A summary of the element.
A complete description of the relationship of this element to the other architectural elements
Whether this is a mandatory or optional element, and whether the element is actual or explanatory in a concrete instantiation. There may be additional comments related to making this element concrete.
Additional description and context for the element, along with explanatory notes and examples.
Element
|
Brief Description
|
Mandatory
Optional
|
Actual
Explanatory
|
Single or
Functional Element
|
Agent
|
Computational process that implements the autonomous, communicating functionality of an application
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
Agent-communication-language
|
Language with a precisely defined syntax semantics and pragmatics, which is the basis of communication between independently designed and developed agents.
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Functional
|
Agent-platform
|
A collection of services and FIPA-services that are closely coupled. The services support an agent
|
Optional
|
Actual
|
Single
|
Content
|
Content is that part of a communicative act that represents the domain dependent component of the communication.
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
?
|
Content-language
|
A language used to express the content of a communication between agents.
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
Directory-entry
|
A composite entity containing the name, locator, and other attributes of an FIPA-entity
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
Directory-service
|
A shared information repository in which FIPA-entities such as agents and FIPA-services may publish their directory-entries
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
Envelope
|
A set of information within the transport-message which contains information about how to send the message to the intended recipients. May also include additional information about the message encoding, encryption, and so on.
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
FIPA-entity
|
A FIPA-entity is a software component that delivers a portion of the functionality of the abstract architecture.
|
Optional
|
Explanatory
|
N/A
|
|
|
|
|
|
FIPA-entity-attributes
|
A set of attributes associated with the a FIPA-entity when it registered in the directory-service
|
Optional
|
Actual
|
Single
|
FIPA-entity-name
|
A means to identify an FIPA-entity to other FIPA-entities, such as agents and to FIPA-services
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
FIPA-message
|
A unit of individual communication between two agents. The FIPA-Message is expressed in agent-communication-language, and is encoded in a particular message-transport-encoding.
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
FIPA-service
|
A service provided for agents and other FIPA-services
|
Optional
|
Explanatory
|
N/A
|
Locator
|
An locator consists of the set of transport-descriptions which can be used to communicate with a FIPA-entity, such as an agent or FIPA-service
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
Message-encoding-representation
|
A way of representing an abstract syntax in a particular concrete syntax. Examples of possible representations are XML, FIPA strings, and serialized Java objects.
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Functional
|
Message-transport-service
|
A service that supports the sending and receiving of transport-messages between agents.
|
Optional
|
Actual
|
Functional
|
Ontology
|
A set of symbols together with an associated interpretation that may be shared by a community of agents or software. An ontology includes a vocabulary of symbols referring to objects in the subject domain, as well as symbols referring to relationships that may be evident in the domain
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Functional
|
Payload
|
A FIPA-message encoded in a manner suitable for inclusion in a transport-message.
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
Transport
|
A transport is a particular data delivery service
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Functional
|
Transport-description
|
A transport-description is a self describing structure containing a transport-type, a transport-specific-address and zero or more transport-specific-properties
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
Transport-message
|
The object conveyed from agent to agent. It contains the transport-description for the sender and receiver or receivers, together with a payload containing the FIPA-message.
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
Transport-specific-property
|
A transport-specific-property is property associated with a transport-type.
|
Optional
|
Actual
|
Single
|
Transform-service
|
A FIPA-service that provides transformations for message- encoding-representation or message-transport representations
|
Optional
|
Actual
|
Functional
|
Transport-type
|
A transport-type describes the type of transport which is associated with an transport-specific-address.
|
Mandatory
|
Actual
|
Single
|
