Fundamental Properties of Pervasive Systems - Assignment Example

Question 1: Discuss whether the pervasive system must fully support all the five properties: Distributed, iHCI , Context – aware ,Autonomous and intelligent. Solution 1: Pervasive system is also called Ubiquitous computing (ubicomp). Preliminary, it is very important to understand Pervasive systems. As per whatis.com that states “Pervasive computing is the trend towards increasingly ubiquitous (another name for the movement is ubiquitous computing), connected computing devices in the environment” (2009). The ubicomp is a post desktop solution of human interaction in which information processing is integrated in to commonly used house hold appliances and devices which are required to facilitate user actions and activities performed by them. The pervasive systems simultaneous use more than one computational and communication devices with networked enabled services, and the user may not be aware of it. These features totally support and advances desktop paradigm. Classification of ubiquitous computing has been done and various definitions have been emerged. In our daily life, we use many gadgets and computer accessories, they all needs physical interaction of human beings in order to be operational. On the other hand, pervasive or ubiquitous technology is used in such a way where user is completely unaware of it. The technology will not be visible but will be available and can communicate with other components or devices to facilitate existence of others devices or humans far away. In the above definition, there is a word called “desktop paradigm”. As per Wikipedia it is defined as ”In graphical computing, a desktop environment (DE) commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface (GUI) that is based on the desktop metaphor which can be seen on most modern personal computers today ” The core concept of pervasive computing is, it is a set of small intelligent devices integrated with each other providing fast and robust network connectivity, data transfer and network processing devices which are distributed regardless the distance and disbursed geographically and facilitate everyday life. As the pervasive systems facilitate the activities of the users as per their requirements, the technology needs to be transparent from the user. For integrating and implementing solution of ubicomp or pervasive systems and at the same time, making them transparent is not an easy task. Ubiquitous computing or pervasive systems provide a challenge for system designing, engineering, system modeling and research. It provides vast opportunities for new inventions of small intelligent devices and sensors along with palm size network equipments and hence completely changing the life style and making a world to understand cultures, trends, religions of different people around the globe, developing peace within human beings by knowing each other qualities and characteristics (Poslad, 2009). The distributed system are synchronized and connected together with networked enabled services and transmission. As per encyclopedia.com, the devices, systems or network based equipments including routers; switches are interlinked together via transmission lines or wireless connectivity. The distributed systems contain workstations and servers depending upon the requirements. The aim of the distributed systems is to utilize and share the network resources simultaneously, along with the high degree of robustness of the network. When there will be a demand for hardware resources, distributed systems can cop with them easily. The users do not have to wait if any network failure or downtime occurs as the user can still access the network resources and functions. The existence of distributed systems came into being in 1970’s (The distributed systems share their resources with each other, in terms of processing power, sharing data, user access policies via a computer network. Distributed systems coordinate with each other for a same goal or achievement. The pervasive systems comprehensively utilize distributed computing and are highly distributed for achieving the desired process. For example, if a person is wearing a shirt which is integrated with the sensor to calculate his body temperature and a communication device to interact with the air conditioners sensor, in this way both components need a computing interface to process the functionality. Any interaction between the user and the computer, for example, if a user wants to access Internet drive, he may use the Graphical User Interface (GUI) that will be an operating system, this is called explicit interaction of the user from the computer device or equipment. The action of the user performed in a certain environment, the assumption has been made by the computer regarding the actions which will be performed by the user. The information is then measured as an input while performing a job, and is called implicit interaction. In FOLDOC, (free online dictionary of computing) context is defined as “That which surrounds, and gives meaning to, something else” Pervasive systems require context awareness for recognizing the environmental aspects which vary in nature. Context awareness senses the physical environment and provides input for the pervasive systems to perform operations accordingly. Context awareness is required for the pervasive systems in order to sense the physical environments and to perform and process actions when required. Further more it can be describes as the systems which are compatible with the context aware, adapts the environmental factors which include nearby collection of objects and people who tends to change over time. The context aware capable system surveys the computing environment, and performs actions according to the environment. (Seng luke, 2006). A very good example is the interactive hospital. Suppose we have a framework which will be called XYZ, and it will constantly monitor and track the user‘s context and collects the context information which is required. The XYZ sub system can be accessed via applications when required or as per the hospitals functionality. If the ERP is implemented in the hospital, the ERP will use its own system to display the information or data which is required by the nurse according to the nurse activity in the medicine room. This was the example of the nurse who is holding the pill container of which patient. (Bardram, nd). Pervasive systems are capable of making their own decisions depending on the physical environment aspects. The ubicomp system integrates the 3 components, Autonomous, Context aware, intelligent. As far as the ecological factor which is characterized by the interdependence of living organisms in environments taken under consideration, Autonomous functionally is mandatory. For human environment, factor intelligent component is necessary. Human environment includes social sector which relates to human society and its members. Public sector which indicates the community of people is also included in the pervasive or ubicomp system. For example, we have a scenario when the phone has to divert all calls when some one is busy; there is an ambient who indicated that the user is present. The ambient that is integrated in the phone constantly senses the context or existence of the user to check the co location of the user. If the user is not in the range of the ambient, the phone automatically diverts all the incoming calls to the voice mail system for storing the voice mail or messages (SieweEl at). Question 2: Critically analyze whether these properties are independent or interlinked. Solution 2: If we are analyzing the ubicomp system as a whole, all the components which are mentioned in answer 1 are interlinked with each other to perform actions based on different factors. The distributed networks are not dispersed in a way that they are connected with any sort of internet connectivity, but they are connected with each other by means of a sensor and a communication medium or instrumented in such a way that they are interlinked with each other. The people are not physically present but are involved virtually in any activity to suggest their ideas or to perform any task and activity by using a collaborative approach. These are called virtual environments. After the virtual environments, we have three core components which are autonomous, context aware and intelligent. These components provide the Ubicomp the physical and human environments. The last component that is iHCI required for making the technology transparent to humans. Question 3: Contrast Ubiquitous computing, Virtual reality and augmented reality. Solution 3: The basic idea is that computing is implanted everywhere in the atmosphere. If we are talking about computer can be embedded in the appliances, household devices, therefore it can be embedded everywhere. For example, it can be integrated on to your desk; it can be embedded on to your shirt. It is possible only by using state of the art technology based devices. We are not talking about the computer networks, but we are talking about linking devices, connecting appliances, house hold devices. Even standard household devices can be connected over the network and that is the larger picture of embedded systems which is finally called pervasive or ubiquitous computing. Heller defined ubiquitous “Being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent” (2009). It means that the connectivity is constantly present. Virtual reality is physical in a sense that it is far away, but in pervasive systems scenario it is a virtual reality which is interlinked with the environment located on a remote area. Virtual reality is nowadays called a simulator. It is a common term often used when the user is allowed to interact in a computer based virtual environment. The simulators are rich in visual experience, they can be viewed directly on a computer screen or stereoscopic displays can be created. Some simulators support multimedia and provide both rich display and sound for making the virtual environment more natural. Virtual reality and simulators are most commonly used for training purposes. For example, the training of the soldiers, sports or SWAT operation etc Augmented reality is when we are instrumenting the environment for example we have a glass of water which contains a sensor and a communication ability, the table on which the glass of water is kept can be instrumented on a display showing of what is happening in the room, there can be a third member who is not actually present in the room but can be integrated in the environment via similar instrumentation at a distant location, this is what we call the augmented reality environment. If we elaborate it states that, there are three participants with respect to an identical surroundings, although they are not physically co located is called an augmented reality. Environment has to be sensitive to your needs, sensitive to the person with whom it is interacting, and sensitive to the needs of the people around you then that environment has to be intelligent. Devices also have to be intelligent. Intelligence in a way obviously means dealing with difficult algorithms, complex logic and if pervasive systems have the potential to run complex algorithms then the intelligent algorithms can be the artificial intelligence techniques assembled into these pervasive systems making the entire environment intelligent and sensitive. Idea is to perform a collaborative approach for doing some work, exercise, research. If we take an example of a student trying to understand mathematics and is not aware of the devices which are integrated on his/ her study table and white board and in an augmented reality scenario his colleague or instructor can participate on the white board and explain in the right way. The other class mates can also join to understand the issue. In this way the resource utilization and efforts of the instructor can be performed in a better way achieving huge impact and hence making the environment intelligent and instrumented. PART I: Analysis and