82 Decembe 2006/Vol. 49, No. 12 COMMUNICATIONSOF THE ACM
On he one hand, he ield o
so wa e p oduc lines (SPLs), as
desc ibed in he a icles in his
sec ion, co e s all he so wa e
de elopmen li e cycle necessa y
o de elop a amily o p oduc s
whe e he de i a ion o conc e e
p oduc s is made sys ema ically
and apidly [10]. On he o he
hand, agen -o ien ed so wa e
enginee ing (AOSE) is a new
so wa e enginee ing pa adigm
ha a ose o apply he bes p ac-
ices in he de elopmen o com-
plex mul i-agen sys ems
(MASs) by ocusing on he use
o agen s, and o ganiza ions
(communi ies) o agen s as he
main abs ac ions [7].
Following a somewha slow
s a , agen echnology has begun
o come in o i s own. Wi h he
ad en o biologically inspi ed,
pe asi e, and au onomic com-
pu ing, he ad an ages o , and
necessi y o , agen -based ech-
nologies and MASs has become
ob ious. Un o una ely,cu en
AOSE me hodologies a ededi-
ca ed o de eloping single MASs.
Clea ly, many MASs will make
use o signi ican ly he same
echniques, adap a ions, and
app oaches. The ield is hus ipe
o exploi ing he bene i s o
SPLs: educing cos s, imp o ing
ime o ma ke , and enhancing
agen echnology in such a way
ha i is mo eindus ially
applicable.
We belie e he e is much ha
can be achie ed by combining
he wo app oaches: applying he
SPL philosophy o building a
MAS will a o d all he ad an-
ages o SPLs and make MAS
de elopmen mo ep ac ical.
Thus, ou in en in his a icle is
wo old: o s ess he easibili y
and bene i s o wha we call
By Joaquin Peña, Michael G. Hinchey,
and An onio Ruiz-Co és
MULTI-AGENT SYSTEM
PRODUCT LINES: CHALLENGES
AND BENEFITS
mul i-agen sys ems p oduc lines
(MAS-PL) and demons a e he
main esea ch challenges in he
de elopmen o MAS-PLs.
FEASIBILITY OF MAS-PL AND
BENEFITS
The so wa e p ocess p oposed in
AOSE p esen s many simila i ies
wi h he p ocess ollowed in SPLs
o he i s ac i i ies o he
domain enginee ing, which is in
cha ge o p o iding he eusable
co easse s ha a e exploi ed du -
ing he de i a ion o p oduc s,
done du ing applica ion enginee -
ing [10]. Following he nomen-
cla u e used in [10], he ac i i ies,
usually pe o med i e a i ely and
in pa allel, o domain enginee ing
ha p esen co ela ion wi h
AOSE a e:
•Domain Requi emen s Engi-
nee ing. Bo h app oaches use
models based on simila con-
cep s: ea u es in he case o
SPLs, and sys em goals in he
case o AOSE [3, 4]. Bo h ep-
esen equi emen s obse able
by he end use . Bo h
app oaches use hie a chical
diag ams whe e ea u es/goals
a e decomposed in o ine -
g ain diag ams. Howe e , he
SPL emphasizes he analysis o
he scope o he SPL, ha is,
he p oduc s inside i , and he
analysis o common and a i-
able ea u es ac oss he SPL,
which is no ca ied ou by
AOSE. In [5, 9], a i s s ep
owa d adap ing sys em goals
o MAS-PL and documen ing
a iabili y is shown.
•Domain Design. Bo h
app oaches de elop a chi ec-
u e-independen models ha
a emp o analyze how ea u es
and hei a iabili y can be
ma e ialized. In AOSE, ole
models a e used o his pu pose
[12], and some app oaches in
SPL also p opose he same
app oach [6, 11]. Howe e ,
agen - ocused models show
addi ional in o ma ion no
needed in SPL ole models, such
as he goals o he agen s, o
whe he hey a e used o
abs ac in o ma ion a chi ec u e
echniques, while no showing
how hese ole models can be
eused o di e en p oduc s.
•Domain Realiza ion. Bo h
app oaches ocus on designing
ade ailed a chi ec u e. In he
case o he SPL, a common
a chi ec u e o all p oduc s
and a se o eusable asse s. In
he case o AOSE, a single
a chi ec u e ha ul ills all o
he sys em goals o he MAS.
Some app oaches in bo h ields
base he cons uc ion o he
a chi ec u e on ole model
composi ion [6, 11]. In[9],
au ho s p esen ed he i s
s eps owa d building he co e
a chi ec u e o a MAS-PL
based on au oma ic analysis o
sys em goals models adap ed o
ea u emodels using [2].
This, along wi h he i s
esea ch pape s de eloped in his
ield, shows ha he bene i s o
enabling MAS-PL a e ob ainable.
The main bene i is s aigh o -
wa d: AOSE can help SPL gain
inc eased accep ance in he indus-
ial wo ld. Howe e , as we show
he e, a numbe o esea ch chal-
lenges exis ha mus cons i u e
he esea ch agenda equi ed o
MAS-PL o become a eali y.
