Mechanism design for task procurement with flexible quality of service

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we consider the problem faced by an agent contracting multiple self-interested service providers, that are able to flexibly manipulate their quality of service in order to maximise their own utility, to complete a single computational task. We extend an existing model of such service providers, and derive optimal task procurement mechanisms in the setting where the agent has full knowledge of the cost functions of these service providers (considering both simultaneously and sequentially procurement). We then extend these results to the incomplete information setting where the agent must elicit cost information from the service providers, and we characterise a family of incentive-compatible and individually-rational mechanisms. Sequential procurement always generates greater utility for an agent than simultaneous procurement, and contracting multiple providers is preferable to contracting just one.

REFERENCES

• 1: Ian Foster , Nicholas R. Jennings , Carl Kesselman, Brain Meets Brawn: Why Grid and Agents Need Each Other, Proceedings of the Third International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, p.8-15, July 19-23, 2004, New York, New York [doi>10.1109/AAMAS.2004.78]
• 2: Nolan Miller , Paul Resnick , Richard Zeckhauser, Eliciting Informative Feedback: The Peer-Prediction Method, Management Science, v.51 n.9, p.1359-1373, September 2005 [doi>10.1287/mnsc.1050.0379]
• 3: Athanasios Papakonstantinou , Alex Rogers , Enrico H. Gerding , Nicholas R. Jennings, A Truthful Two-Stage Mechanism for Eliciting Probabilistic Estimates with Unknown Costs, Proceeding of the 2008 conference on ECAI 2008: 18th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence, p.448-452, June 27, 2008
• 4: Sebastian Stein , Nicholas R. Jennings , Terry R. Payne, Flexible service provisioning with advance agreements, Proceedings of the 7th international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems, May 12-16, 2008, Estoril, Portugal

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
        I.2.11 Distributed Artificial Intelligence
            Subjects: Coherence and coordination

Additional Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
        I.2.11 Distributed Artificial Intelligence
            Subjects: Multiagent systems
  I.6 SIMULATION AND MODELING
      I.6.4 Model Validation and Analysis
      I.6.5 Model Development
          Subjects: Modeling methodologies

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design, Management, Theory