Product Line Enabled Intelligent Mobile Middleware

Current mobile middleware is designed according to a 'one-size-fits-all' paradigm, which lacks the flexibility for customization and adaptation to different situations, and does not support user-centered application scenarios well. In this paper we describe an ongoing intelligent mobile middleware research project called PLIMM that focuses on user-centered application scenarios. PLIMM is designed based on software product line ideas which make it possible for specialized customization and optimization for different purposes and hardware/software platforms. To enable intelligence, the middleware needs access to a range of context models. We model these contexts with OWL, focusing on user-centered concepts. The basic building block of PLIMM is the enhanced BDI agent where OWL context ontology logic reasoning will add indirect beliefs to the belief sets. Our approach also addresses the handling of ontology evolutions resulting from the timely adaptation of ontology to changes and the consistent propagation of these changes to all related artifacts, using Frame based product line configuration techniques.