22 October 1997 | Peyman Faratin, Carles Sierra, Nick R. Jennings
This paper presents a formal model of negotiation between autonomous agents, focusing on service-oriented negotiation. The model defines strategies and tactics for generating initial offers, evaluating proposals, and generating counter proposals. It is based on computationally tractable assumptions and has been empirically evaluated in the domain of business process management. The model addresses key aspects of negotiation, including the selection of servers, negotiation sequence, initial offers, acceptable agreements, counter offers, and when to abandon or reach an agreement. The model is designed for multi-party, multi-issue, single-encounter negotiations with limited resources. It includes a detailed analysis of the BT business process for providing customer quotes, where agents negotiate over various issues such as time, quality, and cost. The model incorporates both quantitative and qualitative values, using fuzzy sets for qualitative issues. It also includes time-dependent and resource-dependent tactics, as well as behavior-dependent tactics that imitate the opponent's behavior. The model is evaluated empirically to determine the effectiveness of different negotiation strategies and tactics in various scenarios. The paper outlines the experimental setup, including the negotiation environments and tactics used, and discusses the results of the experiments. The model allows for flexible and sophisticated negotiation, with a focus on achieving agreements that maximize the agent's scoring function.This paper presents a formal model of negotiation between autonomous agents, focusing on service-oriented negotiation. The model defines strategies and tactics for generating initial offers, evaluating proposals, and generating counter proposals. It is based on computationally tractable assumptions and has been empirically evaluated in the domain of business process management. The model addresses key aspects of negotiation, including the selection of servers, negotiation sequence, initial offers, acceptable agreements, counter offers, and when to abandon or reach an agreement. The model is designed for multi-party, multi-issue, single-encounter negotiations with limited resources. It includes a detailed analysis of the BT business process for providing customer quotes, where agents negotiate over various issues such as time, quality, and cost. The model incorporates both quantitative and qualitative values, using fuzzy sets for qualitative issues. It also includes time-dependent and resource-dependent tactics, as well as behavior-dependent tactics that imitate the opponent's behavior. The model is evaluated empirically to determine the effectiveness of different negotiation strategies and tactics in various scenarios. The paper outlines the experimental setup, including the negotiation environments and tactics used, and discusses the results of the experiments. The model allows for flexible and sophisticated negotiation, with a focus on achieving agreements that maximize the agent's scoring function.