Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to propose a formal description and implementation of a negotiation protocol between autonomous agents using persuasive argumentation. This protocol is designed to be simple and computationally efficient. The computational efficiency is achieved by specifying the protocol as a set of simple logical rules that software agents can easily combine. These latter are specified as a set of computational dialogue games about which agents can reason. The protocol converges by checking the termination conditions. The paper discusses the formal properties of the protocol and addresses, as proof of concept, the implementation issues using an agent-oriented platform equipped with logical programming mechanisms.