Middleware for Pervasive Computing Systems

By: Dr. Maria Seraphina Astriani

Pervasive application often relies on some middleware support.

 

It is more desirable to extract the common requirements from different applications and provide the desired functionality from a middleware layer, which hides the complexity and heterogeneity of underlying hardware and network platforms.

 

The pervasive middleware primarily addresses issues from high-level applications on one hand while dealing with the complexity of operating underlying devices, networks, and platforms on the other.

The Five Layer – IoT Architecture

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Philip_Pong/publication/309606980/figure/fig7/AS:423812727611393@1478056236103/The-five-layer-IoT-architecture-114.png

 

The operations of pervasive middleware are realized by heterogeneous underlying

  • devices,
  • networks,
  • and platforms.

 

In practice, these operations are also constrained by physical resources, such as low computation capability and insufficient battery supply

 

There have been a number of pervasive middleware system:

  • Gaia
  • Aura
  • PICO/SeSCo
  • CORTEX
  • Scenes

 

These middlewares provide different abstraction and system support for applications

  • Example: Gaia provides user authentication and access control as security mechanism
  • Example: Gaia, Aura, and CORTEX have context management

 

The functionality of the middleware layer:

  • Resources Management
  • User Tracking
  • Context Management
  • Service Management
  • Data Management
  • Security Management

 

References:

  • Guo, M., Zhou, J., Tang, F., & Shen, Y. (2016). Pervasive computing: concepts, technologies and applications (1st ed.). CRC Press
  • Resmini, A., & Rosati, L. (2011). Pervasive information architecture: designing cross-channel user experiences (1st ed.). Elsevier.