Development of Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language (KQML) Application Programming Interface Performatives

ISX and Paramax have teamed to extend their previous F-22 and DRPI related efforts at development and demonstration of the utility of KQML as a standardized transport and communication protocol. Previous efforts have included demonstrated feasibility for implementation of standardized communications based on C/C++ and LISP KQML performatives. In this program, we will extend the list of implemented performatives and extend our demonstration of their utility. Further, we will package the implemented performatives as a unit which can be easily extended and applied in the development of application programs. In this effort we will more fully extend the implementations we have previously developed and take advantage of the flexibilty afforded by higher level languages to provide performatives that can be easily tailored to a variety of platforms and application implementation environments. In addition, we will establish long term maintenance and support machinisms for the products of this work. We will also build a business case with which to examine both the utility of our developed product and the long term viability of continued research and development. This business case will be offered at the end of Phase I. Anticipated Benefits: DRPI, PACT and the F-22 IWSDB effort have demonstrated that a significant component of all future decision making by both military and commercial organizations will be assisted through access over a complex network of intelligent co-operating agents. Their cooperation and communication will be mediated through a standard collection of performatives that support this interaction despite the development of applications and expert systems in any of a large variety of implementation languages.