64 Software Networks
– fault management;
– performance management;
– accounting management.
Intelligence of the agents may stem from different areas. The most
usual model stems from the domain of distributed artificial
intelligence, or DAI.
Artificial intelligence means that a device can take the place of a
human being to perform a task. DAI is equivalent to a society of
autonomous agents, working together to achieve an overall objective.
There are numerous reasons to turn to DAI – notably the following:
– integration of different points of view. When the data become
more specific, inconsistencies may occur in the rule base. The ways in
which knowledge is expressed are different depending on whether we
are addressing the user, the developer or the technician. Also,
two experts who have the same expertise will not always come to the
same conclusion. The different points of view are also often
contradictory: one might attach a great deal of significance to the
costs, and therefore favor a less expensive system, whilst another
would choose to develop the publicity, and thus opt for a dearer
system. The use of DAI helps to achieve a compromise between
different options, by negotiation;
– representativeness of the real world. In general, it always tends to
be a group of experts, with different qualifications and specialties,
who work together to realize a set goal. In addition, whilst it seems
easy to understand and therefore to model the behavior of individuals
(all of their exchanges) thanks to the numerous sociological studies
that are available, the way in which the human brain works, and the
reasoning process, are less well understood.
For these reasons, the application of distributed artificial
intelligence is gradually becoming a reality in the context of network
management.
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