Themes and Goals

Pervasive Computing has become a reality. Over the past months numerous wireless portals and wireless applications have been built and deployed for a growing number of users. Almost every week, new device types and services become available. And even though Pervasive Computing is still in its infancy, no one can deny its potential to change how we live and do business.

Pervasive Computing and the supporting technology available today all point toward a future in which the networking web will be extended to an ever larger number of players, extending to smaller machines, appliances, etc., which are increasingly becoming more intelligent. This web will allow machines to interact with other machines and humans. The sheer number of players interacting with each other and their penetration in our daily lives, e.g., microwave, washing machine, light bulb, is going to make the impact even more formidable.

In some respects, pervasive computing solutions are not very different from standard e-Business systems and are implemented with the same or similar technology. However, the combination of the pervasiveness of computing functionality and Internet access, together with the possibility to monitor events and push information to users, and the possibility to create location-aware services, is a new paradigm.

We believe Object Technology is playing a major part in shaping this new computing paradigm. As in other e-Business systems, Java, C++ and XML are often used for implementation at the server side, and in the meantime as well as on the pervasive device. The Open Services Gateway initiative (OSGi) will play a key role in operating pervasive devices.


On the Workshop

In this workshop, we will identify recurring themes and patterns, we will categorize some typical solutions observed and discuss their reference architectures. Clearly, the standard Web ‘Request/Response’ model, e.g., as implemented through WAP is only one way of providing pervasive applications. Offline-work, Messaging, and Business-To-Machine are just a few examples where Pervasive Computing goes beyond ‘Internet for small screens’.

The workshop will bring together practitioners who have been actively involved in the development of Pervasive Computing solutions, researchers who have been working in this area, and people who have been involved in the definition of standards. Broadly speaking, the goal is to discuss experiences and findings, share ideas and build a community in which we can continue discussion after the workshop. We will aim to produce tangible results, e.g., in terms of architecture or design patterns for specific issues, and try to reach consensus on approaches for resolving problems and identify strategies.

Topics of our discussions might include, but are not limited to:

·         Application architecture for client devices and back-end service provider platforms

·         Wireless Portals

·         Mobile Applications, e.g. using WAP, SIM Toolkit, i-Mode, SMS,…

·         Applications for PDAs, Handhelds, Smartphones, Cars, and other devices

·         Specific mobile related topics such as Content Adaptation / Transcoding, Location Based Services,

·         Content Management or Personalization for mobile devices

·         Mobile Agents

·         (Micro)-Payments, mobile e-Commerce

·         Management and administration of software deployed on a large number of heterogeneous devices, including OSGi capable devices

·         Security and Privacy

·         Supporting dramatically different user interface paradigms

·         Adaptability and learning

·         Networking infrastructure

Call for Participation

Participants of the workshop can sign up in one of two ways:

·         by submitting a position paper of 2-5 pages by Sep 15th. Participants who are submitting position papers will have the opportunity to present their experiences or findings at the workshop and play a more prominent role in shaping the overall workshop.

·         by sending an email describing their relevant experience in the area to one of the organizers by Oct 13th. This does not guarantee participance. The organizers will select some of those applicants to join the workshop, based on the experiences, positions or ideas stated in the email. Participants without position papers will not be allowed to present at the workshop. However, they will of course be encouraged to participate actively in discussions and to help produce workshop deliverables.

Organizers

Chair: Steffen Tom Schaefer, IBM (steffens@acm.org)

Steve Marney, EDS (steve.marney@eds.com)

Johan Vos, ACUNIA (johan@acunia.com)