Perspectives on computing for service providers of Intelligent Environments

Abstract

Intelligent Environments (IE) have been of interest to many modern research enterprises, particularly in advanced countries. For example, a recurring theme emerging from the European Commission regarding the Information Communication Technology (ICT) research agenda for the next 5-10 years is the notion of "Ambient Intelligence" (AmI) representative of intelligent environments and advanced services. As societies adopt such services, demands will surge on their provider infrastructures, and the environments will emerge, take shape and expand. These IEs will possess certain characteristics that will likely drive innovative operational developments in terms of dynamic policies for operations and management, service pricing structures, and infrastructure fault management and diagnosing strategies. This paper focuses, in broad terms, on these critical IE provider's infrastructure needs. © 2004 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.