System and method for controlling inter-agent communication in multi-agent systems

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions executable to perform operations for controlling communication of an agent in a multi-agent system, the operations comprising:

• generating a first state vector of the agent in the multi-agent system based at least on a second state vector of the agent and one or more messages received by the agent, the multi-agent system configured to carry out a task and comprising a plurality of agents that includes the agent, the first state vector representing a hidden state of the agent at a first time, the second state vector representing a hidden state of the agent at a second time that is earlier than the first time;
• determining whether to send a message, wherein determining whether to send the message comprises determining a reward score based at least on the first state vector, the reward score representing an aggregation of a value of sending the message for carrying out the task and a cost of the agent sending the message;
• in response to determining to send the message, generating the message based on the first state vector;
• and
• sending, by the agent, the message to one or more other agents in the multi-agent system.

An apparatus for controlling communication of an agent in a multi-agent system, the apparatus comprising:

• a computer processor for executing computer program instructions;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable memory storing computer program instructions executable by the computer processor to perform operations comprising:
• generating a first state vector of the agent in the multi-agent system based at least on a second state vector of the agent and one or more messages received by the agent, the multi-agent system configured to carry out a task and comprising a plurality of agents that includes the agent, the first state vector representing a hidden state of the agent at a first time, the second state vector representing a hidden state of the agent at a second time that is earlier than the first time,
• determining whether to send a message, wherein determining whether to send the message comprises determining a reward score based at least on the first state vector, the reward score representing an aggregation of a value of sending the message for carrying out the task and a cost of the agent sending the message,
• in response to determining to send the message, generating the message based on the first state vector, and
• sending, by the agent, the message to one or more other agents in the multi-agent system.