Evaluating Multiparty Multilateral Turn-Taking Negotiation Protocols

Master thesis (2018)

Authors

D.W.J. Festen Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Contributors

C.M. Jonker (supervisor 2)
M.M. de Weerdt (supervisor 1)
K.V. Hindriks (supervisor 2)
Reyhan Aydoğan (supervisor 2)
Faculty
Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Copyright: © 2018 David Festen
Automated Negotiation Protocol Genius Multilateral Turn-taking Negotiations Multiparty Protocol Evaluation
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Published Date

15-03-2018

Language

English

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Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Abstract

In order to be accepted by negotiating parties, negotiation protocols need to be fair and unbiased. We extend the bilateral turn-taking negotiation protocol to multiparty multilateral turn-taking peer negotiation protocols maintaining its fairness properties. We define the de- sign space of such protocols and capture the design decisions that go into creating them. We use this design space to introduce two novel protocols adhering to the fairness prop- erties: Stacked Alternating Offer Protocol (SAOP) and Alternating Multi-offer Consensus Protocol (AMCP). A method for measuring speed and social welfare properties of multi- party multilateral turn-taking peer negotiation protocols is introduced and used to evaluate SAOP and AMCP using automated negotiation agents from the Automated Negotiation Agent Competition (ANAC). We show that against our expectations, the agents prefer to use the more complex AMCP protocol. Both protocols are usable in automated, human, and hybrid negotiations. The design space enables more informed design decisions when creating protocols and lays the foundation for further studies in finding desirable protocol properties that in turn improve the quality of the negotiation outcome.