Jouni Markkula

Developing GIS-supported location-based services

Mobile networking is developing and proliferating at a high speed. Many estimates say that the number of mobile telecom subscribers will exceed 1 billion in the year 2003. Among the terminals deployed, there will be hundreds of millions of Internet-enabled ones making Mobile Internet a reality for the big masses. The terminals and/or the mobile networks are now able to determine the position of the terminal on the earth with more and more precision. This is the basis for the new class of services called Location-Based Services (LBS). The paper discusses this new emerging application area that some people consider the central novel application class of Mobile Internet. The main topic of the paper is the question, how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the data hosted currently by them could be used in the context of LBS. We analyze their properties and relate them with the needs of LBS. We also present our LBS pilot system that is using XML-based vector formal for city maps and runs on Java-enabled mobile terminals, PDAs and smartphones.

Dynamic Geographic Personal Data – New Opportunity and Challenge Introduced by the Location-Aware Mobile Networks

A new generation of mobile terminals, communicators and smartphones, designed for general public, are emerging from the mobile phone revolution. Their distinctive features include enhanced data capabilities and the ability to locate the user. These features make these new types of applications, location-based and location-aware services, suitable for mobile users. In addition to location-based information access they also provide excellent means for data collection about the mobile users themselves, yielding valuable dynamic and geographic personal data. This type of data has never been available to such an extent before. Availability of such data would result in new opportunities for potential users: in commerce, in the public sector and even for private use. It is also a great challenge to the information systems: in data collection, management and analysis. Privacy protection is maybe the most serious problem to be found in this context. The objective of this paper is to present the opportunities and challenges provided by dynamic geographic personal data in the context of emerging “location-aware” mobile networks. Here a new service is outlined in parallel with existing and planned location-based services. The new service, designed for collecting, managing and releasing dynamic geographic population data, is called Dynamic Geographic Data Service (DGDS).

Specifying patterns for mobile application domain using general architectural components

Software companies adopt patterns as a means to improve architecture and design practices. During recent years, the application of patterns has extended from general software applications to specific problem domains. In a new domain, suitable patterns fitting to the essential design problems in the new context need to be identified. In this paper, we introduce a general architectural model of mobile applications, which can be used to identify and organise essential patterns in mobile-application design process. This model is employed to construct a high-level architecture of a particular application. For each component of the architecture, the model may suggest candidate patterns that can be used for elaborating the component. Subsequently, the results of the design process are used iteratively to further develop the architectural model. The presented model is verified and tested by employing it to address the design problem of supporting multiple user interfaces in a real mobile application product.

Defining Complexity Factors for the Architecture Evaluation Framework

The design and implementation of telecommunication systems is an incremental and iterative process, and system architectures may need to be revised and refined several times during their lifetime. Formal evaluation facilitates the identification of the weak points, where improvements are due in these architectures. In the domain of telecommunications, such evaluation can be based on the Architecture Evaluation Framework (AEF). During the evaluation, a deep understanding of the processes within a system is needed. Meanwhile, the systems being designed are usually complex systems encompassing a large number of components with an intricate pattern of interaction between them. As a result, it is extremely difficult to understand, predict and control the behavior of such systems. Theoretical studies in the field of complex systems describe potential reasons of system complexity, and explain its possible outcomes, as reflected in system structure and behavior. This knowledge may be utilized in architecture evaluation, in order to deepen the understanding of the interactions imposed by the architecture, as well as to extend the understanding of the involved architectural tradeoffs. For this, the complexity factors should be taken into account during the evaluation. However, no such factors are involved in the current version of the AEF. In this paper, the attempt is made to identify how the knowledge about properties of complex systems could be utilized for the evaluation of information system architectures. Based on the theoretical advances in the field of complex systems, a list of the complexity factors to be included in the AEF is compiled. These factors are going to be further refined, as the AEF is employed for evaluating real-world architectures.

An integrated identity verification system for mobile terminals

Purpose – To report the work on the design of an integrated identity verification system architecture aimed at approaching high verification accuracy, continuous security, and user‐friendliness.Design/methodology/approach – The reported research corresponds to the building process in the design science research paradigm. The requirements to an identity verification system are defined and used in the selection of architecture components. Furthermore, various issues affecting the suitability of component distribution between a terminal and a remote server are considered.Findings – In order to meet the stated requirements, in the proposed architecture static and dynamic identity verification is combined. The use of the dynamic part enables continuous and user‐friendly verification, while the static part is responsible for accurate verification. A suitable distribution of architecture components between the terminal and the remote server is proposed.Research limitations/implications – The proposed architectur...

Developing MLS Location-Based Service Pilot System

Development of mobile networks and terminals provides basis for advanced mobile services and applications. One of the new features is support for locating the mobile user by her/his terminal. The Location-Based Services (LBS), utilising this feature, are expected to form an important class of the new services. At the Information Technology Research Institute, University of Jyvaskyla, LBSs have been studied in MultiMeetMobile research project. The project developed an LBS pilot system, called MLS. This paper presents the experiences collected during the development of the LBS pilot and describes the MLS system.

Applying patterns for improving subcontracting management

This paper studies inter-organizational communication of strategic design information. The focus is on global software subcontracting, where communication problems are common. Software patterns, which have been recognized as a valuable tool in software development, are proposed to be means to facilitate the communication of design information in subcontracting relationship. The position of patterns in subcontracting related processes are studied and the implications of introducing patterns to software subcontracting relationship are analyzed. As a result an evaluation of software patterns’ suitability as means for efficient, systematic and explicit communication in managing the subcontracting relationship is presented.