Abstract Context awareness is considered one of the most important challenges to be tackled in the field of ubiquitous computing (ubicomp). In this perspective, this paper describes a general model for context-aware systems. The model is organized in multiple tiers, each one addressing a specific design characteristic related to the area. The proposition can be applied in the design and assessment of context-aware systems. Author Keywords Context awareness; sensors; context management. ACM Classification Keywords Introduction Context awareness is one of the challenges that must be addressed when developing ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) systems. The idea consists in the perception of characteristics related to the users and their surroundings. These characteristics are normally referred to as context, i.e. any information that can be used to describe the circumstances concerning an entity (persons, places, or objects) [1]. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author. Copyright is held by the owner/author(
