A Methodology for Engineering Collaborative and ad-hoc Mobile Applications using SyD Middleware

Today’s web applications are more collaborative and utilize standard and ubiquitous Internet protocols. We have earlier developed System on Mobile Devices (SyD) middleware to rapidly develop and deploy collaborative applications over heterogeneous and possibly mobile devices hosting web objects. In this paper, we present the software engineering methodology for developing SyD-enabled web applications and illustrate it through a case study on two representative applications: (i) a calendar of meeting application, which is a collaborative application and (ii) a travel application which is an ad-hoc collaborative application. SyD-enabled web objects allow us to create a collaborative application rapidly with limited coding effort. In this case study, the modular software architecture allowed us to hide the inherent heterogeneity among devices, data stores, and networks by presenting a uniform and persistent object view of mobile objects interacting through XML/SOAP requests and responses. The performance results we obtained show that the application scales well as we increase the group size and adapts well within the constraints of mobile devices

Count three for wear able computers

This paper is a postprint of a paper submitted to and accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the IEE Eurowearable 2003 Conference, and is subject to Institution of Engineering and Technology Copyright. The copy of record is available at the IET Digital Library. A revised version of this paper was also published in Electronics Systems and Software, also subject to Institution of Engineering and Technology Copyright. The copy of record is also available at the IET Digital Library.A description of 'ubiquitous computer' is presented. Ubiquitous computers imply portable computers embedded into everyday objects, which would replace personal computers. Ubiquitous computers can be mapped into a three-tier scheme, differentiated by processor performance and flexibility of function. The power consumption of mobile devices is one of the most important design considerations. The size of a wearable system is often a design limitation

Direct combination: a new user interaction principle for mobile and ubiquitous HCI

Direct Combination (DC) is a recently introduced user interaction principle. The principle (previously applied to desktop computing) can greatly reduce the degree of search, time, and attention required to operate user interfaces. We argue that Direct Combination applies particularly aptly to mobile computing devices, given appropriate interaction techniques, examples of which are presented here. The reduction in search afforded to users can be applied to address several issues in mobile and ubiquitous user interaction including: limited feedback bandwidth; minimal attention situations; and the need for ad-hoc spontaneous interoperation and dynamic reconfiguration of multiple devices. When Direct Combination is extended and adapted to fit the demands of mobile and ubiquitous HCI, we refer to it as Ambient Combination (AC) . Direct Combination allows the user to exploit objects in the environment to narrow down the range of interactions that need be considered (by system and user). When the DC technique of pairwise or n-fold combination is applicable, it can greatly lessen the demands on users for memorisation and interface navigation. Direct Combination also appears to offers a new way of applying context-aware information. In this paper, we present Direct Combination as applied ambiently through a series of interaction scenarios, using an implemented prototype system

Ubiquitous e-learning System for dynamic mini-courseware assembling and delivering to mobile terminals

From 2000, mobile Learning (m-Learning) and ubiquitous Learning (u-Learning) has been the hottest research topic in e-learning, and now, integrating ubiquitous learning into mainstream of education and train has been the direction in the area, which demand new generational e-learning system. The paper introduces our research efforts in this direction. Based on the key concepts, such as ubiquitous learning object, mini-courseware, a new generational ubiquitous e-learning system is designed, which can be used for new requirements in m-Learning and u-Learning environments. In the system, learning resource related to a course is encapsulated into different ubiquitous learning objects, and mini-courseware can be assembled dynamically with learning resource extracted from these ubiquitous learning objects, accordingly, a mini-courseware player is designed for the situation. Based on these work, a resource based ubiquitous e-Learning system is designed considering pedagogical requirements under m-Learning and u-Learning environment

Mobile agent platforms in ubiquitous computing applications and systems (a literature review)

Technology revolution has been occurred rapidly over the last past thirty years According to the moor’s law power of microprocessors double every eighteen months. And also a parallel increase can be observed in some other technological sectors such as network communication, bandwidth, storage, capacity. These remarkable trends make us to predict that in future computer will become considerably smaller, cheaper and more pervasive. These result a creation of small things that can access the internet in order to optimize their intended purpose. It gives birth to new technology trend called “Ubiquitous computing”. Ubiquitous computing is an emerging technology that brings new dimensions to distributed computing. It uses a wide variety of smart, ubiquitous devices throughout an individual’s working and living environment. When it comes to ubiquitous computing, mobile objects and mobile agents are forerunners. Mobile agents are considered a very interesting and emerging technology to develop applications for mobile and distributed computing. Since they present a combination of unique features, such as their autonomy and capability to move to remote computers to process data there and save remote communications, they can be widely used in ubiquitous computing. Many mobile agent platforms have been developed since the late nineties. In this millennium era they are now influenced in many aspects of technology such as localization of technology, internet connection, voice recognition etc. This literature review focuses on Mobile agent platforms in ubiquitous computing applications and systems

Decentralised discovery of mobile objects

The partially connected nature of mobile and ubiquitous computing environments presents software developers with hard challenges. Mobile code has been suggested as a natural fit for simplifying software development for these environments. However, existing strategies for discovering mobile code assume an underlying fixed, stable network. An alternative approach is required for mobile environments, where network size may be unknown and reliability cannot be guaranteed. This paper introduces AMOS, a mobile object platform augmented with a structure overlay network that provides a fully decentralised approach to the discovery of mobile objects. We demonstrate how this technique has better reliability and scalability properties than existing strategies, with minimal communication overhead. Building upon this novel discovery strategy, we show how load balancing of mobile objects in an AMOS network can be achieved through probabilistic means

Smart Geographic object: Toward a new understanding of GIS Technology in Ubiquitous Computing

One of the fundamental aspects of ubiquitous computing is the instrumentation of the real world by smart devices. This instrumentation constitutes an opportunity to rethink the interactions between human beings and their environment on the one hand, and between the components of this environment on the other. In this paper we discuss what this understanding of ubiquitous computing can bring to geographic science and particularly to GIS technology. Our main idea is the instrumentation of the geographic environment through the instrumentation of geographic objects composing it. And then investigate how this instrumentation can meet the current limitations of GIS technology, and offers a new stage of rapprochement between the earth and its abstraction. As result, the current research work proposes a new concept we named Smart Geographic Object SGO. The latter is a convergence point between the smart objects and geographic objects, two concepts appertaining respectively to

Mobile object location discovery in unpredictable environments

Emerging mobile and ubiquitous computing environments present hard challenges to software engineering. The use of mobile code has been suggested as a natural fit for simplifing software development for these environments. However, the task of discovering mobile code location becomes a problem in unpredictable environments when using existing strategies, designed with fixed and relatively stable networks in mind. This paper introduces AMOS, a mobile code platform augmented with a structured overlay network. We demonstrate how the location discovery strategy of AMOS has better reliability and scalability properties than existing approaches, with minimal communication overhead. Finally, we demonstrate how AMOS can provide autonomous distribution of effort fairly throughout a network using probabilistic methods that requires no global knowledge of host capabilities