UbiVal: Fundamental Approaches to Validation of Ubiquitous Computing Applications and Infrastructures

马克·威瑟（Mark Weiser）设想的普适计算（ubiquitous computing）正在慢慢成为现实。在普适计算中，计算机将透明而无缝地融入我们日常生活的许多活动中。研究人员已经创造了无处不在的计算环境的原型，比如“智能家居”，它可以自动感知特定房间里的居民的存在，并改变房间环境的某些方面，比如打开灯，或者“智能博物馆”，它可以播放参观者站在前面的博物馆文物的记录信息。为普适计算开发的各种环境和应用程序似乎有无限的可能性，然而普适计算的本质给想要构建这些环境和应用程序的工程师带来了新的重大挑战。任何用过电脑的人都有过这样的经历：使用的软件包不能正常工作，或者在运行过程中突然崩溃，或者运行速度极慢，或者在不受信任的网络上传输敏感信息（如信用卡号）。为了使无处不在的计算实现与周围环境的真正透明和无缝集成，最大程度地防止此类事故、崩溃、效率低下和不安全的发生是很重要的。该项目将定义并实现一套健全、系统的方法，工程师可以使用这些方法来创建功能正确、高效和安全的无处不在的计算环境和应用程序。这项研究将使用智能城市空间和另一个名为Cityware的普适计算项目中正在开发的应用程序进行和评估。

Mark Weiser's vision of ubiquitous computing, in which computers become transparently and seamlessly woven into the many activities of our daily lives, is slowly becoming a reality. Researchers have created prototype ubiquitous computing environments such as 'smart homes' that can automatically sense the presence of a resident in a particular room and change some aspect of the environment of the room such as turning on the lights, or 'smart museums' that can play recorded information about the museum artefact a visitor is standing in front of. There seem to be limitless possibilities for the kinds of environments and applications that can be developed for ubiquitous computing, yet the very nature of ubiquitous computing creates new and significant challenges for engineers who would like to build these environments and applications. Anybody who has ever used a computer has experienced the extreme frustration of using a software package that doesn't work the way it's supposed to, or that unceremoniously crashes in the middle of its operation, or that runs extremely slowly, or that transmits sensitive information such as credit card numbers over untrusted networks. For ubiquitous computing to achieve true transparent and seamless integration with its surroundings, it is important to prevent such mishaps, crashes, inefficiencies and insecurities from happening to the greatest extent possible. This project will define and implement a suite of sound, systematic methods that engineers can use to create correctly functioning, efficient and secure ubiquitous computing environments and applications. The research will be conducted and evaluated using the smart urban spaces and applications being developed in another ubiquitous computing project called Cityware.