Ubiquitous Computing

The Next Computing Generation

Preview
You will learn about:

Past computing trends

The major development trend
Ubiquitous computing (UC)
Facts and myths
Hardware (HW) issues
Legal & Social issues

Projects related to UC
Aura Project

Coda, Odyssey, Spectra, Prism

Mobile Phones Programming - JAVA MIDP

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Intro
"Any technology sufficiently advanced
is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke

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The Essence Of
Understanding Computers
Computer a job title!
Computer science is the only major branch
of science that is named after a
gadget.[1].
What matters is not technology itself,
but its impact on us and vice versa.

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The Major Trends in

Computing
Mainframe (Past)
1:N
one computer shared by many people

Personal Computer (Present)

one computer, one person

N:1

*Internet - Widespread
Distributed Computing*

1:1

Ubiquitous
Computing

Nk:1

many computers shared by each one of us [7]

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Phase I - The Mainframe Era

Computers were a scarce resource
run by experts behind closed doors.

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Phase II - The PC Era

In 1984 the number of people using PCs
surpassed that of people using mainframe
computers.
PC Era: You have your computer, it contains
your stuff, and you interact directly and
deeply with it.
The PC is most analogous to the automobile.

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Transition Phase - The

Internet
The Internet brings together
elements of the mainframe
era and the PC era.

Client = PC
Server = Mainframe

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Phase III - The UC Era

The UC era will have lots of computers
shared by each one of us.
UC is fundamentally characterized by the
connection of things in the world with
computation.
Frequently used related terms:
Pervasive computing, Wearable computers,
Intelligent environment, Things That Think (T),
Wearware, Personal Area Networking (PAN).[3]

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UC - Definition

1)
2)
3)
4)

Elements that define ubiquitous computing:

[4]
Ubiquity/Pervasiveness lots of devices
Connectedness the devices are networked
Context-awareness the system is aware of
the context of users
Invisibility device effectively becomes
invisible

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UC How To Understand
It
UC goal: enhancing computer use by making
many computers available throughout the
physical environment, but making them
effectively invisible to the user.
Ubiquity
Everywhere
Adaptation to environment
Intuitive, transparent, natural interfaces

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What UC is NOT
It is not science fiction (SF),
though it relies a great deal on it.
It is not impossible.
It is not Virtual Reality (VR).
It is not a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).
It is not a personal agent (PA).

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Early work in Ubiquitous

Computing
A vision of a future form of computing
set forth by Mark Weiser (1991)

The computer has ceased to exist as a distinct entity

and merged with the normal everyday objects that people
use in their daily tasks.
The normal physical environment will become equipped
with extreamly cheap but powerful devices for computing
and networking.

The PARCTAB system: "tabs", "pads", and

"boards" (forms of inch-, foot-, and yard-sized
computers) built at Xerox PARC, 1988-1994.[8]
MIT's AI-oriented "Things That Think"
program[3]

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UC Here And Now

Most work now is concentrating on the mobile
infrastructure for wireless networking
TCP/IP and OSI are unprepared for handling
mobility (machine's name, and its network
address are variant ).[6]
Calm Technology: Calmness is a new challenge
that UC brings to computing [7]
The Periphery: Calm technology will move
easily from the periphery of our attention, to the
center, and back.

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UC Our Angle
The most powerful things are those
that are effectively invisible to the user.
Make a computer so embedded and so natural,
that we use it without even thinking about it.
Important issues: location and size:
UC must know where they are
(Context-awareness, Legal issues);
Hundreds of wireless UCs per person;
Size: 1mm to wall size.

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UC Hardware Demands
Technology required for UC :
Cheap, highly advanced VLSI technology (nanotech),
Very low-power computers with convenient displays,
Low-power, ultra-fast network for interconnection:
wireless end-points
cellular topology
wide-bandwidth range

Software systems for UC applications and support.

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UC The Prophecy
Whenever people learn how to use something
sufficiently well, they stop being aware of it.
Pushing computers into the background will
make people more aware of those on the other
end of link.
UC will help resolve the problem of info
overload.

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UC Privacy & Security

Who will have the control: the owner or the
central authority?
How private can one be?
Preserving privacy of location. [5]
Morris's[2] rule: Build computer systems to have
the same privacy safeguards as the real world.
Legal issues: Burglar Problem
Steganography
fingerprinting

Social issues: Problem of Restricted Individuality.

Secure and reliable services

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UC Influence
Social issues:
Decreased alienation
Health: physical & psychological
influence
Privacy: power & control
Global legality: digital law; equality or
not?
Business: benefit? transparency or not?
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Overview

So far you have learned:

How to understand computers

Trends in human-computer relationship
Ubiquitous computing (UC)

What it is and what it is not

How to understand UC and its significance
Where UC was, where it is now,
and where it will be in the future

We have also discussed:

Location and size questions

Hardware demands and solutions
Security and legal issues

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Summary
The most profound technologies
are those that disappear.
They weave themselves
into the fabric of everyday life
until they are indistinguishable from it.
Mark Weiser

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References

[1] Bruce Sterling speech at the "CRA Conference on Grand Research

Challenges in Computer Science and Engineering, Airlie House,
Warrenton, Virginia June 23, 2002.
[2] Jim Morris of Carnegie-Mellon University
[3] MIT: http://www.mit.edu, http://oxygen.lcs.mit.edu/
[4] Mark Burnett, Chris P. Rainsford, Department of Defense,
Australia, A Hybrid Evaluation Approach for Ubiquitous Computing
Environments
[5] Mark Weiser, Some Computer Science Issues in Ubiquitous
Computing, July 1993.
[6] Mark Weiser, Ubiquitous Computing IEEE Computer "Hot
Topics", October 1993.
[7] Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown, Xerox PARC
The Coming Age of Calm Technology , October 1996.
[8] Xerox PARC: http://www.xerox.com
Ubicomp: http://www.ubiq.com
[9] www.cs.hut.fi/Opinnot/Tik-86.161/2001_files/Merviranta.pdf
[10] Computer History:
http://www.computersciencelab.com/History.htm

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Projects Related to UC
The Steps Towards the UC
Society

Preview
You will learn about:

Aura Project
Mobile Phones
Programming

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Aura
Carnegie Mellon University

Distraction-Free Pervasive
Computing

Auras starting points

Project by Carnegie Mellon University,
USA[1]
User of the Future will be preoccupied
with real-world interactions.
Human attention will become a scarce
resource
Computers of the Future require
certain level of pervasiveness
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Aura
Involves:
Wireless communication,
Wearable or handheld computers,
Smart spaces.

Introduces:[3]
Proactivity
Self-tuning
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Aura Architecture
Aura consists of: [3]
Coda nomadic file access
Odyssey resource monitoring
Spectra adaptive remote execution
mechanism
Prism support for proactivity and
self-tuning
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Aura WBA
Wireless bandwidth advisor (WBA) for:

Monitoring (info gathering)

Prediction (info producing)
Uses:

SNMP (Simple Network Management

Protocol)
AP Segment Service
AP Device Service
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Aura Coda
Uses: [3]
Cyber Foraging
Surrogate Servers

Possible solutions:
Aggressive use of Caching
(Problem: Cache misses)
Data staging[3]
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Aura Coda
Data staging:
Prefatching for pervasive computing
Snapshots
Caching trust rather than content
Privacy: end-to-end encryption
(DES, Triple-DES)

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Aura Odyssey
Features:
Application-aware Adaptability[2]
Shared OS-Application Responsibility
Fidelity[2]
System Agility

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Aura Odyssey
Fidelity:
Odysseys notion of data quality
Degree to which a data used by a
mobile client matches the reference
copy

Adaptability:
Laissez-faire adaptation
Application-transparent adaptation
Application-aware adaptation (Odyssey)
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Aura Odyssey
Architecture:[2]
Interceptor
Viceroy
Set of Wardens:
Web warden
Voice warden

