Table Of ContentCKBS '90
Proceedings of the International
Working Conference on Cooperating
Knowledge Based Systems
3-5 October 1990
University of Keele, UK
CKBS '90
Proceedings of the International
Working Conference on Cooperating
Knowledge Based Systems
3-5 October 1990
University of Keele, UK
Edited by S.M. Deen
Organiser: DAKE Centre
University of Keele
Sponsors: Information Technology Division of the
Department of Trade and Industry
BCS Data Management and
Expert Systems Specialist Groups
US Air Force European Office of
Aerospace Research and Development
European Research Office of the US Army
EEC ESPRIT
Springer-Verlag
London Berlin Heidelberg New York
Paris Tokyo Hong Kong
Barcelona Budapest
S.M. Deen, MSc, PhD, DIC, FBCS, C.Eng.,
DAKE Centre
University of Keele, Keele,
Staffordshire, STS SBG, UK
ISBN-13:978-3-540-19649-5 e-ISBN-13:978-1-4471-1831-2
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4471-1831-2
British libraI)' Cataloguing in Publication Data
CKBS'90
CKBS '90: proceedings of the international working conference on cooperating
knowledge based systems, held at the University of Keele, England,
October 3-5, 1990
1. Expert systems
I. Title II. Deen, S. M. (5. Misbah)
006.33
ISBN -13:978-3-540-19649-5
libraI)' of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
International Working Conference on Cooperating Knowledge Based Systems
(1990: University of Keele)
CKBS '90: proceedings of the International Working Conference on
Cooperating Knowledge Based Systems, held at the University of Keele,
England, October 3-5,1990/ editor, S.M. Deen : (organizer, DAKE Centre,
University of Keele: sponsors, Information Technology Division of the
Department of Trade and Industl)' ... et aLl.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13:978-3-540-19649-5
1. Expert systems (Computer science) - Congresses. I. Deen, S.M. (Sayyed M.)
II. Great Britain. Dept. of Trade and Industl)'. Information Technology
Division. III. Title.
QA76.76.E951584 1990 91-7456
006.3'3-dc20 CIP
Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study, or
criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or
in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of
licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
©Springer-VerlagLondon Limited 1991
The use of registered names, trademarks etc. in this publication does not imply,
even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the
relevant laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
34/3830-543210 Printed on acid-free paper.
PREFACE
This is the first international conference aimed at bringing the
distributed database and distributed AI (DAD experts together,
from both academia and industry, in order to discuss the issues
of the next generation of knowledge based systems, namely
Cooperating Knowledge Based Systems or CKBS for short. As the
area of CKBS is new, we intended it to be an ideas conference - a
conference where interesting new ideas, rather than results from
completed projects, are explored, discussed, and debated.
The conference was organised by the DAKE Centre. This is an
interdisciplinary centre at the University of Keele for research and
development in Data and Knowledge Engineering (DAKE). The
Centre draws most of its strength from the Department of Computer
Science which also provides administrative support for the activities
of the Centre, although its membership is spread over several
departments. The Centre has three main streams of research
activities, namely:
Large Knowledge Bases
Software Engineering
Neural Networks
The Large Knowledge Base group, which provided the focus for
this conference, is active in a number of research areas relating to
data and knowledge bases, spanning from distributed databases to
cooperations among data and knowledge bases. The current research
topics include integration of data and knowledge bases and coopera
ting knowledge based systems, with several major projects in the
latter (see the entries under the Poster Session given below). The
Software Engineering group has provided strong support for this
conference, and it is well-known for its work in logic-based soft
ware configuration management and software re-use. The Neural
Network group specialises in speech and image recognition areas.
In order to provide a conducive atmosphere for in-depth discus
sions, we restricted attendance at the conference to those who have
a genuine interest in this new area. Even then we had over 80·
participants from 15 countries. To facilitate discussion, we made the
conference residential, and allowed plenty of time after each
presentation for discussion, in which both DDB and DAI researchers
participated. We taped these discussions, and their selected
transcripts are included in this book, following each paper.
There were over 80 extended abstracts submitted to this con
ference of which less than half were selected by the Programme
vi Preface
Committee for presentation. Following the conference, a second
review was carried out, this time on full papers, from which 17
papers were selected for publication in this book. Each abstract/
paper was reviewed, as usual, by several referees at each stage. The
selection was based on the usual criteria of originality, significance,
research content, readability and finally relevance. A paper was
deemed relevant if it was considered to be of interest to both the
communities.
The conference was run in two parallel sessions, with some joint
sessions for reporting from the parallel session by the Session
Chairmen. These joint sessions proved very stimulating, mainly
because of the succinct summaries and perceptive comments made
by the Session Chairmen.
