Using Colored Petri Nets for Conversation Modeling

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2000-09-01

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

R. Scott Cost, Ye Chen, Tim Finin, Yannis Labrou, Yun Peng, Using Colored Petri Nets for Conversation Modeling, Issues in Agent Communication pp 178-192 ,DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/10722777_12

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Abstract

Conversations are a useful means of structuring communicative interactions among agents. The value of a conversation-based approach is largely determined by the conversational model it uses. Finite State Machines, used heavily to date for this purpose, are not sufficient for complex agent interactions requiring a notion of concurrency. We propose the use of Colored Petri Nets as a model underlying a language for conversation specification. This carries the relative simplicity and graphical representation of the former approach, along with greater expressive power and support for concurrency. The construction of such a language, Protolingua, is currently being investigated within the framework of the Jackal agent development environment. In this paper, we explore the use of Colored Petri Nets in modeling agent communicative interaction.