SEMESTER I EXAMINATIONS ACADEMIC YEAR 2017/2018
COMP 30240 & COMP 41400 Multi-Agent Systems
Prof. J. Pitt
Prof. P. Cunningham Prof. G.M.P. O¡¯Hare *
Time Allowed: 2 Hours Instructions for Candidates
Answer any two questions. All questions carry equal marks Total marks available 100.
Instructions for Invigilators
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Q.1 (a)
(c)
(c)
(d)
Q.2. (a)
(b)
(c)
(c)
Explain what is meant by the term agent;
Differentiate between the weak notion of agenthood and the strong
notion of agenthood;
[15 Marks ]
Discuss the limitations often associated with the Contract Net Protocol. [ 15 Marks ]
Briefly outline how Norm-based Contract Net Protocol could address efficiency and effectiveness limitations of the coordination processes in a multi-agent system.
[ 10 Marks ]
Explain the essence of Speech Act Theory and why this has been so influential within the development of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS).
[ 15 Marks ]
Enumerate and briefly describe motivations for the adoption of mobile agents.
[15 Marks ]
Briefly contrast weak migration and strong migration within agent mobility.
[ 10 Marks ]
Within the context of Java based agent prototyping systems explain why they offer weak migration rather than strong migration.
[ 10 Marks ]
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[ 10 Marks ] Illustrate the various stages involved in the protocol using a UML
Describe the Contract Net Protocol. Sequence Diagram.
Q.3 (a)
(b)
Explain in detail what is understood by the term Belief Desire Intention Architecture (BDI).
[ 10 Marks ] Explain the operation of an Abstract BDI Agent Interpreter.
Describe in detail the generic core cycle that underpins the operation of a Belief Desire Intention (BDI) architecture.
Support your answer with a diagram illustrating the core cycle undertaken by the interpreter.
[ 20 Marks ]
Explain and describe the specialisation of this abstract architecture that is incorporated into AgentSpeak (L).
Explain the generic data structures that need to be accessed and manipulated in the Agentspeak(L)
[ 20 Marks ]
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(c)
Q.4. (a) (b)
(c)
Briefly differentiate between Epistemic Logic and Temporal Logic. [ 20 Marks ]
Contrast linear time temporal logic and branching time temporal logics. [ 15 Marks ]
Within the following tree assume that S is some point in time. The arcs within the tree represent possible future worlds. For each world state those concepts that are believed by an agent to be true are depicted by the notation {x,v,g} indicating that x, v and g are all believed to be true within that particular future world state.
For State S express using branching time temporal logical formula(e) those relationship(s) that hold true at the states and paths
contained within the diagram.
S
{a,b,h,p}
[ 15 Marks ]
{a,b,s,p}
{a,b,s,p}
{a,b,h,p}
{a,b,h,s,p}
{a,z,b}
{a,b}
{a,p}
{a,p}
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