The conference also had a poster session, in which the following
posters on some current projects were presented:
The Consensus Project
P.J. Kearney, D.H. Walburn, A.A. Clark, S.c. Martin, A.J. Slade,
D.P.M. Wills, P.A.Read (British Aerospace (Military Aircraft) Ltd,
UK)
Cooperating Expert Systems in Risk and Reliability Assessment
Neil Mitchison, Andre Poucet (Institute for Systems Engineering
and Informatics (EEC), Ispra, Italy)
COSMOS (Co-Ordination Strategies for Multi-Object Systems)
Collaborators are: Universities of Keele, Leicester and Ulster,
UMIST, Dundee College of Technology and Teeside Polytechnic
Demonstration of Planning Operator Induction in aM ulti-agent System
T.J. Grant (BSO & Aerospace Systems, Netherlands)
IMAGINE Project (ESPRIT Project)
Partners are: Imperial College London, Intrasoft (Greece), Plessey
(UK), Siemens (Germany - Coordinator), Steria (France),
University of Keele, University of Leiden
Interfacing Expert Systems with Databases and Simulation
Esko K. Juuso and Kauko Leiviska (University of Oulu, Finland)
MIRAGE (A Model for the Interaction of Routing Agents in a Global
Environment)
S.M. Deen, N.A. AI-Samarraie, H.M.A.C. Herath, B. Ndovie,
(University of Keele)
The final session of the conference was a panel discussion with the
title" Any Lessons"? The idea was to explore if, in this conference,
the DDB researchers had learnt anything from the DAI researchers,
and vice versa. This session was naturally the culmination of the
whole proceedings, in which Panel Members from both sides, with
Preface vii
lively contributions from the floor, elaborated on how they benefited
from discussions with each other and how they felt that this dialogue
between the two sides should continue. After this, it was not surpris
ing that there was a unanimous agreement to repeat the conference,
once every two to three years. The University of Florida was offered
as a possible venue for 1992, failing that, it will probably be held at
the University of Keele in 1993.
The conference also agreed to establish an International Special
Interest Croup on CKBS, which is currently being administered by
the DAKE Centre. If you are:
(i) a DDB researcher with interests in DAI research, or
(ij) a DAI researcher with interest in DDB research, or
(iii) interested in CKBS applications
then this is the SIC for you. This SIC is run largely through email. If
you wish to have further information on this SIC, please contact me.
I now return to the 17 selected papers included in this book. These
papers are grouped under six heading as follows:
Cooperation Framework: DB Perspectives (3 papers)
Cooperation Framework: AI Perspectives (3 papers)
Knowledge Revision (3 papers)
Conflict Resolution Strategies (2 papers)
Multi-agent Development Model (2 papers)
Interactions in Data/Knowledge Bases (4 papers)
Cooperation Framework: DB Perspectives
Cooperating Agents - A Database Perspective
S.M. Deen
Meeting the Cooperative Problem Solving Challenge: A Database
Centered Approach
S. Chakravarthy, S.B. Navathe, K. Karlapalem, A. Tanaka
Intelligent Agents in Federative Expert Systems: Concepts and
Implementation
St. Kim, C. Schlageter
As recommended by the Programme Committee this book starts
with my paper since it attempts to give a database view of what we
called CKBS, and explains the need (as viewed by the Conference
Chairman) to bring the DDB and DAI experts together - the
principal motivation behind this conference. The paper also presents
an agent and a cooperation model, the latter based on distributed
transaction as a general facility for cooperative problem solving. In
the second paper, Chakravarthy et al provide an alternative view of
what cooperation might mean in a database context, and suggest a
viii Preface
framework to support a blackboard model. The third paper, by Kim
and Schlageter, describes a federative cooperation among intelligent
agents and discusses features needed to make expert systems really
competent for cooperative problem solving.
Cooperation Framework: AI Perspectives
Diffusing Inference: An Inference Method for Distributed Problem
Solving
Y. Kitamura, T. Okumoto
ARCHON: A Cooperation Framework for Industrial Process Control
C. Roda, N.R. Jennings, E.H. Mamdani
Collaboration of Knowledge Bases via Knowledge Based
Coordination
Donald E. Steiner, Dirk E. Mahling, Hans Haugeneder
Kitamura proposes an intermediate problem solving strategy that
bridges the gap between task and result sharing approaches by using
local knowledge to reduce the search space. The second paper in this
group, by Roda et aI, is from the ARCHON project (of EEC ESPRIT),
and it describes a pragmatic cooperation strategy for industrial
process control. Steiner et al in the third paper propose an agent
model and a set of cooperation strategies for applications, which
could permit human agents as well. In a curious way all these three
cooperation frameworks have a close proximity to the one proposed
by Deen from a database perspective. Perhaps this is an indication of
a convergence between some DAI and DDB approaches - an
objective of this conference.
Knowledge Revision
Distributed Truth Maintenance
Michael N. Huhns, David M. Bridgeland
Cooperative Interaction as Strategic Belief Revision
Julia Rose Calliers
The Role of Cooperation in Multi-Agent Learning
Sati S. Sian
Huhns and Bridgeland present an innovative approach which
includes an algorithm for truth maintenance that guarantees local
consistency for each agent and global consistency for data shared by
agents. Galliers proposes a model of automatic belief revision, in
which each agent decides if and how to revise its belief on
recognition of the wish of another that it should do so. In contrast,
Preface ix
Sian presents a multi-agent learning model in which an agent can
learn (update its own experience) from the experiences of others
through cooperation.
