Emerging policy problems related to ubiquitous computing

Peer-reviewed journal articleThis paper provides an overview of the human-centered vision of Ubiquitous Computing and draws on research examining slowly emerging problems over a long-term time frame in the emerging Ubiquitous Computing environment. A six-phase process employing scenario planning, electronic focus groups, and problem assessment surveys harnessed the insight of 165 individuals from diverse backgrounds and regions throughout the State of Hawaii. Distinct differences were found between the problem identification of specialists (policymakers and systems designers) and non-specialists (everyday citizens), and there were significant differences found in the problem assessment between groups. The greatest differences in both phases emerged from social and psychological issues related to the emerging Ubiquitous Computing environment. It is argued that in addition to enormous technical changes, Ubiquitous Computing will serve to blur sociotechnical boundaries throughout the environment, challenging existing distinctions between humans and machine intelligences. As the potential for extending human capabilities via computing and communications technology is actualized in coming decades, what it means to be human will be a major source of public policy conflicts, and the early identification of problems related to these changes is essential in order to mitigate their impacts and socially negotiate a more desirable future

Potential key challenges for terahertz communication systems

The vision of 6G communications is an improved performance of the data rate and latency limitations and permit ubiquitous connectivity. In addition, 6G communications will adopt a novel strategy. Terahertz (THz) waves will characterize 6G networks, due to 6G will integrate terrestrial wireless mobile communication, geostationary and medium and low orbit satellite communication and short distance direct communication technologies, as well as integrate communication, computing, and navigation. This study discusses the key challenges of THz waves, including path losses which is considered the main challenge; transceiver architectures and THz signal generators; environment of THz with network architecture and 3D communications; finally, Safety and health issues

Survey And New Approach In Service Discovery And Advertisement For Mobile Ad Hoc Networks.

Service advertisement and discovery is an important component for mobile adhoc communications and collaboration in ubiquitous computing environments. The ability to discover services offered in a mobile adhoc network is the major prerequisite for effective usability of these networks. This paper aims to classify and compare existing Service Discovery (SD) protocols for MANETs by grouping them based on their SD strategies and service information accumulation strategies, and to propose an efficient approach for addressing the inherent issues

Wireless Telecommunications Issues: Cell Phone TV, Wireless Networks in Disaster Management, Ubiquitous Computing, and Adoption of Future Wireless Applications

This paper is a summary of a 2007 Association for Information Systems Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) panel discussion regarding current mobile wireless issues and technologies. The invited panelists are four faculty members specializing in information systems from the United States. The covered topics included cell phone TV and misconceptions surrounding it, wireless networks in disaster management, ubiquitous computing including anatomy of a mote and sensors, and the adoption of future wireless applications. First, we present wireless cell phone TV as a functioning multipurpose computer, or a Swiss army knife, of media devices. The misconceptions are stated, influenced by preconceived notions by the media critics as well as users. Next we discuss a range of wireless technologies including wearable computing, ad hoc and mesh wireless networks as a means of providing communications for first respondents during a natural or man-made disaster. Then we examine the anatomy of motes and RFIDs, including sensors, in an era of ubiquitous computing and a world of (inter-)connected objects. Finally, we discuss the socio-cultural constructs impacting users\u27 intentions to adopt future wireless applications

Trustworthiness in Mobile Cyber Physical Systems

Computing and communication capabilities are increasingly embedded in diverse objects and structures in the physical environment. They will link the ‘cyberworld’ of computing and communications with the physical world. These applications are called cyber physical systems (CPS). Obviously, the increased involvement of real-world entities leads to a greater demand for trustworthy systems. Hence, we use "system trustworthiness" here, which can guarantee continuous service in the presence of internal errors or external attacks. Mobile CPS (MCPS) is a prominent subcategory of CPS in which the physical component has no permanent location. Mobile Internet devices already provide ubiquitous platforms for building novel MCPS applications. The objective of this Special Issue is to contribute to research in modern/future trustworthy MCPS, including design, modeling, simulation, dependability, and so on. It is imperative to address the issues which are critical to their mobility, report significant advances in the underlying science, and discuss the challenges of development and implementation in various applications of MCPS

Context-aware Authorization in Highly Dynamic Environments

Highly dynamic computing environments, like ubiquitous and pervasive computing environments, require frequent adaptation of applications. Context is a key to adapt suiting user needs. On the other hand, standard access control trusts users once they have authenticated, despite the fact that they may reach unauthorized contexts. We analyse how taking into account dynamic information like context in the authorization subsystem can improve security, and how this new access control applies to interaction patterns, like messaging or eventing. We experiment and validate our approach using context as an authorization factor for eventing in Web service for device (like UPnP or DPWS), in smart home security

Mobile Computing in Digital Ecosystems: Design Issues and Challenges

In this paper we argue that the set of wireless, mobile devices (e.g., portable telephones, tablet PCs, GPS navigators, media players) commonly used by human users enables the construction of what we term a digital ecosystem, i.e., an ecosystem constructed out of so-called digital organisms (see below), that can foster the development of novel distributed services. In this context, a human user equipped with his/her own mobile devices, can be though of as a digital organism (DO), a subsystem characterized by a set of peculiar features and resources it can offer to the rest of the ecosystem for use from its peer DOs. The internal organization of the DO must address issues of management of its own resources, including power consumption. Inside the DO and among DOs, peer-to-peer interaction mechanisms can be conveniently deployed to favor resource sharing and data dissemination. Throughout this paper, we show that most of the solutions and technologies needed to construct a digital ecosystem are already available. What is still missing is a framework (i.e., mechanisms, protocols, services) that can support effectively the integration and cooperation of these technologies. In addition, in the following we show that that framework can be implemented as a middleware subsystem that enables novel and ubiquitous forms of computation and communication. Finally, in order to illustrate the effectiveness of our approach, we introduce some experimental results we have obtained from preliminary implementations of (parts of) that subsystem.Comment: Proceedings of the 7th International wireless Communications and Mobile Computing conference (IWCMC-2011), Emergency Management: Communication and Computing Platforms Worksho