Multiagent Systems

The news article USC student's computer program enlisted in security efforts at LAX explains how officers at LAX airport are using Paruchuri's research to choose their tasks. The problem is that they want both act randomly, so terrorists won't know where they are going to be, but they also need to get certain tasks done.

The thesis was titled "Keep the Adversary Guessing: Agent Security by Policy Randomization." Using highly refined equations and computer modeling, Paruchuri analyzed such situations as a security officer watching over a humanitarian relief camp for refugees and police officers patrolling a residential neighborhood that is prey to burglars. The formulas changed with varying numbers of players on each side, differing strategies and varying amounts of information that each side learned about adversaries.

The dilemma, Paruchuri wrote, is that police need "to commit to a security policy, while the adversaries may observe and exploit the policy committed to." He said he consulted with USC campus police on such topics as how to choose a patrol route.

Paruchuri's research shows how agent-based modeling used in conjunction with solid game-theory analysis make good things happen now.