Geylani Kardas

Design and implementation of a smart card based healthcare information system

Smart cards are used in information technologies as portable integrated devices with data storage and data processing capabilities. As in other fields, smart card use in health systems became popular due to their increased capacity and performance. Their efficient use with easy and fast data access facilities leads to implementation particularly widespread in security systems. In this paper, a smart card based healthcare information system is developed. The system uses smart card for personal identification and transfer of health data and provides data communication via a distributed protocol which is particularly developed for this study. Two smart card software modules are implemented that run on patient and healthcare professional smart cards, respectively. In addition to personal information, general health information about the patient is also loaded to patient smart card. Health care providers use their own smart cards to be authenticated on the system and to access data on patient cards. Encryption keys and digital signature keys stored on smart cards of the system are used for secure and authenticated data communication between clients and database servers over distributed object protocol. System is developed on Java platform by using object oriented architecture and design patterns.

On the use of a domain-specific modeling language in the development of multiagent systems

The study of Multiagent Systems (MASs) focuses on those systems in which many intelligent agents interact with each other. The agents are considered to be autonomous entities which contain intelligence that serves for solving their selfish or common problems, and to achieve certain goals. However, the autonomous, responsive, and proactive natures of agents make the development of agent-based software systems more complex than other software systems. Furthermore, the design and implementation of a MAS may become even more complex and difficult to implement when considering new requirements and interactions for new agent environments like the Semantic Web. We believe that both domain-specific modeling and the use of a domain-specific modeling language (DSML) may provide the required abstraction, and hence support a more fruitful methodology for the development of MASs. In this paper, we first introduce a DSML for MASs called SEA_ML with both its syntax and semantics definitions and then show how the language and its graphical tools can be used during model-driven development of real MASs. In addition to the classical viewpoints of a MAS, the proposed DSML includes new viewpoints which specifically support the development of software agents working within the Semantic Web environment. The methodology proposed for the MAS development based on SEA_ML is also discussed including its example application on the development of an agent-based stock exchange system.

Model Driven Development of Semantic Web Enabled Multi-Agent Systems

Semantic Web evolution brought a new vision into agent research. The interpretation of this second generation web will be realized by autonomous computational entities, called agents, to handle the semantic content on behalf of their human users. Surely, Semantic Web environment has specific architectural entities and a different semantic which must be considered to model a Multi-agent System (MAS) within this environment. Hence, in this study, we introduce a MAS development process which supports the Semantic Web environment. Our approach is based on Model Driven Development (MDD) which aims to change the focus of software development from code to models. We first define an architecture for Semantic Web enabled MASs and then provide a MAS metamodel which consists of the first class meta-entities derived from this architecture. We also define a model transformation process for MDD of such MASs. We present a complete transformation process in which the source and the target metamodels, entity mappings between models and the implementation of the transformation for two different real MAS frameworks by using a well-known model transformation language are all included. In addition to the model-to-model transformation, the implementation of the model-to-code transformation is given as the last step of the system development process. The evaluation of the proposed development process by considering its use within the scope of a real commercial software project is also discussed.

A systematic approach to evaluating domain-specific modeling language environments for multi-agent systems

Multi-agent systems (MASs) include multiple interacting agents within an environment to provide a solution for complex systems that cannot be easily solved with individual agents or monolithic systems. However, the development of MASs is not trivial due to the various agent properties such as autonomy, responsiveness, and proactiveness, and the need for realization of the many different agent interactions. To support the development of MASs various domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs) have been introduced that provide a declarative approach for modeling and supporting the generation of agent-based systems. To be effective, the proposed DSMLs need to meet the various stakeholder concerns and the related quality criteria for the corresponding MASs. Unfortunately, very often the evaluation of the DSML is completely missing or has been carried out in idiosyncratic approach. If the DSMLs are not well defined, then implicitly this will have an impact on the quality of the MASs. In this paper, we present an evaluation framework and systematic approach for assessing existing or newly defined DSMLs for MASs. The evaluation is specific for MAS DSMLs and targets both the language and the corresponding tools. To illustrate the evaluation approach, we first present SEA_ML, which is a model-driven MAS DSML for supporting the modeling and generation of agent-based systems. The evaluation of SEA_ML is based on a multi-case study research approach and provides both qualitative evaluation and quantitative analysis. We report on the lessons learned considering the adoption of the evaluation approach as well as the SEA_ML for supporting the generation of agent-based systems.

The Formal Semantics of a Domain-Specific Modeling Language for Semantic Web Enabled Multi-Agent Systems

Development of agent systems is without question a complex task when autonomous, reactive and proactive characteristics of agents are considered. Furthermore, internal agent behavior model and interaction within the agent organizations become even more complex and hard to implement when new requirements and interactions for new agent environments such as the Semantic Web are taken into account. We believe that the use of both domain specific modeling and a Domain-specific Modeling Language (DSML) may provide the required abstraction and support a more fruitful methodology for the development of Multi-agent Systems (MASs) especially when they are working on the Semantic Web environment. Although syntax definition based on a metamodel is an essential part of a modeling language, an additional and required part would be the determination and implementation of DSML constraints that constitute the (formal) semantics which cannot be defined solely with a metamodel. Hence, in this paper, formal semantics of a MAS DSML called Semantic Web enabled Multi-agent Systems (SEA_ML) is introduced. SEA_ML is a modeling language for agent systems that specifically takes into account the interactions of semantic web agents with semantic web services. What is more, SEA_ML also supports the modeling of semantic agents from their internals to MAS perspective. Based on the defined abstract and concrete syntax definitions, we first give the formal representation of SEA_MLs semantics and then discuss its use on MAS validation. In order to define and implement semantics of SEA_ML, we employ Alloy language which is declarative and has a strong description capability originating from both relational and first-order logic in order to easily define complex structures and behaviors of these systems. Differentiating from similar contributions of other researchers on formal semantics definition for MAS development languages, SEA_MLs semantics, presented in this paper, defines both static and dynamic aspects of the interaction between software agents and semantic web services, in addition to the definition of the semantics already required for agent internals and MAS communication. Implementation with Alloy makes definition of SEA_MLs semantics to include relations and sets with a simple notation for MAS model definitions. We discuss how the automatic analysis and hence checking of SEA_ML models can be realized with the defined semantics. Design of an agent-based electronic barter system is exemplified in order to give some flavor of the use of SEA_MLs formal semantics. Lessons learned during the development of such a MAS DSML semantics are also reported in this paper.

