A model-driven approach for the rapid development of E-negotiation systems

Abstract

Most of today's e-marketplaces support a single negotiation protocol. The protocol is usually built into the e-marketplace infrastructure, therefore if a new one is introduced then a time consuming and complex process of implementing it takes place. Moreover, participants in the e-marketplace need to adapt their interfaces to the new protocol, especially if they make use of automated means such as software agents to interact with the e-marketplace. This paper reports on a model-driven approach and a framework for rapid and user-friendly development of configurable e-marketplaces and automated e-negotiation systems. A designer on the e-marketplace specifies negotiation protocols using Statecharts and feeds them to a mapping system that transforms them into web service orchestrations. Participants use automated negotiation systems to interact with the e-marketplace. An automated negotiation entity capable of interacting with the e- marketplace is generated based on the negotiation protocol implemented on the e- marketplace. The automated negotiation entity is provided with negotiation strategies and tactics specified in a declarative format. We propose a mapping algorithm to transform Statechart models of negotiation protocols into web service orchestrations.