UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2011/2012
YEAR IV EXAMINATION FOR THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BIT 4304 DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
DATE: APRIL 2012 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One and Any other Two Questions
Question One
a) Describe the meaning of the following concepts
i) Agent (2 Marks)
ii) Agent environment (2 Marks)
iii) Agent negotiation (2 Marks)
b) Distinguish between accessible and episodic agent environments. Give one example for each case
(4 Marks)
c) State and explain any four properties of an intelligent agent (4 Marks)
d) Specify with examples five elements of an agent that can drive an autonomous motor vehicle
(5 Marks)
e) Describe the meaning of the term ‘effector’ in the context of distributed intelligent agents
(2 Marks)
f) Describe four characteristics of a distributed intelligent system (4 Marks)
g) Explain how intelligent agents can be applied in human computer interface. Give one example
(3 Marks)
h) Briefly explain two participants in an auction (2 Marks)
Question Two
a) Describe the meaning of the following terms:
i) Speech acts (2 Marks)
ii) Deliberation (2 Marks)
iii) Abstract argument system (2 Marks)
b) “intelligent behaviour can be generated without explicit abstract reasoning of the kind that
symbolic AI proposes”. Explain this statement (2 Marks)
c) State and explain four weaknesses of symbolic architecture during implementation (4 Marks)
d) Differentiate between rebuttal and undercutting in the context of agent argumentation (4 Marks)
e) Explain any two types of per formatives in speech acts. Give one example for each case (4 Marks)
Question Three
a) Explain the following terms
i) Distributed intelligent agent (2 Marks)
ii) Argumentation (2 Marks)
iii) Sphere of influence (2 Marks)
b) What is meant by the term ‘pro-active Agents’? Explain with an example. (3 Marks)
c) Touline (1958) proposed an argument structure with three components. Explain each of these
components (3 Marks)
d) Briefly explain five methods in which arguments interact with one another (5 Marks)
e) State and explain three Application of argumentation reasoning in multiagent systems (3 Marks)
Question Four
a) State and discuss the five properties of a good negotiation protocol (5 Marks)
b) Describe properties for each of the following types of agent auctions and where appropriate give
the dominant strategy. (6 Marks)
i) Vickrey auctions
ii) First-price sealed bid
c) State and explain five phases of the contract net protocol during agent agent co-operation
(5 Marks)
d) State and Explain two main activities of practical reasoning architecture agents (4 Marks)
Question Five
a) Describe the following terms
i) Beliefs (2 Marks)
ii).Conflict deal (2 Marks)
iii) pareto improvement (2 Marks)
b) State and explain three types of negotiation protocols in distributed intelligent agents (6 Marks)
c) Briefly explain four elements of negotiation set in the context of agent negotiation (4 Marks)
d) Describe the meaning of the term ‘nash equilibrim’ as used in agent interactions. Give one
illustration example (4 Marks)
