A peer-to-peer-based multi-agent framework for decentralized grid workflow management in collaborative design

Identifying the shortcomings of traditional centralized workflow architecture, this paper describes a preliminary attempt at using a peer-to-peer (P2P)-based multi-agent framework for decentralized grid workflow management in semantic grid enabled collaborative design. A decentralized, scalable semantic service registry is laid out in the P2P network for semantic discovery of distributed, heterogeneous grid services with multi-agent support. The service-oriented, decentralized problem solving strategy for grid workflow construction makes it possible for the decentralized peer agents to utilize the formal semantics to interact and cooperate with each other to support the users in constructing the grid workflow of a complex engineering design process from widely dispersed multidisciplinary design resources effectively. A prototype system is built and validated with an illustrative example from metal stamping industry to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.