Information processing apparatus and method and information processing program recording medium

An agent processing system for processing agents, comprising:

• a network;
• and
• a plurality of nodes interconnected via said network, said plurality of nodes being each capable of becoming a remote node or a local node with respect to other nodes, said remote node and/or said local node comprising:
• means for inputting a request;
• means for generating an agent corresponding to the request inputted from said input means;
• planning means for generating a plan which satisfies said request;
• means for determining a reliability of a communication line in the case where an uncertain knowledge is used for generation of said plan by said planning means;
• selecting means for selecting one of a processing of a movement of the agent and a processing of a contract net protocol in accordance with said reliability;
• uncertain knowledge processing means for processing said uncertain knowledge on the basis of the processing selected by said selecting means;
• and
• executing means for executing the plan after said uncertain knowledge processing means processes said uncertain knowledge.

An information processing apparatus with a plurality of agents cooperating by information exchange on a network including a plurality of nodes, comprising:

• planning means for generating a plan to be executed by said agents;
• means for judging the reliability of the communication line connecting a node generating said plan and the network in the case where said plan generated includes a plan requiring the processing in other nodes;
• means for moving the agent for executing said plan to another node in the case where the reliability of said communication line is low;
• cooperation means for requesting at least one agent of other nodes to execute said plan in the case where said reliability is high;
• and
• means for executing the plan generated.

An information processing method comprising:

• inputting a request;
• generating an agent corresponding to the request inputted at said inputting step;
• planning a plan which satisfies said request;
• determining a reliability of a communication line in the case where an uncertain knowledge is used for said planning step;
• selecting one of a processing of a movement of the agent and a processing of a contract net protocol in accordance with said reliability;
• processing said uncertain knowledge on the basis of the processing selected in said selecting step;
• and
• executing the plan after said processing step processes said uncertain knowledge.

A computer-readable memory comprising:

• first instruction means for causing a computer to input a request;
• second instruction means for causing a computer to generate an agent corresponding to the request inputted by said first instruction means;
• third instruction means for causing a computer to generate a plan which satisfies said request;
• fourth instruction means for causing a computer to determine a reliability of a communication line in the case where an uncertain knowledge is used for said third instruction means;
• fifth instruction means for causing a computer to select one of a processing of a movement of the agent and a processing of a contract net protocol in accordance with said reliability;
• sixth instruction means for causing a computer to process said uncertain knowledge on the basis of the processing selected by said fifth instruction means;
• and
• seventh instruction means for causing a computer to execute the plan after said sixth instruction means processes said uncertain knowledge.