A Novel Multi-agent Framework for the Design of Home Automation

A novel hierarchical multi-agent framework for the design of home automation is proposed in this paper. The proposed framework consists of several space agents and a governor agent. The governor agent, situated in the home gateway with network interfaces, can communicate with space agents through UPnP-SCP Bridge. Each space agent was linked through power line communication used SCP control protocol. Located in the top level with global view, the role of the governor agent is to manage and coordinate each space agent to reach the designated goal. The space agent is responsible for data gathering, information analysis, and control home devices within its coverage. The function of the multi-agent system can help users control appliances by learning and analyzing their behaviors. A simulation environment was provided in this study to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach