Thierry Delot

A Data Management Perspective on Vehicular Networks

The interest of intelligent transportation systems and vehicular ad hoc networks has increased in recent years. As a fundamental building block for the development of applications for vehicular networks, new techniques are needed to handle data appropriately in the vehicles. In this paper, we present a comprehensive overview of data management for vehicular networks, where the vehicle-to-vehicle communications play a key role. We describe the technological context of vehicular networks along with the different types of data managed in that environment, and we analyze several challenges, such as the evaluation of the relevance of data regarding the occurrence of events on the roads (e.g., accidents), the design of appropriate (effective and efficient) content-based data dissemination protocols, the competition in the access to physical resources (e.g., parking spaces), the development of suitable data aggregation techniques specifically adapted to the context of vehicular networks, and query processing. This paper provides an in-depth coverage of data management for vehicular networks but keeps, at the same time, a didactic orientation. Supported by an extensive collection of relevant references, we analyze the state of the art, identify some must-read references, outline research problems, and extract conclusions and lessons learned.

A framework for mobile and context-aware applications applied to vehicular social networks

The notion of context has become very important in computer science, especially when users are highly mobile. In a short period of time the environment changes; communication networks can become available or unavailable, user communities can appear or disappear, etc. The work presented in this paper focuses on the transportation domain and more particularly on applications which accompany and assist the user in transportation activities (e.g., driving, visiting a city, etc.) through the use of ad hoc social networks. We present a case study related to the VESPA system, designed to help drivers by providing them with diverse information (e.g., traffic information, available parking spaces, etc.); we show how the framework we propose can help the system deal with context issues. In the last part, we analyze different mechanisms of changing application behavior through the use of services, an important step towards making our devices reactive to new situations.

New technical services using the component model for applications in heterogeneous environment

Nowadays, execution environments of applications are more and more heterogeneous: from powerful servers to smart cards. In order to assume the heterogeneity and the portability of applications, the component–based model has emerged as a model to develop new distributed applications. Thus, these applications are built as an assembly of interchangeable software blocks. Nevertheless, the gain of adaptability that comes from the use of component does not stretch to non-functional services (such as transaction management, security, etc). So, we suggest complementing the existing solution by facilitating the adaptability of non-functional services to their environment. Therefore, we propose to design a non-functional service as composition of small components. Besides, it is possible to supply the most appropriate version of a non-functional service to an application. So, in our approach, the application is composed by assembling both business components and non-functional components.

Folk-IS: opportunistic data services in least developed countries

According to a wide range of studies, IT should become a key facilitator in establishing primary education, reducing mortality and supporting commercial initiatives in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The main barrier to the development of IT services in these regions is not only the lack of communication facilities, but also the lack of consistent information systems, security procedures, economic and legal support, as well as political commitment. In this paper, we propose the vision of an infrastructureless data platform well suited for the development of innovative IT services in LDCs. We propose a participatory approach, where each individual implements a small subset of a complete information system thanks to highly secure, portable and low-cost personal devices as well as opportunistic networking, without the need of any form of infrastructure. We review the technical challenges that are specific to this approach.

Opportunistic data services in least developed countries: benefits, challenges and feasibility issues

According to many studies, IT should become a key facilitator in establishing primary education, reducing mortality or supporting commercial initiatives in Least Developed Countries. The main barrier to the development of IT services in these regions is not only the lack of communication facilities, but also the lack of consistent information systems, security procedures, economic and legal support, as well as political commitment. In this paper, we propose the vision of an infrastructure-less data platform well suited for the development of innovative IT services in Least Developed Countries. We propose a participatory approach, called Folk-IS, where each individual implements a small subset of a complete information system thanks to highly secure, portable and low-cost personal devices as well as opportunistic networking, without the need for any form of infrastructure. In this paper, we focus on the exploitation and feasibility analysis of the Folk-IS vision. We also review the technical challenges that are specific to this approach.

