1. A Negotiation Architecture for Cooperating Components
Endeavor
A Negotiation Architecture for Cooperating Components
R. Wilensky

2. Problem
Individual computing components currently require lots of manual configuration:
OS, software installation
Local data (solved by oceanic storage!)
Configuration to access services
Even now, with each of us having a small number of machines, (manual) configuration is a problem.
State (software/data) is inconsistent across machines.
Manual updating is time-consuming.
Degrades poorly in the presence of failure/change.
With several orders of magnitude more machines per individual, manual configuration will be completely infeasible.

3. Solution: Negotiation Architecture for Auto-Configuration
Allow components to dynamically configure themselves by having components.
specify the potential services they provide, the terms and conditions, and to whom
disseminate the availability of these services
specify the services they require, and their terms and conditions
discover other objects that provide required services
allow objects to enter into multi-phase negotiations of contracts, committing to provide services under terms and conditions
provide compliance monitoring services of contracts
provide means for dealing with non-performing confederates

4. What’s Out There Now
Various pieces of object-oriented middleware systems
CORBA
Java and JavaBeans
Lots of agent-negotiation work
JINI
NINJA service discovery service

5. What We Will Do
Develop
a language for specifying services, and their terms and conditions
a protocol for negotiating contracts between objects
infrastructural services, including discovery, service availability dissemination, and compliance monitoring services
means to adapt to a non-performing service
Emphasis on system architecture, and easy of use.
E.g., standard, parameterized “boilerplate” contracts between components, with standard “compliance officers”
Some related issues:
Can we assure interesting adaptive properties?

6. How this relates to other work I am doing
DLIB project has potential connections to other aspects of Endeavor.
CONTROL, GiST
MVD configurable client