Didier Donsez

Developing an OSGi-like service platform for .NET

The OSGi specification defines a Java-based service platform for dynamically deploying services into networked environments. OSGi technology originally targeted home services gateways, but is now used as a general Java application extensibility mechanism. The main abilities contributing to its growing influence are its support of a dynamic service deployment life cycle and its amenability to remote management. Microsofts .NET platform, in some ways, improves upon the Java platform, but it still lacks explicit support for building dynamically extensible systems like those made possible by the OSGi framework for Java. This paper presents the results of an effort to create an OSGi-like service platform for the .NET platform.

A Dynamic Service-Oriented Implementation for Java EE Servers

This paper proposes to enhance the dynamism and the flexibility of Java Enterprise Edition (EE) servers by introducing a service-oriented architecture (SOA) inside. The purpose is to ease the deployment and offer dynamic server configuration and reconfiguration. Such an approach limits consumed resources and is capable of context adaptation. After defining the properties that must be verified for the service platform, we propose to use OSGi technology as the basis for the architecture. We have experimented with integrating OSGi into Java EE servers. Moreover, this architecture has been chosen for the next generation of JOnAS ObjectWebs open source Java EE implementation

Supply chain management and NFC picking demonstrations using the AspireRfid middleware platform

RFID middleware is a cornerstone of non-trivial RFID deployments in complex heterogeneous environments. In this demonstration, we introduce and present the AspireRfid middleware platform using demonstrators in the area of Supply Chain management and Near Field Communications. The AspireRfid platform provides support for non-trivial RFID applications in several fields including supply-chain management, logistics, access control, asset management and pharmaceuticals. In this demonstration we present a traceability application for logistics and supply chain management, as well as a pick and pack application. AspireRfid implements several building blocks of the EPCglobal architecture. However, it also extends the EPCglobal architecture with several middleware modules, which can greatly facilitate RFID application development and deployment. Hence, prior to presenting the demonstrations, we provide a brief discussion of the EPCglobal architecture and the extensions implemented by AspireRFid. We end-up with an illustration of the demonstrators.

Middleware Building Blocks for Architecting RFID Systems

RFID middleware is a cornerstone of non-trivial RFID deployments in complex heterogeneous environments. In this paper we present the principal middleware building blocks specified in the scope of the EPCglobal architecture. Alternative protocols and implementation frameworks for realizing these middleware blocks are also presented. At the same time we outline several middleware extensions to the EPCglobal architecture, towards meeting common requirements of automatic identification applications. Furthermore, we classify RFID applications into various categories based on their complexity, as well as based on their closed or open loop nature. Accordingly, we highlight the middleware blocks that are most important to each application category.

FROGi: fractal components deployment over OSGi

This paper presents FROGi, a proposal to support continuous deployment activities inside Fractal, a hierarchical component model. FROGi is implemented on top of the OSGi platform. Motivation for this work is twofold. On one hand FROGi provides an extensible component model to OSGi developers and eases bundle providing. FROGi-based bundles are still compatible with “legacy” OSGi bundles that offer third party services. On the other hand, FROGi benefits from the deployment infrastructure provided by OSGi which simplifies conditioning and packaging of Fractal components. With FROGi, it is possible to automate the assembly of a Fractal component application. Partial or complete deployment is also supported as well as performing continuous deployment and update activities.

Autonomic management of edge servers

Delivering innovative Internet services raises numerous business and technical challenges for providers. It actually requires building and managing complex, distributed architectures in order to reach the quality of service that is needed. In this paper, we argue that using edge computing in the domain of Internet services has a number of advantages. However, this approach relies on complex and hard to administrate environments. We believe that autonomic computing techniques constitute a key element for the dynamic management of edge servers. In the paper, we present an autonomic manager that meets the market needs and that has been tested in collaboration with Bull SA.

On-Demand Component Deployment in the UPnP Device Architecture

The standardization of networking home appliances fosters home automation joining the mass market. Controlling the appliances requires several either specialized or generic controls. This paper is interested in the dynamic trading and deployment of software components implementing UPnP control points. It also addresses the bridge between UPnP and the world of micro-appliances. An OSGi-based prototype validates our proposition. (Abstract)

A Multi-Protocol Service-Oriented Platform for Home Control Applications

The convergence of smart home appliances and business services stands to profoundly change the way we interact with our environment. However, implementing and maintaining home-control applications is still far from easy. This demonstration presents our service-oriented platform to facilitate the development of home-control applications. This prototype is used in the ANSO industrial European project.

Towards an autonomic approach for edge computing

Nowadays, one of the biggest challenges for companies is to cope with the high cost of their information technologies infrastructure. Edge computing is a new computing paradigm designed to allocate on‐demand computing and storage resources. Those resources are Web cache servers scattered over the ISP backbones. We argue that this paradigm could be applied for on‐demand full application hosting, helping to reduce costs. In this paper, we present a J2EE (Java Enterprise Edition) dynamic server able to deploy/host J2EE applications on demand and its autonomic manager. For this, we reengineer and experiment with JOnAS, an open‐source J2EE static server. Two management policies of the autonomic manager were stressed by a simulation of a worldwide ISP network. Copyright

Towards a Dynamic and Extensible Middleware for Enhancing Exhibits

Exhibit sites, such as museums and commercial conventions, do not usually allow or motivate visitor interaction with the exhibited items. In this work we present an architecture for providing an augmented experience for exhibits. In our concept, visitors can use wireless handheld devices to scan the identifiers (e.g. RFID tags, 2D barcodes) of exhibit items and receive information about them or trigger events in the surrounding environment. We present a generic middleware which is dynamic, extensible and configurable, and is capable of generating different responses to visitor interactions. Responses can consider the visitors profile, the exhibits or visitors history, administrative preferences, and other information. They include sending events to the visitors device or to devices surrounding the exhibit. The architecture hides development complexity and takes advantage of various technologies, integrating them into our middleware and our handset application. We also provide administration capabilities, such as reporting and exhibit configuration. Our concept has been implemented and validated in a museum scenario and uses multiple technolugies for communication, unique exhibit identification, and software dynamicity and extensibility.