A Conflict Classification and Resolution Modeling in Multi-Agent Systems

Conflict Resolution in Agents and Multi-agent Systems

A multi-agent system is considered as a collection of entities communicating and interacting with each other to achieve individual or collective goals (Liu et al., 1998). Through coordinating operation, agents work jointly to guarantee coherent processes. However, agents occasionally overlook the total view of the overall problem, which causes conflicts among them (Moraïtis, 2013). Clearly, if such a system provides communication between agents, then such communication may include conflicts.

A conflict is any situation of disagreement between two or more agents or two or more groups of agents. This disagreement can be in plans, desires, or belief. The conflict state can happen during the design time or run time. Conflict resolution is a fundamental process for coordinated agent actions. Solving conflicts that arise in multi-agent environments depend on the conflicts’ types and dimensions. The essential part of understanding the nature of conflicts is conflict classification. Knowing the nature of a conflict reduces the search space of possible resolution strategies and/or modification mechanisms and helps agents to select the most appropriate behaviors that are most effective to resolve the conflict (Barber et al., 2000).