1. Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents
August 2004
Chapter 19: Semantic Service Selection
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents – Munindar P. Singh and Michael N. Huhns, Wiley, 2005
© Singh & Huhns

2. Highlights of this Chapter
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents
August 2004
Highlights of this Chapter
Semantic Matchmaking
An Advertising and Matchmaking Language
Selecting Services
SoCom Matchmaking
Chapter 19
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns
© Singh & Huhns

3. Discovery versus Selection
Often the purpose behind discovering a service is to select a good one
We don’t need to find all services
Just the one that’s best for us!
By focusing on selection, we can
Improve the payoff
Reduce overhead from trying irrelevant or less relevant services
Chapter 19
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

4. Where Does Selection Apply?
Service users looking for providers
Service providers looking for users
Brokers looking for both users and providers
Markets to be populated with participants
Spheres of Commitments or organizations to be instantiated
The situation is fundamentally symmetric
Chapter 19
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

5. Semantic Matchmaking Match using an ontology
Domain of a service
Preconditions and effects of methods
Use ontologies to reformulate queries and generate query plans by
Generalizing or specialize concepts
Partitioning concepts
Decomposing properties
Chapter 19
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

6. Matchmaking Language
A language to describe services and formulate service requests would need many features
Provenance and ownership
Cost
Service agreements (e.g., refundable?)
Resource requirements
Availability: geographic, temporal, …
Payment mechanisms
Possibly, support for empirical, evaluative aspects (discussed in Chapter 20)
Chapter 19
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

7. Semantic Team Matchmaking
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents
August 2004
Semantic Team Matchmaking
Formally represent commitments and capabilities (not just methods)
Define abstract spheres of commitment (SoCom) in terms of roles, e.g., buy-sell:
Capabilities: can issue quote and ship, can pay
Commitments: will honor price quote; will pay
To adopt these roles, agents must have the capabilities and acquire the commitments
Chapter 19
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns
© Singh & Huhns

8. Consumer and Provider Agents
SoComs provide the context for concepts represented & communicated
Chapter 19
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

9. Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents
August 2004
Chapter 19 Summary
Service selection is a key aspect of SOC
Service selection involves suitably rich representations of
Services
Services requested or desired
More than two-party, client-server:
Formation of SoComs to solve complex business problems
Chapter 19
Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns
© Singh & Huhns