LDAP, Databases and Distributed Objects: Towards a Better Integration

For the needs of web platforms (portals, e-commerce, telephony on Internet, etc) and network platforms (switches, routers, SCPs, etc), organizations manage more and more data using LDAP servers. LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) [20] is the standard, proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for modelling and querying network directory information, as well as accessing network directory services. It also provides a set of services to manage authentication and security. For web and network applications, both LDAP servers and traditional databases are now used and will continue to be used, leading to big interoperability issues. As stated by IETF [13] we are faced to the integration of LDAP and Database technologies to provide a highly distributed and scalable network database service. Moreover, in the management field, DMTF is promoting LDAP as a key technology to manage heterogeneous network nodes, leading to another integration challenge; how to provide a LDAP view on objects. In this paper, we analyze these new requirements and overview some of the studies currently done by France Telecom and PRiSM to better integrate LDAP and Databases technologies, as well as to integrate LDAP and OMG distributed objects.

A dynamic service-oriented framework for the transportation domain

The transportation domain brings particular needs dealing with the specificities of the environment (highly mobile, distributed, unstable network connection, …). In this paper, we propose a first step in providing a dynamic adaptable framework responding to the non-functional needs of transportations applicative services. Among the most important services we can name positioning, time or communication capabilities. To achieve both this flexibility and automate context adaptation, we rely on a Service Oriented architecture and experiment our proposition on the inter-vehicular communication system, VESPA.

Managing CORBA objects with dynamic behavior in a Directory

At present, objects may be located on CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) platforms using either the naming service or the trading service, both standardized by OMG (Object Management Group). By associating a name to a CORBA object, the naming service helps users in retrieving a particular object managed by a remote server. The trading service allows one, on its own, to localize objects according to the properties they have exported to the trader. Directory services, and particularly LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), the most famous directory in the world of the Internet, combine features provided by naming and trading services. Directory services provide advanced features to query directory entries on their names and/or their properties. This paper proposes a Directory Service relying on the LDAP naming model, adapted to the management of dynamic CORBA objects, that is objects frequently updated. The directory service also proposes query facilities and a query evaluation model adapted to the management of distribution and possible failures induced by the integration of CORBA objects in directories.

Guest Editorial: Large-scale Data Management for Mobile Applications

The increasing functionality and capacity of mobile devices have enabled new mobile applications which require new approaches for data management. Users want to have a seamless integration of their data on their mobile with other devices, which can be either classical devices such as a desktop PC or other mobile devices. On the one hand, the growing computing power of mobile devices and the availability of “Big Data” to mobile users facilitate the development of powerful mobile applications. On the other hand, the limitations ofmobile deviceswith respect to energy, storage, display size, communication bandwidth, and real-time capabilities have to be considered. Due to the growing volume of the data that has to be managed, the availability of huge datasets, the emergence of non-traditional techniques for data management (e.g., NoSQL systems), and the spreading of cloud computing, new efforts are expected in this area. Information management in mobile applications is a complex problem space which requires the consideration of the aforementioned constraints. Under the umbrella of

O-SPIN: An Opportunistic Data Dissemination Protocol for Folk-Enabled Information System in Least Developed Countries

Without universal access to the Internet, Least Developed Countries are left by the wayside of the digital revolution. Research is underway to overstep the barrier to the development of information technology services in these areas. In this context, the Folk-IS Folk-enabled Information System is a new fully decentralized and participatory approach, in which, each individual can transparently perform data management and networking tasks through highly secure, portable, and low-cost storage and computing personal devices, as physically moving, so that global services can finally be delivered by crowd. In this paper, we propose Opportunistic SPIN O-SPIN, an information dissemination protocol that augments the well-known data-centric energy-aware SPIN Sensor Protocols for Information via Negotiation protocol to enable networking facilities for Folk-nodes, by exploiting opportunistic contacts among users. Performance of the proposed solution has been evaluated through simulations carried out in the OMNeT++ framework under different settings. Achieved results demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency in the information dissemination process.