a multiagent system abstract model and show how the logic can be used to specify the model properties.

Security has become an important concern with the development of large scale distributed and heterogeneous multi-agent systems (MAS). One of the main problems in addressing security during the development of MAS is that security is often an afterthought. The cost involved to patch existing systems against vulnerabilities and attacks after deployment is high. If developers and designers can spend some quality time investigating security aspects before beginning to code then this cost can be reduced significantly. Also, using formal methods to specify the complex behavior of large scale software systems has resulted in reliable software systems. This research effort was focused on using formal methods early in the development lifecycle to specify security requirements for MAS. New solutions are emerging to fix security related issues, but how much thought gets in during the early phases of development in terms of security needs to be answered. In this paper, analysis of security requirements for MAS, existing solutions to secure MAS, and the use of formal methods to specify security requirements has been studied. Descartes-Agent, a formal specification language for specifying agent systems has been taken into study to model the security requirements of MAS early on in the development process. Functional specifications of MAS are modelled along with the non-functional security requirements using the Descartes-Agent specification language. This paper also describes the extensions made to the Agent Unified Modeling Language (AUML) to represent the security requirements of MAS. The extensions proposed to AUML are in accordance with the extensions made to the Descartes-Agent specification language. A case study example is used to illustrate the specification of security requirements in MAS using the Descartes-Agent.

Development of complicated products is a project of system engineeringIt involves extensive and complicated knowledge,design meth ods and auxiliary technologyVarious factors affect each otherSo,modern produ ct development is a typical group problem with distributed and dynamic features It is apparent superiority to solve this problem with a multiagent system re presenting various knowledge domainsDistributed artificial intelligence knowle dge being used,the multiagent collaborative design system concept and model ba sed on Internet environment are put forwardThe realizing method of product developing agents,interactive process among multiagents,and organiz ation and implementing of the design project of the multiagent collaborative d esign system are discussed in detailApplication examples are also presented

: Controls research under this program concentrated on the development of a network thermodynamic stabilization framework for hybrid control design of large-scale and multiagent aerospace systems. In particular, we concentrate on hybrid control, hierarchical control, impulsive dynamical systems, nonnegative dynamical systems, compartmental systems, large-scale systems, nonlinear switching control, cooperative control, and adaptive control. Application areas include large flexible interconnected space structures, spacecraft stabilization, cooperative control of unmanned air vehicles, network systems, swarms of air and space vehicle formations, and pharmacological systems.

High‐level language primitives for concurrent programming exist in languages such as Ada and Modula‐2. However, each of these languages provides only a single means for specifying multitasking and synchronization, essential in the implementation of concurrent systems. The SR language provides several mechanisms for specifying multi‐tasking and synchronization, so it can be used to explore the performance of various communication techniques.This paper presents performance results for SR's multi‐tasking and synchronization mechanisms and discusses the effects of the generated code, the run‐time support and the hardware on these results. These results are compared with those for similar mechanisms in other languages, leading to some general conclusions about the performance of process communication primitives. These performance results can be used by programmers to make design choices that allow systems programs written in high‐level languages to meet real‐time performance specifications.