@Article{vidal03c,
  author = 	 {Jos\'{e} M. Vidal},
  title = 	 {A Method for Solving Distributed Service Allocation Problems},
  journal = 	 {Web Intelligence and Agent Systems: An International Journal},
  year = 	 2003,
  volume = 	 1,
  number = 	 2,
  pages = 	 {139--146},
  abstract = 	 {We present a method for solving service allocation
                  problems in which a set of services must be
                  allocated to a set of agents so as to maximize a
                  global utility. The method is completely distributed
                  so it can scale to any number of services without
                  degradation. We first formalize the service
                  allocation problem and then present a simple
                  hill-climbing, a global hill-climbing, and a
                  bidding-protocol algorithm for solving it. We
                  analyze the expected performance of these algorithms
                  as a function of various problem parameters such as
                  the branching factor and the number of agents.
                  Finally, we use the sensor allocation problem, an
                  instance of a service allocation problem, to show
                  the bidding protocol at work. The simulations also
                  show that phase transition on the expected quality
                  of the solution exists as the amount of
                  communication between agents increases.},
  url = 	 {http://jmvidal.cse.sc.edu/papers/vidal03c.pdf},
  arxiv = 	 {cs.MA/0306119},
  googleid = 	 {mcYD0bpjtK0J:scholar.google.com/},
  keywords = 	 {multiagent dcsp dcop},
  cluster = 	 {12516738918391203481}
}