PECS: A reference model for the simulation of multi-agent systems

There is currently a multitude of design approaches all concerned with building simulation models for multi-agent systems. The majority of the designs, however, focus on the requirements of specific application domains. We suggest that it would be desirable to develop a modelling methodology which can act as a generic platform from which to construct simulation models for multi-agent systems. In order to promote standardisation of modelling methodology, this paper presents a first-cut reference model whose feasibility will subsequently be demonstrated by a number of applications.