As computer networks (and computational grids) become increasingly complex, the problem of allocating resources within such networks, in a distributed fashion, will become more and more of a design and implementation concern. This is especially true where the allocation involves distributed collections of resources rather than just a single resource, where there are alternative patterns of resources with different levels of utility that can satisfy the desired allocation, and where this allocation process must be done in soft real-time. This book examines solutions to this problem using ideas taken from the field of multiagent systems. The field of multiagent systems has itself seen an exponential growth in the past decade, and has developed a variety of techniques for distributed resource allocation. The book contains contributions from leading, international researchers describing a variety of approaches to this problem based on examples of implemented systems taken from a common distributed sensor network application; each approach is motivated, demonstrated and tested by way of a common challenge problem.
The book focuses on both practical systems and their theoretical analysis, and is divided into three parts: the first part describes the common sensor network challenge problem; the second part explains the different technical approaches to the common challenge problem; and the third part provides results on the formal analysis of a number of approaches taken to address the challenge problem.