A Component Framework for Context-Awareness

The omnipresence of mobile networks and the multitude of resources connected to these networks motivate the development of applications able to mold themselves to the current context. Context-aware applications are autonomous to adapt their behavior according to the environment in which they execute. This behavior is achieved through an adaptation process that takes into account contextual information such as capabilities of the accessing terminal and network, user profile and preferences, current application's goals, and information about the surrounding environment (e.g., geographical location, nearby resources, and available services). Context-awareness is a key issue for the design and implementation of truly adaptive applications. However, due to the absence of de facto supporting models and platforms, context-awareness has been incorporated into existing applications in an ad-hoc way. In order to contribute to a more systematic design and implementation of context- aware applications, this paper shortly introduces a metamodel for context-aware applications and a supporting platform for this class of applications. The platform offers features to discover and publish available services using both decentralized and centralized mechanisms.