Critical Review of the technologies used in pervasive systems Question 1: Compare and contrast the different methods of location determination with regards to accuracy, indoor and outdoor, and local versus global location determination. Solution 1: As the pervasive systems uses state of the art technologies, there are varieties of methods which can be used for location determination of mobile objects. Sensors can be used for location determination. The sensors can be physical, virtual or logical. Physical sensors will provide the information for a physical device or object. Virtual location calculates the location of information from a virtual space i.e. application software, systems, and networks. Logical sensors use the information (provided by both the sensors) to gather physical location information. Physical Location Sensors can provide the position or proximity information. The position sensors attempt to present the coordinate of an individual comparative to some coordinate system. The coordinative system may be fixed and global or it may be mobile and local. Proximity sensors can locate a device or remote object within the region but cannot position the device within the region. Examples are Radio frequency identification (RFID) Tags, Bluetooth. Location determination can be achieved by the WLAN positioning system. The range for this method will not be higher. The transmitters from the pervasive systems will communicate with the radio object by a receiver and will recognize them by their network ID. The signals will be converted in to distances. The transmitter will exploit diverse signal features at diverse levels to estimate its distance from a receiver equipped unidentified entity. RFID techniques can be used if integrated in the pervasive systems. Microwave energy can be used by detecting the RFID tags embedded or attached on the object. The RFID tags will present their location with the help of microwave technology when scanned. The RFID transmitter will detect all the objects transmitting the frequency range which has been set for the determination of the location of the remote or moving objects. Ranges may vary as the GSM BTS can cover a lot of distance as they also transmit the signal strength of cell phones and also use handovers while the mobile object, which is obviously a transmitter, moves from one geographical location to other. This method can also be called a global location determination. The transparent nature of the technology has enabled the researchers motivated in recent years to develop more advanced communication and networked enabled devices transparent in nature and enabling the user to be totally unaware of the technology integrated in his surroundings (Weiser, 1991). The location determination techniques can be achieved by various methods. Ground Reaction force is one of the techniques in which the reaction between the weight of any object or inertia of a body becomes in contact with the weighting device is called a ground reaction force (GRF). It can be used in different methodologies for location identification. The hardware which can be used for location identification using GRF is loading Cells, steel plate and data acquisition hardware. The steel plate is mounted on four industrial load cells to determine the weight of the object and to recognize the identification. Aware home technology is also used for location determination. The house will be integrated with different sensor devices including video based sensors, audio based sensors and environment based sensors. The aim will be to monitor and track what activities are been performed in the house. The activities in the house of who, what, when and where can be monitored instantly. Active badge is another technique which determines user location and identification up to 3 cm using ultrasound wave technology. What are ultrasound waves? As per the Encyclopedia, “the free dictionary” which states that” Sound whose frequency is higher than the upper end of the normal range of human hearing (higher than about 20,000 hertz) is called ultrasound” The Active badge is also a technique used for location determination. It identifies and locates the presence of an object in a room. They are limited to only track on a limited distant area. The active badge periodically transmits the signals to the sensors embedded in the room. The ultrasonic receivers are installed in the room to receive the signals and measure time of flight. It also uses a base station. Question 2: Give a critical review of privacy and security issues in pervasive systems. Solution 2: In a pervasive system environment, privacy is mandatory. The details for the communication cannot be transferred or transmitted to any UN authorized person. There should me a mutual trust between the environment and the user. There are various cyber crimes happening on the internet, due to breaching personal information and availability of the information at the variety of websites. In pervasive systems, privacy and trust is a key component. The pervasive system does not have a mechanism to avoid un authorize access from other un identified users as new threat techniques will come in to being when these systems will be implemented more commonly. Pervasive applications are accessed globally due to which the probability of security breaches increases. The augmented reality, communication devices, sensors, and actuators enable the pervasive computing to be omnipresent and hence making it vulnerable. For example, augmented reality is between two rooms of two houses, and they do not want to share the communication and personal information other then the participants. One more example is some situation people do not want to be traced or tracked. The user interaction in the virtual space must also be controlled by using a collaborative approach for granting access in the pervasive systems. As the actions of the users cannot be prevented interactively as the functionality is involved with the actions performed. This shall be controlled in the initial stage for granting access of authorized users by using appropriate access policies. In pervasive systems, the security policies should perform their functionality in a dynamic way. “There should be policy management tools, which will allow administrators the ability to specify, implement and enforce rules to exercise greater control over the behavior of entities in the system” (Campbell, El At) Information operations also called as Info Ops and cyber terrorism are most likely to happen in a vast dispersion of electronic information. As per EAM Luiijf Info ops can be defined as “action taken that affect adversary information and information systems while defending one’s own information and information systems” Security and authentication is a critical aspect in today’s networks, and can result in disruption of critical services and crucial assets. The cyber terrorists can exploit computer networks by injecting ambiguous information in the network. Pervasive computing facilitates and enhances info ops and at the same time making it a vast threat. The pervasive computing systems are connected locally as well as geographically depending on the scenario. The security should consist of certain levels for the participants to gain access and which can be grounded on the environmental, temperature, context awareness factors. The security policies should also be capable to take decisions of the dynamic environmental changes most likely to occur and make a checklist of the characteristics or features which needs to be present in order to limit the access to a user on the system. The security architecture of the ubicomp needs to be extra conscious regarding the facts and must be capable to adopt environmental factors with extreme conditions. The system should not be proprietary and must not contain independent factors otherwise the security architecture will not be successful. The mechanism should be defined in such a way that it can cope with other security architectures when required. (Campbell, El at) PART III: Modeling of Context-aware-Systems Figure 1: Context-aware hospital bed system Question 1: Write in CCA the system described in Figure 1. Solution 1: In Figure 1, there are seven entities: the nurse, the medicine tray, the pill container, the room, the active zone, the bed, and the patient, and each of these entities is represented by an ambient in CCA. For simplicity, it is assumed that the patients are male and the nurse is female. As depicted in Figure 1, initially, the patients are inside their beds – patient1 in bed1 and patient2 in bed2, both beds are located in their active zones – bed1 in zone1 and bed2 in zone2, the active zones, zone1 and zone2, are inside the room, and the nurse carrying the medicine tray, containing the pill containers, is outside the room. Therefore, the scenario depicted in Figure 1 can by modeled as: nurse[Pn | tray[Pt | con1[P1] | con2[P2] | con3[P3] | con4[P4]]] | room[zone1[bed1[Pb1 | patient1[Pp1]]] | zone2[bed2[Pb2 | patient2[Pp2]]]] where Px is the process specifying the behavior of its host ambient. Question 2: The nurse ambient behaves as follows: The nurse can enter and leave the room and the active zones as often as needed in the course of his/her work activities. Once in an active zone, the nurse ambient can access the electronic patient record of the corresponding patient. Give in CCA the specification of the process Pn that describes the behaviors the nurse ambient. Solution 2: Pn  !with(zone1)?tray :: .in zone1.0 | !with(zone2)?tray :: .in zone2.0 | !at(zone1)?bed1 :: epr.0 | !at(zone2)?bed2 :: epr.0 | !at(zone1)?tray :: .out.0 | !at(zone2)?tray :: .out.0 Question 3: The medicine tray is carried by the nurse when visiting a patient. A pill container is aware of the patient and reveals itself when near the patient by lighting the name of the patient. Give in CCA the specifications of the process Pt and the processes Pi, 1 ≤ i ≤ 4, assuming that the pill containers 1 and 4 are for the patient patient1 and the rest for the patient patient2. Solution 3: Pi  !(has(con1)  near(patient1)?  patient1.0 | !(has(con4)  near(patient1)?  patient1.0 | !(has(con2)  near(patient2)?  patient2.0 | !(has(con3)  near(patient2)?  patient2.0 The tray ambient follows the nurse ambient in and out the active zones, zone1 and zone2, to supply patient medicine stored in pill containers as shown in Figure 1. So the tray ambient must communicate with the nurse ambient to know when to move in and out of the active zones. Also, the tray ambient needs to communicate with the pill container ambient to generate the message, containing the name of the patient in context, patient1 and patient2. Therefore, the behavior of the tray shall be: Pt  !with(zone1)?nurse :: ().in zone1.0 | !with(zone2)?nurse :: ().in zone2.0 | !at(zone1)?nurse :: ().out.0 | !at(zone2)?nurse :: ().out.0 | !  (msg). :: msg.0 The tray ambient receives messages from the pill container ambient it contains through the capability ‘ (msg)’, and then forwards these messages through the capability ‘:: msg’ to the ambient around it, such as, the nurse and the beds, bed1 and bed2. Question 4: A bed is located in its active zone which delimits the context of the bed. One of the most important context-awareness properties of a bed is the ability of logging the nurse in when he/she enters the active zone and logging him/her out when he/she leaves that zone, automatically. Give in CCA a specification of the process Pb1 which captures this property. Solution 4: Pb1  (at2(zone1, nurse))?loginnurse.0 | !(at2(zone1, nurse))?logout.(at2(zone1, nurse))?loginnurse.0 References Bardram, Jakob E. "Hospitals of the Future- Ubiquitous Computing Support." Web. 25 Dec. 2009. . Campbell, Roy, Jalal Ul Muhtadi, Prasad Naldurg, Geetanjali Sampemane, and Dennis M. Mickunas. "Towards Security and privacy for pervasing computing." Homepage of Jalal Ul Muhtadi. Web. 25 Dec. 2009 Context from FOLDOC." FOLDOC - Computing Dictionary. Web. 24 Dec. 2009. . "Desktop environment -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 25 Dec. 2009. Read More