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Environment, usually regarded as one of the key concepts of MAS especially in simu- lation, is however rarely specified in a precise or even explicit way, since its implementation is assumed obvious or given. On the contrary, we argue that the way of modeling space and connections between agents in a simulation, allows only a few efficient implementation so- lutions. We aim at formalizing the fundamental purposes of the environment, i.e. helping the agents to find their neighbors, and providing them with information. Thus, the search for a balance between modeling issues on the one hand (environment topology, nature of the in- formation) and the operational priorities on the other hand (execution efficiency, relevance of knowledge representation), outlines four environment patterns. Through this unifying approach, the usual, monolithical and sometimes complex, “environment” of a multiagent simulation can be modeled and implemented as the combination of severals patterns.
multiagent-based simulation, environments, parsimony, engineering, design patterns.
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