An agent-based multiservice negotiation for eCommerce

Future generations of electronic commerce infrastructures will facilitate m ultiservice negotiations - negotiations between one customer and several pr oviders regarding the provision of a personalised bundle of services. These negotiations allow the customer to obtain, for example, a complete travel package made up of several flights and hotel reservations, and matching the customer's specific requirements (regarding budget for example). The main issue in a multiservice negotiation is to handle the constraints t hat tie together the services within the bundle. Another is to design a sca lable negotiation protocol, i.e. one that performs well regardless of the s ize of the bundle of services. A specific multiservice negotiation is proposed that has two distinctive pr operties. Firstly, its protocol is defined by a dynamic and decentralised c onstraint satisfaction algorithm. Secondly, the protocol is embedded within a set of mobile software agents, which perform the negotiation on behalf o f the customer. The negotiation is tested on a travel agency application, a nd exhibits several valuable qualities. It is more scalable than traditiona l centralised facilitator-based solutions. It can also be customised easily (for optimisation purposes for example), without upgrading software on the providers' sides. Additionally, it is very suitable for mobile users, who are intermittently connected to the network.