An uncertainty interchange format with imprecise probabilities

This paper addresses the problem of exchanging uncertainty assessments in multi-agent systems. Since it is assumed that each agent might completely ignore the internal representation of its partners, a common interchange format is needed. We analyze the case of an interchange format defined by means of imprecise probabilities, pointing out the reasons of this choice. A core problem with the interchange format concerns transformations from imprecise probabilities into other formalisms (in particular, precise probabilities, possibilities, belief functions). We discuss this so far little investigated question, analyzing how previous proposals, mostly regarding special instances of imprecise probabilities, would fit into this problem. We then propose some general transformation procedures, which take also account of the fact that information can be partial, i.e. may concern an arbitrary (finite) set of events.