Conflict Resolution Strategies
Conflict Resolution Strategies for Cooperating Expert Agents
Susan Lander, Victor R. Lesser, Margaret E. Connell
A Computational Model for Conflict Resolution in Cooperative
Design Systems
Mark Klein, Arthur B. Baskin
Lander and Lesser present a cooperating experts framework in
which local strategies are invoked selectively with trade offs
between quality of solutions, processing required and effect on the
global solution. In contrast, Klein and Baskin advocate a conflict
resolution strategy modelled on human-group problem-solving, in
which each agent represents a domain of expertise which includes
its own technique of conflict resolution.
Multi-agent Development Model
Modeling Concurrency in Rule-Based Development Environments
Naser S. Barghouti, Gail E. Kaiser
The MCS Multi-Agent Testbed: Developments and Experiments
lames Doran, Horacia Caroajal, Y.l. Chao, Yueling Li
Barghouti and Kaiser propose a multi-agent expert system for soft
ware development and focus on the resolution of update conflict by a
preclaim (database term) strategy. In the second paper J. Doran et al
describe a multi-agent test-bed, which uses a complex planner as an
interface engine and has been used to study human social systems.
Interactions in Data/Knowledge Bases
Epistemic Logic as a Framework for Federated Information Systems
Magnus Boman, Paul lohannesson
Cooperative Query Answering via Type Abstraction Hierarchy
Wesley W. Chu, Qiming Chen, Rei-Chi Lee
Contracts in Database Federations
Matts Ahlsen, Paul lohannesson
Object Recognition and Retrieval in the Back System
Carsten Kindermann, Paolo Randi
x Preface
Some database experts interpret the term cooperation more widely
than is done in DAI, to include interaction in data/knowledge as a
form of cooperation. This view has been represented in the four
papers of this section.
Boman and Johannesson describe a cooperation model based on
epistemic logic for federated information systems, whereas Chu et al
provide a scheme to employ domain knowledge at different data
abstraction levels, in cooperation, to answer inexact database
queries.
Ahlsen and Johannesson advocate a model for information sharing
in data/knowledge bases in which the cooperation is specified
through bilateral contracts. Kindermann and Randi discuss integra
tion issues between data and knowledge bases as a form of a
cooperative integration.
Acknowledgements
Finally it is my great pleasure to acknowledge the generous assist
ance I received from so many people who helped to make this
conference a great success. First, my thanks to all the members of the
organising and programme committees for their assistance, with
special thanks to Dr. a.p. Brereton, conference secretary, without
whose assistance I could not have staged this conference. I am also
thankful to the session chairmen and the referees for their invaluable
help. Persons whose names do not appear in any official committees,
but nevertheless provided essential services included Najib Al
Sammaraie, Mike Green, Athula Herath, Yufan Hu, Baird Ndovie
and Andy Seddon - all doctoral students. Thanks are also due to our
secretaries Kendal Allen and Jayne Beardmore, technicians Rob
Ankers and Ian Marr and, of course, to the Head of the Department of
Computer Science, Alan Treheme. I must also mention the authors,
presenters and the delegates for making the conference a
professionally stimulating event.
Although unusual, I should also thank the Keele University Hospi
tality for accommodation and excellent catering services, particularly
the grand conference dinner which every delegate enjoyed so much.
I am also very grateful to all the sponsors, particularly to the
Information Technology Division of the Department of Trade and
Industry, the US Air Force European Office of Aerospace Research
and Development, and the European Research Office of the US
Army, for their financial supports.
Finally, I trust the readers will find the papers in this book as
stimulating as the participants found their presentation at the
conference.
March 1991 S.M. Deen
Conference Chairman
CKBS '90
Programme Committee
Prof. S.M. Deen (University of Keele, Chairman)
Prof. M. Brodie (CISL, Massachusetts, USA)
Dr. D. Corkill (University of Massachusetts, USA)
Prof. G. Gardarin (INRI A, France)
Prof L. Gasser (University of South California, USA)
Dr. M.N. Huhns (M.C.C., Austin, USA)
Prof. M. Jarke (University of Passau, FRG)
Prof. L. Kerschberg (GMU, USA)
Prof. J. Kouloumdjian (lNSA-LYON, France)
Mr. B. Lepape (EEC ESPRIT Project)
Prof. V.R. Lesser (University of Massachusetts, USA)
Prof. E. Mamdani (Queen Mary and Westfield College, UK)
Dr. R. Manthey (ECRC, Munich, FRG)
Prof. J. Mylopoulos (Toronto University, Canada)
Prof. E. Neuhold (GMD, FRG)
Prof. M. Singh (UMIST, UK)
Prof. Y. Vassiliou (lCS, Greece)
Dr. J. Wid om (IBM, Almaden, USA)
Dr. K. Yokota (lCOT, Tokyo, Japan)
Organising Committee
Prof. S. Misbah Deen - Chairman
Dr. O. Pearl Brereton - Secretary
Dr. Chris Hawksley - Treasurer
Mr. Alan Treherne
Mr. Jonathan Knight
Dr. Glan Thomas
