Middleware in Ubiquitous Computing
Vincent Hourdin, Nicolas Ferry, Jean‐Yves Tigli, Stéphane Lavirotte, Gaëtan Rey · 2012
With the vast expansion of distributed architectures 20 years ago, middleware emerged. This emergence provides a transparent, comprehensive view of the set of distributed resources with which it can interact. The mechanisms for managing distributions are therefore taken out from applications to propose reusable and generic solutions. The chapter first examines the key developments in software and computer environments. To facilitate the integration of applications, middleware provides mechanisms for their coordination. Different message-based protocols such as MOM (Message Oriented Middleware), tuple protocols such as Linda or even procedure calls on distant hosts such as RPC (Remote Procedure Call) have been proposed. The chapter discusses the main properties of middleware in ubiquitous computing. It lists the main properties of middleware, which can be considered as a prerequisite of ubiquitous computing applications. The chapter also explains how they are involved at the heart of middleware and their consequences for the application.