arXiv:2608.00028cs.MAcs.AI2026-08

提出三资源模型,揭示平坦多智能体系统性能极限的决定因素。

Width, Memory, and Delay: A Resource Accounting for the Limits of Flat Multi-Agent Systems

论文配图:Width, Memory, and Delay: A Resource Accounting for the Limits of Flat Multi-Agent Systems
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 用宽度、记忆、延迟三资源量化系统性能上限
  • 相同内存下,动态记忆可超越层级结构
  • 提供可操作的设计规则,适合系统架构师参考

在可扩展多智能体系统(如机器人集群或大语言模型代理集合)设计中,是否仅通过增加智能体数量就能突破性能瓶颈,还是需要更深层的组织结构,是一个长期问题。已有研究认为平坦、同质的系统存在不可消除的因果下限,唯有分层结构才能突破。本文通过一个精确可计算最优解的扰动抑制测试平台,表明该结论过强。我们建立了一个基于三个资源的定量模型:智能体数量(宽度)$N$、每个智能体内部模型容量(记忆)$d$、观测延迟($τ$)。研究发现:(i) 性能下限由个体内部模型内容决定,而非架构层次;在同等单智能体内存下,具备匹配内部模型的平坦系统可优于两层嵌套结构,说明时间深度可通过递归记忆实现,无需层级嵌套;(ii) 三者不可随意互换,我们在宽度×记忆平面上绘制出交换率与不可交换边界,包括总状态预算相等下的严格对比;(iii) 残余下限由观测延迟和环境不可预测性决定,我们验证了使用在线学习替代已知干扰谱的代价,并对轻微有界非线性和空间扩展系统进行了初步鲁棒性测试,最终提炼出四条面向实践的设计准则。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

A recurring question in the design of scalable multi-agent systems -- from robot swarms to collectives of large-language-model (LLM) agents -- is whether adding more agents can, on its own, overcome performance limits, or whether a qualitatively \emph{deeper} organization is required. A recent preprint argues that flat, homogeneous multi-agent systems face an irreducible, population-independent ``causal floor'' on achievable error, removable only by hierarchical (nested-loop) organization. Using a controlled disturbance-rejection testbed with an exactly computable optimum, we show this conclusion is too strong and replace it with a quantitative resource model built on three resources: population \emph{width} $N$, per-agent internal-model \emph{memory} $d$, and prediction across the observation \emph{delay} $τ$. We establish three claims. (i) The achievable floor is governed not by architectural hierarchy but by per-agent internal-model content: a flat, homogeneous swarm whose agents carry a matched internal model of the disturbance matches or beats a designed two-loop hierarchy at equal per-agent memory -- so temporal depth can be dynamical (recurrent memory), not architectural (nesting). (ii) The three resources are \emph{not mutually interchangeable}; we chart the exchange rates and the hard non-exchange boundaries on an explicit width$\times$memory map, including a strict equal-total-state-budget comparison. (iii) A residual floor is set by the observation delay and the environment's unpredictability over that horizon, which we verify against the optimal controller. We quantify the price of replacing oracle knowledge of the disturbance spectrum with online learning, provide a preliminary robustness check against a mild bounded nonlinearity and a spatially-extended plant, and distill four design rules for practitioners.

多智能体系统设计资源建模控制理论

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