Gabriella Dodero

Mobile computing in a hospital: the WARD-IN-HAND project

We present file guidelines of a new project whose main task is to exploit mobile computers, comlected via a Wireless Networks, in Personal Health systems, computerizing patient clinical records with sophisticated solutions for taking clinical infommtion at the point of care.

A system architecture for fault tolerance in concurrent software

A system architecture called the recovery metaprogram (RMP) is proposed. It separates the application from the recovery software, giving programmers a single environment that lets them use the most appropriate fault-tolerance scheme. To simplify the presentation of the RMP approach, it is assumed that the fault model is limited to faults originating in the application software, and that the hardware and kernel layers can mask their own faults from the RMP. Also, relationships between backward and forward error recovery are not considered. Some RMP examples are given, and a particular RMP implementation is described.<<ETX>>

A mobile e-health system based on workflow automation tools

This paper describes the patient record manager and the workflow toolset of the wireless-based e-health system Ward-In-Hand, developed in a European IST (Information Society Technologies) project and currently in use within three hospital wards, in Italy, Spain and Germany. The lack of homogeneity in the healthcare organisations required a suitable implementation of workflow automation tools to create and manage the execution of the care-giving processes, customising them to local ward needs. Solutions for this problem, as well as the integration of the workflow organiser (to be used by individual health professionals during their daily activities) with the patient record manager are discussed.

RAMSES: A Mobile Computing System for Field Archaeology

RAMSES (Remote Archeological Mobile Support Enhanced System) is an outdoor application of mobile computing to field archaeology, whose prototype has already been field tested in Summer 1998 at the site of Poliochni in Greece. The requirements for both hardware and software are illustrated; the system is composed by a fixed station, acting as object repository, and a few mobile units which input archaeological evidence by means of electromagnetic pen. The software components on both fixed and mobile systems and their interaction are described as well.

Channel reification: a reflective model for distributed computation

The paper presents a new reflective model, called Channel Reification, which can be used in distributed computations to overcome difficulties experienced by other models in the literature when monitoring communication among objects. The channel is an extension of the message reification model. A channel is a communication manager incarnating successive messages exchanges by two objects: its application ranges between those of message reification and those of meta object model. After a brief review of existing reflective models and how reflections can be used in distributed systems, channel reification is presented and compared to the widely used meta object model. Applications of channel reification to protocol implementation, and to fault tolerant object systems are shown. Future extensions to this model are also summarized.

A System Architecture for Software Fault Tolerance

The paper describes a system architecture, based on virtual machine layers, which can be used in the implementation of software fault tolerant systems. The top layer of such hierarchy details recovery actions; various policies such as conversations, N-Modularity, Programmer Transparent Coordination, Resilient Procedures and Optimistic Recovery are shown to be implementable within this framework.

Integrating a Web3D interface into an e-learning platform

In the paper, we present an application of Web3D technologies, X3D with X3DOM and HTML5, to enhance our e-learning platform DIEL. DIEL exploits the social translucence concept in order to create a virtual and dynamic learning space where avatars of community members can interact while implementing any social constructivist learning paradigm. While supporting collaborative learning communities, the addition of high-performance 3D graphics into a DIEL web page, without requiring any plug-in at client side, allows a complete and meaningful interaction with the e-learning services, that benefits the users experience in the exploitation of proximity relationships with respect to other users and resources.

Saving Energy and Reducing Latency in MANET File Access

The paper illustrates the design of MobEYE, a cooperative cache system for file transfer overMANETs. Its implementation is based on the sniffing facilities provided by the BSD Packet Filter, to process in-transit messages at the application level. MobEYE has been simulated, deriving support for the claim of saving energy and reducing latency; further possible optimizations, based on the use of promiscuous transmission mode, are discussed as well.

Process checkpointing primitives for fault tolerance: definitions and examples

Abstract Many fault tolerance techniques that are implemented via software are based on the use of process checkpointing and restore primitives. This is true both for methods used in system fault tolerance and for methods used in software fault tolerance, such as Recovery Blocks, but usually system and software fault tolerance appear to require different ad hoc primitives. Moreover, the use of checkpointing primitives within components implementing different kinds of fault tolerance should be coordinated, to save space and time. In this paper we present a unified interface for checkpointing and restore primitives, which is suitable both for software and for system fault tolerance in UNIX-type systems. We provide examples of the use of such primitives, including the use in a dedicated software component (the Recovery Meta Program) which may implement various techniques for fault tolerance. Finally, we discuss the implementation of the proposed primitives, and provide a comparison with some complementary approaches.

Using different language levels for implementing fault-tolerant programs

Abstract The paper illustrates a methodology to develop fault tolerant application software in two different programming layers. The advantages of this approach are: higher protection between application and recovery programs, application-independence, application transparency and maximum use of the underlying hardware architectural features. Some implementative issues are presented as well in the paper.