Due to the advent of web and wireless technologies, it is within a foreseeable future that all sorts of agents could begin to serve people in many domains almost ubiquitously. In this talk, I will emphasize why ubiquitous agents need to be coordinated and briefly survey some agent coordination technologies. Then I will lead to the agent coordination by negotiation and focus on the game theory analysis of agent negotiation that is mediated by a trusted-third-party (TTP). We illustrate with both complete and incomplete cases to show how Pareto optimal solutions of some difficult game situations can be reached by the TTP negotiation mechanisms. I will also introduce agent-mediated movie ticket auctions to show how movie-ticket of Taipei city can be allocated and matched via agent-mediated buying and selling auctions in the e-marketplace. And if time is feasible, I will also introduce the work on building traveling agents who can recommend trip plans by negotiation with travelers and giving route directions.

Host: Tim Finin, finin@umbc.edu