Aline Senart

Requirements for an ubiquitous computing simulation and emulation environment

Recent years have seen the maturing of ubiquitous computing middleware and software. Accompanied by research into sensor networks and other sensor-driven applications, widespread deployment and realisation of these technologies can now be expected in the coming years. As a cheap and quick method of prototyping applications and protocols, simulation will be a key part of the development cycle for these technologies. However, existing simulators only address a subset of ubiquitous computing environments and are unsuitable for modelling the desired complexity of the domain.This paper presents initial work on the design of a generic simulation tool suitable for the many scenarios encompassed by ubiquitous computing, such as simulation of sensors, actuators, and the environment. In addition, an emulation framework for middleware and software under development is provided which interfaces with the simulation tool. We provide a layered, flexible and modular approach to supporting the simulation of ubiquitous computing environments without constraining the simulator to one aspect of the many possible ubiquitous computing deployment scenarios. Finally, we present and discuss a proof-of-concept simulation.

Aspect-Oriented Model-Driven Development for Mobile Context-Aware Computing

The development of applications for pervasive computing presents a number of challenges to the software engineer. In particular, application adaptation based on context such as environmental factors, device limitations and connectivity, requires the programmer to handle a complex combination of factors that manifest themselves throughout the application. This position paper presents an approach to managing such complexity based on a combination of aspect-oriented development techniques, and modeldriven development.

Time-bounded adaptation for automotive system software

Software is increasingly deployed in vehicles as demand for new functionality increases and cheaper and more powerful hardware becomes available. Likewise, emerging wireless communication protocols allow the integration of new software into vehicles, thereby enabling time-bounded adaptive response to changes that occur in mobile environments. Examples of time-bounded adaptation include adaptive cruise control and the dynamic integration of location-aware services within fixed time bounds. This paper provides three contributions to the study of time-bounded adaptation for automotive system software. First, we categorise automotive systems with respect to requirements for dynamic software adaptation. Second, we define a taxonomy that captures various dimensions of dynamic adaptation in emerging automotive system software. Third, we use this taxonomy to analyse existing research projects in the automotive domain. Our analysis shows that although time-bounded synchronisation of applications and data is a key requirement for next-generation automotive systems, it is not adequately covered by existing work.

MoCoA: customisable middleware for context-aware mobile applications

Many programming models have been proposed to facilitate the development of context-aware applications However, previous work does not offer support for building customised systems and has largely been targeted at a single application domain In this paper, we describe MoCoA, a flexible middleware framework that permits the rapid development of context-aware applications and supports deployment scenarios ranging from augmented artefacts to city-wide smart-space applications Crucially, MoCoA supports a small set of programming abstractions that are suitable for building a wide range of context-aware applications for deployment in a fixed or (ad hoc) mobile environment For each of these abstractions, MoCoA provides a set of implementations via a library of components We present three applications of the MoCoA framework that demonstrate both the use of the programming abstractions and the flexibility of the framework.

Vehicular Networks and Applications

Vehicular networks represent a particularly challenging class of mobile (ad hoc) networks that enable vehicles to communicate with each other and/or with roadside infrastructure. This chapter describes potential applications, middleware approaches and communication protocols proposed for vehicular networks.

Scheduling time-bounded dynamic software adaptation

Component-based software increasingly needs dynamic adaptation to support applications in domains such as automotive, avionics or robotic systems. Dynamic software adaptation involves both the integration of new, previously unanticipated features and the update of existing features without requiring system downtime. Software adaptations must often be time-bounded, e.g., due to mobility constraints. Inconsistent or inaccurate behaviour may result from an adaptation that does not complete within specified time constraints. Service providers must therefore take time constraints into account when scheduling adaptation actions. This paper describes an algorithm for time-bounded scheduling of adaptation actions and demonstrates the validity of its results.

Modelling an emergency vehicle early-warning system using real-time feedback

Emergency vehicles, while usually equipped with warning devices, are still often impeded by other traffic and involved in numerous collisions. Current research is investigating the use of wireless communication from emergency vehicles to warn other traffic. However, communication in dynamic wireless networks is not reliable. In this paper, we propose a novel emergency vehicle early-warning system that relies on wireless technology to inform other vehicles of the arrival of emergency vehicles, and returns feedback in real-time when communication degrades. We describe how such a system is built with Comhordu, a coordination model for wireless networks.

Addressing Dynamic Contextual Adaptation with a Domain-Specific Language

The increasing number of mobile devices and sensors equipped with wireless networking capabilities enable a new generation of pro-active applications. These applications make use of context to adapt their behaviour to better fit their current situation. To support unanticipated changes to application behaviour, mechanisms are needed to specify when and how to adapt an application during its runtime. Many dynamic platforms exist that achieve this to some extent, and that are built on general-purpose languages (GPLs). However, these approaches suffer from standard difficulties of GPLs relating to the lack of semantic expressiveness of their constructs. In this paper, we describe high-level declarative constructs that can be used to specify the adaptation of application behaviour to specific situations. The language is supported by a framework that enables the exchange and merge of behaviours on-the-fly. Our approach is evaluated against application scenarios in the domain of autonomous vehicles.