A simulation framework for mobile, location-dependent information access

With the increasing pervasiveness of mobile computing devices, the need to access information in mobile environments has grown rapidly. Consequently, many mechanisms, e.g. broadcast dissemination, hoarding, or specialized caching mechanisms have been developed to overcome the disadvantages of wireless communication systems, which are usually used to access the information. To evaluate such mechanisms a simulation tool is needed that simulates both the users' mobility and their information access patterns. Since most existing user models either model only the mobility or the information access, we developed a new model that covers both aspects. Based on this model, we realized a flexible framework that allows to simulate all aspects of a mobile information access.