Elsborg, Ebbe

We study how bigraphical reactive systems may be used for modelling andsimulating — in a manner controlled by sorts and types — global ubiquitouscomputing. Ubiquitous computing was in the early 1990s envisioned byMark Weiser to be the third wave of computing (after mainframes, and thenpersonal computers), in which each person has many computers, recedinginto the background, at his or her disposal. Global ubiquitous computinghas been identified internationally, indeed it is a UK Grand Challenge, asone of the most important challenges for computing in the 21st century.In mathematical modelling of real-life systems, we aim to gain a deeperunderstanding of their behaviour by studying their essence. Concurrentand mobile systems are notoriously hard to understand in their entiretyand thus to give guarantees about. The complexity increases when globalubiquitous computing is considered, especially as systems become larger.A key observation is the importance of understanding this new paradigmbefore it is realised by technological advances, because trustworthiness willbe paramount, and theory is an important factor in achieving this. To thisend, computer simulations complement well mathematical methods.In this dissertation we focus on context-aware computing— in particularlocation-aware computing — which is at the core of ubiquitous computing.Our point of origin is the theory of Bigraphs by Milner and co-workers.Up until now it has been an open question whether Bigraphs is a suitablea model for ubiquitous computing, for which we provide a partial answer.The relevant literature is surveyed and Bigraphs challenged by modellingand simulation of location systems. Plato-graphical models are developedfor more advanced modelling. Exploiting Bigraphs as a meta-model, and tocontrol models, we show how to develop inductive type systems for Bigraphs.We expand the knowledge of what may be achieved with Bigraphs.<br/

Bigraphs:Modelling, Simulation, and Type Systems

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