FUTURE CHALLENGES
SPL o Dis ibu ed Sys ems.
Dis ibu ed sys ems ha e no been
aho opic in he SPL ield. How-
e e , MASs a e dis ibu ed sys-
ems ha will need new adap ed
echniques o be co e ed.
Al hough ce ainly i will a ec o
he whole de elopmen cycle, one
o he i s s eps we o esee is he
need o in es ing in he use o
in e ac ion-based models, such as
ole models. The esea ch unde -
aken o his opic may ex end
he applicabili y o SPL no only
o MASs, bu also o o he kinds
o dis ibu ed sys ems such as
Web se ices [1].
AOSE De iciencies. As shown
p e iously, AOSE does no co e
some o he ac i i ies o SPL.
These a emainly concen a ed on
commonali y analysis, and i s
implica ions o he SPL
app oach. Ano he impo an
opic in ol es he p oduc man-
agemen ac i i y ha is pe o med
in pa allel wi h domain and appli-
ca ion enginee ing. I is in cha ge
o managing he economic aspec s
o a SPL. Gi en he p oduc s and
he ma ke s o MASs a e qui e
di e en om he ones ypically
used in SPLs, a g ea amoun o
e o mus be made owa d
s udying hese aspec s. Finally,as
AOSE is de o ed o de elop sin-
gle p oduc s, applica ion engi-
nee ing is no p esen in AOSE.
Resea che s should also in es
e o s on s udying his ac i i y.
Managemen o E ol ing Sys-
ems. Agen -based e ol ing sys-
ems esul in la ge so wa e
sys ems ha adap and lea n om
changes in he en i onmen . The
de elopmen o hese sys ems
esul s in a complex ask whe e
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84 Decembe 2006/Vol. 49, No. 12 COMMUNICATIONSOF THE ACM
sys ems usually become unman-
ageable om an enginee ing
poin o iew. SPL can help his
ask by iewing an e ol ing sys-
em as a SPL whe e a di e en
s a e in he sys em is iewed as a
sepa a e p oduc [8]. This decom-
poses he sys em in o well-
iden i ied chunks and a
well-de ined con ex whe e each
p oduc will appea , which helps
o deal wi h he inhe en com-
plexi y o MASs.
Sel -* p ope ies o agen s. We
belie e agen echnology may also
b ing ad an ages o SPL. Gi en
esea ch e o s in es ed in p o-
iding agen s wi h he capabili ies
o communica e wi h each o he
a he seman ic le el, o o p o-
ide capabili ies o sel -o ganiza-
ion, sel -op imiza ion, and
sel -healing, he main enance and
e olu ion o he co e a chi ec u e
may be simpli ied. Addi ionally,
he in eg a ion cos s o new ea-
u es o a ce ain p oduc , o
e en he en i e SPL, may be
dec eased.
CONCLUSION
MAS-PL, inco po a ing bene i s
om bo h SPL and AOSE, will
help in he indus ial exploi a ion
o agen echnology, sa ing bo h
e o and cos . We ha e
iden i ied se e al challenges, such
as adap ing cu en AOSE engi-
nee ing echniques o he SPL
philosophy, which in many cases
equi es he de elopmen o new
ac i i ies and models om
sc a ch. Howe e , a symbiosis
be ween bo h AOSE and SPL
a ises when AOSE also p o ides
bene i s o SPL, mainly h ough
encou aging and imp o ing
esea ch on SPL o complex dis-
ibu ed sys ems. As can be seen,
MAS-PLs ep esen a g ea , and
wo hwhile, challenge ha will
ce ainly a ac he in e es o
many p ac i ione s and
esea che s.
Re e ences
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M.A., and de Oca, C.M. A i s app oach o
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olume 3473 o Lec u e No es in Compu e
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u e models. In P oceedings o he Ad anced
In o ma ion Sys ems Enginee ing 17 h In e -
na ional Con e ence (CaiSE 2005),LNCS
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Joaquin Peña ([email p o ec ed]) is a lec-
u e in he Depa men o Compu e Science
Languages and Sys ems a he Uni e si y o
Se ille in Spain.
Michael G. Hinchey
([email p o ec ed]) is he di ec o
o he So wa e Enginee ing Labo a o y a he
NASA Godda d Space Fligh Cen e in
G eenbel , MD.
An onio Ruiz-Co és ([email p o ec ed]) is
an associa e p o esso in he Depa men o
Compu e Science Languages and Sys ems a
he Uni e si y o Se ille in Spain.
The wo k epo ed in his a icle was suppo ed
by he Spanish Minis y o Science and Tech-
nology unde g an s TIC2003-02737-C02-01
and TIN2006-00472 and by he NASA So -
wa e Enginee ing Labo a o y, NASA Godda d
Space Fligh Cen e , G eenbel , MD, USA.
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