Peer-to-peer, agents, and knowledge management: a design framework

This paper presents preliminary work on a framework for developing knowledge management (KM) applications. The objective of this framework is to support a particular KM paradigm that emphasizes aspects such as autonomy and distribution of knowledge sources. The framework, once completed, will include three main elements: a methodology; a set of architectural patterns; and, a technological infrastructure. The first element is based on Tropos, an agent oriented software engineering methodology presented in earlier papers. Patterns are derived from the analysis of common peer-to-peer and knowledge management systems; some patterns and concepts, such as peer and peer group, are considered with respect to a specific technological framework, JXTA. Finally, the infrastructure aims at integrating multi-agent and peer-to-peer technologies. This paper focuses on a specific aspect: how the framework supports the architectural design process. In the discussion, we refer to examples taken from the Health Care domain