Context management with programmable mobile networks

We show that the use of context information can significantly improve the services of mobile networking systems. We present an architecture for context management which addresses the specific requirements of mobile networks. Context information is collected at different locations in the network, and then preprocessed before transmitting to the mobile device. Our context management framework clearly separates application independent and application specific context exchange. For the on-demand deployment of application specific modules, our architecture encompasses a service deployment infrastructure and programmable platforms in network nodes and mobile devices. As an example, we discuss optimizing handover decisions based on the knowledge about the context of mobile devices and networks. This is validated in a prototype implementation, which shows the deployment of different context-aware handover services.