NOTE: The PACE project ended on 31 August 2005.  This Web site provides an archive of the PACE research and publications, but is no longer being maintained.

Introduction

The PACE project is part of the New Ways of Working Together Research Initiative (NWWT) at the Distributed Systems Technology Centre (DSTC)

Overview

PACE encompasses several research areas contributing to the goal of delivering seamless, autonomic computing to pervasive environments. The boundaries between traditional and pervasive computing environments continue to blur in both enterprise and private settings as the number and types of wireless devices and sensors continues to expand rapidly. Pervasive environments present unique opportunities for new services but also present many challenges due to factors such as ad-hoc connectivity and interaction, diversity of devices, decentralisation of control, security, and privacy.

The project is strongly focused on the utilisation of context information (such as location, identity, device capabilities, user and service preferences) to provide autonomic (self-governing, self-configuring, self-adapting) capability at the system and application levels.

PACE exploration includes context and preference modelling, scalable context management, programming toolkits for the development of context-aware applications, location management, resource discovery, security, and privacy.

The project team works with DSTC participant members to target application domains including telecommunications, healthcare, defence, and enterprise collaboration.

PACE Research

Context and Preference Modelling

Modelling context in terms of fine-grain facts and generalised situations to provide a more robust foundation for the development of context-aware systems. Exploring techniques to deliver scalable context management with consideration given to conflict resolution and privacy.

Modelling user and service preferences to allow preference-based, context-sensitive behavior in systems. Allowing users to set and understand the consequences of preference selection.

Infrastructure For Pervasive, Autonomic, Context-aware Environments

Researching new programming paradigms and support infrastructure to enable context-sensitive, autonomic systems in pervasive environments.

Context-aware Applications and Services

Applying PACE research in application domains such as health and telecommunications.

Location Management

Researching issues related to the management of location information.

Security and Privacy in Pervasive Systems

Researching security and privacy mechanisms suitable for ubiquitous/pervasive environments.

Service Discovery

Researching service discovery protocols suitable for heterogeneous networks that support pervasive environments.