Multi-Agent Negotiation for Adaptive Consumption of Continuous Allocation

Multi-Agent Negotiation for Adaptive Consumption of Continuous Allocation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Multi-Agent Negotiation for Adaptive Consumption of Continuous Allocation Ellie Beauprez, Anne-Cécile Caron, Maxime Morge, Jean-Christophe Routier This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7529293/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In this paper, we address the problem of continuous allocation of concurrent jobs, composed of situated tasks, which underpins the distributed deployment of the MapReduce design pattern on a cluster. We propose a multi-agent strategy designed to minimise the mean flowtime of jobs through a composite agent architecture that enables negotiation and consumption to proceed concurrently. Unlike classical auction-based approaches, our method relies on bilateral negotiations between agents to reallocate tasks dynamically. This allows the multi- agent system to adapt on the fly to disruptive events, such as execution delays or job arrivals, without requiring an explicit model of the environment. Our experiments show that the proposed strategy is effective: (1) it significantly reduces rescheduling time, (2) improves mean flowtime, (3) does not penalise consumption, (4) is robust to execution hazards such as node slowdowns, and (5) adapts seamlessly to the release of new jobs. These results confirm the robustness and practical efficiency of negotiation-driven continuous allocation. Multi-Agent Systems Distributed Problem Solving Agent-based Negotiation Agent Architecture Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 25 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 07 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 05 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 03 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7529293","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":558214233,"identity":"35cfc693-36ad-4543-aa2d-42a7b772fb20","order_by":0,"name":"Ellie Beauprez","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Lille","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ellie","middleName":"","lastName":"Beauprez","suffix":""},{"id":558214234,"identity":"8e10f45a-1dac-4fca-b3e4-88aa590735f4","order_by":1,"name":"Anne-Cécile Caron","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of 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We propose a multi-agent strategy designed to minimise the mean flowtime of jobs through a composite agent architecture that enables negotiation and consumption to proceed concurrently. Unlike classical auction-based approaches, our method relies on bilateral negotiations between agents to reallocate tasks dynamically. This allows the multi- agent system to adapt on the fly to disruptive events, such as execution delays or job arrivals, without requiring an explicit model of the environment. Our experiments show that the proposed strategy is effective: (1) it significantly reduces rescheduling time, (2) improves mean flowtime, (3) does not penalise consumption, (4) is robust to execution hazards such as node slowdowns, and (5) adapts seamlessly to the release of new jobs. These results confirm the robustness and practical efficiency of negotiation-driven continuous allocation.","manuscriptTitle":"Multi-Agent Negotiation for Adaptive Consumption of Continuous Allocation","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-15 06:59:27","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7529293/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"270258805848254567892204240483256802893","date":"2026-02-25T08:44:10+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"285486072877768224938191781060657256664","date":"2026-02-17T12:59:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-10T09:01:09+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-07T19:10:45+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-05T06:11:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems","date":"2025-09-03T16:57:33+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"autonomous-agents-and-multi-agent-systems","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"agnt","sideBox":"Learn more about [Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems](http://link.springer.com/journal/10458)","snPcode":"10458","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10458/3","title":"Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"13d3ca75-8446-4845-9785-7f06db4abbd0","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 15th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-15T06:59:27+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-15 06:59:27","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7529293","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7529293","identity":"rs-7529293","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}