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Aura Prism
Auras most important capabilities:
Supporting user mobility
Protection from variations in resource
availability

Prism (task layer) high-level support

for:
Proactivity
Self-tuning
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Aura Prism
Prisms architecture features:
Context observation
Environment management infrastructure
Task explicit representation

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Resources

[1] Project Aura, Carnegie Mellon University,

http:// www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~aura
[2] Brian Noble, University of Michigan, System Support for
Mobile, Adaptive Applications, IEEE Personal Communications,
February 2000.
[3] David Garlan, Daniel P. Siewiorek, Asim Smailagic, Peter
Steenkiste Carnegie Mellon University,Project Aura: Toward
Distraction-Free Pervasive Computing,
http://computer.org/pervasive

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JAVA MIDP - CLDC

Mobile Phones Programming

INTRODUCTION
Connected Limited Device Configuration
(CLDC) - set of core Java APIs
closely tied to a Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
defines the Java language features
and the core Java libraries of the JVM

The Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP)

a set of Java APIs that together with the CLDC
provides a complete J2ME application runtime
environment targeted at mobile information devices,
such as cellular phones

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Developing Applications
with MIDP
MIDlet - an J2ME/MIDP platform application
Various sizes of displays, different keyboards,
and the "look and feel" of devices
Incoming phone call or SMS
during the execution of a MIDlet
Losing network connection
while a MIDlet is running

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MIDP USER INTERFACE LEVELS

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Nokia Series 30
User Interface
A monochrome or color
display resolution
of 96 x 65 pixels.
A two-soft-key
concept:

left/right soft keys

Send key
End key
scrolling keys
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Nokia Series 40 User Interface

High-resolution color
display and supports
four-way scrolling
Screen size 128 x 128
pixels and 4096 colors
Improved key
applications like MMS,
picture viewing, Java
MIDP, Browser, Calendar,
and personalization

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Nokia Series 60 User Interface

UI style for imaging phones
A large color display wellsuited to different kinds of
applications; display size is
176 x 206 pixels
The first product to use
Nokia Series 60 UI style is
Nokia 7650.

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Nokia Series 80 User Interface

A two-hand-operated
feature concept platform
A color screen and abundant space
for different types of applications

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Nokia Developer's Suite for

J2ME
Automated code generation tools,
archive builders, and software
development tools, including visual
MIDP phone emulators.
Integrated with either Borland's
Jbuilder
or Sun Microsystem's Forte for Java
Used as a standalone
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A SIMPLE EXAMLPE:

TIC TAC TOE

Phones having MIDlet application for

TIC Tac TOE installed
Server side application:
Servlet for connecting players
Game objects for keeping track of
games

Emulated on Nokia 6310i

Nokia Series 30 User Interface
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A SIMPLE EXAMLPE:

TIC TAC TOE

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Downloading and Installing Java

Applications to Nokia Phones
Applications pre-installed at the factory,
Downloaded over a serial cable from a PC,
Downloaded Over the Air (OTA) by an application
such as a WAP browser
OTA downloading is expected to be the most
important way to download MIDlets to phones
For example, Club Nokia will offer downloadable
Java applications to Nokia mobile phone users.

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OTA
Discovery
Installation
JAD and JAR
file attributes
Updating
Removal
MIDlet deployment and
lifecycle
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Resources

http://www.nokia.com
http://java.sun.com

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Overview
You have learned about:

Distraction-Free Pervasive Computing - Aura

Mobile Phones Programming: JAVA MIDP - CLDC

Related projects:
Data-centric vision of future computing
Portolano Project (Xerox PARC & University of Washington)
UC education & entertainment Geney, E, FPS
Oxygen Project (MIT)
Wearable Computers
Endeavour (Berkeley)
Future client-centric pervasive approach PSI (HP Labs)
CoolTown (HP Labs)

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Summary
Our computers should be like our childhood:
an invisible foundation that is quickly forgotten,
but always with us,
and effortlessly used throughout our lives.
Mark Weiser

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