A Domain Specific Metamodel for Semantic Web Enabled Multi-Agent Systems

Autonomous, responsive and proactive nature of agents makes development of agent-based software systems more complex than other software systems. A Domain Specific Modeling Language (DSML) may provide the required abstraction and hence support a more fruitful methodology for the development of MASs especially working on the new challenging environments such as the Semantic Web. In this paper, we introduce a domain specific metamodel for MASs working on the Semantic Web. This new metamodel paves the way for definition of an abstract syntax and a concrete syntax for a future DSML of agent systems. Achieved DSML syntax is supported with a graphical modeling toolkit.

Declarative specifications for the development of multi-agent systems

The designing and implementation of a multi-agent system (MAS), where autonomous agents collaborate with other agents for solving problems, constitute complex tasks that may become even harder when agents work in new interactive environments such as the Semantic Web. In order to deal with the complexities of designing and implementing a MAS, a domain-specific language (DSL) can be employed inside the MASs development cycle. In such a manner, a MAS can be completely specified by programs written in a DSL. Such programs are declarative, expressive, and at the right abstraction level. In this way the complexity of MAS development is then partially shifted to DSL development and the task herein can be much more feasible by using a proper DSL development methodology and related tools. This paper presents and discusses our methodology for DSL development based on declarative formal specifications that are easy to compose, and its usage during MAS development. A practical case-study is also provided covering an example of a MASs development for expert finding systems. By using denotational semantics for precisely defining the language, we show that it is possible to generate the language automatically. In addition, using attribute grammars makes it possible to have modular methodology within which evolutionary language development becomes easier. A multi-agent system development language based on declarative specificationsLanguage is defined formally via denotational semantics and attribute grammars.Applying denotational semantics provided precise definitions of the language.We could generate the language automatically from formal semantics.Using attribute grammars made evolutionary language development easier.

A model driven architecture for the development of smart card software

Abstract Smart cards are portable integrated devices that store and process data. Speed, security and portability properties enable smart cards to have a widespread usage in various fields including telecommunication, transportation and the credit card industry. However, the development of smart card applications is a difficult task due to hardware and software constraints. The necessity of the knowledge of both a very low-level communication protocol and a specific hardware causes smart card software development to be a big challenge for the developers. Written codes tend to be error-prone and hard to debug because of the limited memory resources. Hence, in this study, we introduce a model driven architecture which aims to facilitate smart card software development by both providing an easy design of smart card systems and automatic generation of the required smart card software from the system models. Differentiating from the previous work, the study in here contributes to the field by both providing various smart card metamodels in different abstraction layers and defines model-to-model transformations between the instances of these metamodels in order to support the realization of the same system on different smart card platforms. Applicability of the proposed methodology is shown for rapid and efficient application development in two major smart card frameworks: Java Card and ZeitControl Basic Card. Lessons learned during the industrial usage of the architecture are also reported in the paper. Finally, we discuss how the components of the architecture can be integrated in order to provide a domain-specific language for smart card software.

An MAS infrastructure for implementing SWSA based semantic services

The Semantic Web Services Initiative Architecture (SWSA) describes the overall process of semantic service execution in three phases: discovery, engagement and enactment. To accomplish the specified requirements of these phases, it defines a conceptual model which is based on semantic service agents that provide and consume semantic web services and includes architectural and protocol abstractions. In this paper, an MAS infrastructure is defined which fulfills fundamental requirements of SWSAs conceptual model including all its sub-processes. Based on this infrastructure, requirements of a planner module is identified and has been implemented. The developed planner has the capability of executing plans consisting of special tasks for semantic service agents in a way that is described in SWSA. These special tasks are predefined to accomplish the requirements of SWSAs sub-processes and they can be reused in real plans of semantic service agents both as is and as specialized according to domain requirements.

Design and implementation of a multiagent stock trading system

Stock trading is one of the key items in an economy and estimating its behavior and taking the best decision in it are among the most challenging issues. Solutions based on intelligent agent systems are proposed to cope with those challenges. Agents in a multiagent system (MAS) can share a common goal or they can pursue their own interests. That nature of MASs exactly fits the requirements of a free market economy. Although existing studies include noteworthy proposals on agent‐based market simulation and researchers discuss theoretical design issues of agent‐based stock exchange systems, unfortunately only a very few of the studies consider exact development and implementation of multiagent stock trading systems within the software engineering perspective and guides to the software engineers for constructing such software systems starting from scratch. To fill this gap, in this paper, we discuss the development of a multiagent‐based stock trading system by taking into consideration software design according to a well‐defined agent oriented software engineering methodology and implementation with a widely‐used MAS software development framework. Each participant in the system is first designed as belief–desire–intention agents with their facts, goals, and plans, and then belief–desire–intention reasoning and behavioral structure of the designed agents are implemented. Lessons learned during design and development within the software engineering perspective and evaluation of the implemented multiagent stock exchange system are also reported. Copyright