A Prototype Setup for Location-aware Personal Communication Services
Key: GAMS03-2
Author: Manuel Goertz, Ralf Ackermann, Andreas Mauthe, Ralf Steinmetz
Date: November 2003
Kind: In proceedings
Book title: Evolute Workshop 2003
Abstract: The creation of powerful comprehensive communication appliances is a challenging task. This kind of applications is currently highly demanded to better meet the individual requirements of mobile users and modern business processes. A realistic future scenario comprises nearly ubiquitous network access in large areas of the world. More and more users do not only work at a fixed location but travel or have to fulfill their tasks at various different locations. New PDA devices with adequate network and audio capabilities as well as standard extension interfaces for different sensors form a good basis for location-based services and context-aware applications. A variety of novel applications is expected to use this kind of information in order to decide when and how to establish communication channels between different system subscribers. The technologies that can be used to obtain the location information are multi-fold and differ for the environments that a user passes through. Whereas GPS is a valuable option for outdoor usage, indoor location sensing can typically be based on specific IR location sensors or an existing WLAN or Bluetooth infrastructure. Our paper gives an overview of our active work in progress and its results in this area. On the basis of a prototype for IP Telephony applications we illustrate our experiences in the integration of different concepts that are especially adequate for smaller and mobile computers. We demonstrate that appropriate strategies do not just transfer existing desktop mechanisms to handheld and portable devices but consider their specifics and establish additional architectures and mechanisms that meet those best. The described system prototype forms the basis for on-going enhancements that provide general context-sensitive communication services in heterogeneous environments.
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