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

Mark Weiser的无处不在计算愿景，即计算机透明地无缝地融入我们日常生活的许多活动，正在慢慢成为现实。研究人员已经创建了原型无处不在的计算环境，例如“智能家居”，可以自动感知特定房间中居民的存在，并改变房间环境的某些方面，例如打开灯，或者“智能博物馆”，可以播放有关参观者站在前面的博物馆文物的记录信息。似乎有无限的可能性的各种环境和应用程序，可以开发无处不在的计算，但无处不在的计算的本质创造了新的和重大的挑战，工程师谁愿意建立这些环境和应用程序。任何曾经使用过计算机的人都经历过使用软件包的极度沮丧，这些软件包不能按预期的方式工作，或者在运行过程中突然崩溃，或者运行非常缓慢，或者通过不受信任的网络传输敏感信息，如信用卡号码。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，重要的是要尽最大可能防止此类事故，崩溃，效率低下和不安全的发生。该项目将定义和实现一套健全的系统方法，工程师可以使用这些方法来创建正确运行，高效和安全的无处不在的计算环境和应用程序。这项研究将使用另一个名为Citizen的无处不在计算项目中开发的智能城市空间和应用程序进行评估。

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.