Context for Ubiquitous Data Management

In response to the advance of ubiquitous computing technologies, we believe that for computer systems to be ubiquitous, they must be context-aware. In this paper, we address the impact of context-awareness on ubiquitous data management. To do this, we overview different characteristics of context in order to develop a clear understanding of context, as well as its implications and requirements for context-aware data management. References to recent research activities and applicable techniques are also provided

Context Aware Computing for The Internet of Things: A Survey

As we are moving towards the Internet of Things (IoT), the number of sensors deployed around the world is growing at a rapid pace. Market research has shown a significant growth of sensor deployments over the past decade and has predicted a significant increment of the growth rate in the future. These sensors continuously generate enormous amounts of data. However, in order to add value to raw sensor data we need to understand it. Collection, modelling, reasoning, and distribution of context in relation to sensor data plays critical role in this challenge. Context-aware computing has proven to be successful in understanding sensor data. In this paper, we survey context awareness from an IoT perspective. We present the necessary background by introducing the IoT paradigm and context-aware fundamentals at the beginning. Then we provide an in-depth analysis of context life cycle. We evaluate a subset of projects (50) which represent the majority of research and commercial solutions proposed in the field of context-aware computing conducted over the last decade (2001-2011) based on our own taxonomy. Finally, based on our evaluation, we highlight the lessons to be learnt from the past and some possible directions for future research. The survey addresses a broad range of techniques, methods, models, functionalities, systems, applications, and middleware solutions related to context awareness and IoT. Our goal is not only to analyse, compare and consolidate past research work but also to appreciate their findings and discuss their applicability towards the IoT.Comment: IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials Journal, 201

Context Aware Middleware Architectures: Survey and Challenges

Abstract: Context aware applications, which can adapt their behaviors to changing environments, are attracting more and more attention. To simplify the complexity of developing applications, context aware middleware, which introduces context awareness into the traditional middleware, is highlighted to provide a homogeneous interface involving generic context management solutions. This paper provides a survey of state-of-the-art context aware middleware architectures proposed during the period from 2009 through 2015. First, a preliminary background, such as the principles of context, context awareness, context modelling, and context reasoning, is provided for a comprehensive understanding of context aware middleware. On this basis, an overview of eleven carefully selected middleware architectures is presented and their main features explained. Then, thorough comparisons and analysis of the presented middleware architectures are performed based on technical parameters including architectural style, context abstraction, context reasoning, scalability, fault tolerance, interoperability, service discovery, storage, security & privacy, context awareness level, and cloud-based big data analytics. The analysis shows that there is actually no context aware middleware architecture that complies with all requirements. Finally, challenges are pointed out as open issues for future work

Categorization of the context within the medical domain

The context itself has multiple meanings may vary according to the domain of application. This contextual flexibility was behind the emergence of so such huge number of context definitions. Nevertheless, all the proposed definitions do not provide solid ground for systems developers’ expectations, especially in healthcare domain [1]. This issue prompted researchers to divide the context into a set of concepts that would facilitate organizing of contextual knowledge. The conventional taxonomies of context are always too complex, and we need to fight to make them useful in the intended application area. In this paper, we propose a new context classification which covers almost all the context aspects that we may need to develop a tele-monitoring system for chronic disease management

A data-driven situation-aware framework for predictive analysis in smart environments

In the era of Internet of Things (IoT), it is vital for smart environments to be able to efficiently provide effective predictions of user’s situations and take actions in a proactive manner to achieve the highest performance. However, there are two main challenges. First, the sensor environment is equipped with a heterogeneous set of data sources including hardware and software sensors, and oftentimes complex humans as sensors, too. These sensors generate a huge amount of raw data. In order to extract knowledge and do predictive analysis, it is necessary that the raw sensor data be cleaned, understood, analyzed, and interpreted. Second challenge refers to predictive modeling. Traditional predictive models predict situations that are likely to happen in the near future by keeping and analyzing the history of past user’s situations. Traditional predictive analysis approaches have become less effective because of the massive amount of data that both affects data processing efficiency and complicates the data semantics. In this study, we propose a data-driven, situation-aware framework for predictive analysis in smart environments that addresses the above challenges

Interim research assessment 2003-2005 - Computer Science

This report primarily serves as a source of information for the 2007 Interim Research Assessment Committee for Computer Science at the three technical universities in the Netherlands. The report also provides information for others interested in our research activities