Pervasive Computing: What is it Good for?

The first mass-produced pervasive computing devices are starting to appear—the AutoPC, the Internet-connected ScreenFridge, and the combination Microwave Oven/Home Banking terminal. Although taken separately they appear bizarre, we believe they will play an important role in a world of pervasive computing. Specifically, these devices will accept or deliver information in the context in which it will be most useful, decoupling the information from the context in which it was originally created. We describe an extensible and modular architecture called Rome (to which all roads lead) that addresses this information-routing problem while leveraging significant existing work on composable Internet services and adaptation for heterogeneous devices. Rome’s central abstraction is the concept of a trigger, a self-describing chunk of information bundled with the spatial and/or temporal constraints that define the context in which the information should be delivered. The Rome architectur...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1999
• Where: MOBIDE
• Authors: Andrew C. Huang, Benjamin C. Ling, Shankar Ponnekanti
• Keywords: Computer Networks, Heterogeneous Devices, Mass-produced Pervasive Computing, MOBIDE 1999, Pervasive Computing Devices