Design and implementation of middleware for context-aware service discovery in ubiquitous computing environments

Abstract

The purpose of service discovery techniques is to minimize the cost of detecting services and provide users with convenience, even though various devices and services exist. For more dynamic and useful service discovery, middleware for context-aware service discovery is required. In this paper, a middleware system is designed and implemented, based on the agent platform for context-aware service discovery. When a service is detected, context information relating to the user and environment is used. As a policy-based system, our middleware does not only use context information, but also use predefined policy. In other words, user preference can be considered. Also, it has authentication module, so users having authority can only access the middleware. Near the conclusion of this paper, a hospital scenario is composed and implemented, by applying the proposed middleware solution. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.