Middleware service for Ubiquitous Computing Applications

1
1. Middleware service for Ubiquitous Computing
Applications(a specific type of distributed
systems)2. A Middleware service for Ubiquitous
Computing Applications3. An application using
the above middleware and middleware service
2
Outline for 1 and 2

• Motivation
• State of art and Background
• Our approach
• Illustrative example
• Evaluation
• Implementation on the test bed
• Simulation tools
• Conclusions and Future research

3
Motivation

• Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp) environments
• - Computing everywhere
• - Vast number of embedded, wearable, and
  hand-held devices
• Short range wireless capability
• Some devices are not reachable directly from
  others
• Mostly devices are mobile
• Devices have low power, hence less computation
• Use of on board sensors
• - Transparent and context-aware communication
• - Neighbor-to-neighbor communication
  (communication range)
• - Applications operating in ubicomp usually
  exhibits
• Context sensitivity
• Ad hoc communication

4
Concepts and Terminologies

• Context
• - Any detectable and relevant attribute of a
  device, its interaction with other devices and/or
  its surrounding environment at an instant of
  time.
• - Example (battery) power, light intensity,
  location
• Situation
• - Any action taken by the device over a period of
  time that is of interest to the device, and/or
  variation of a set of contexts over a period of
  time.
• - Example During the last two hours, the battery
  power has reduced by 10 and no recharge action
  has taken place.

5
Concepts and Terminologies (cont.)

• Information dissemination
• - Distribution of information from a device to a
  set of devices in any computing environment.
• Situation-aware information dissemination
• - Distribution of information based on context
  and/or situation.
• - Example Shoppers device looks for deals when
  the device is inside shopping mall.

6
State of Art

• Directed diffusion, USC
• - use flooding, infrastructure less network, does
  not support mobility of devices and no support
  for situation-awareness
• SPIN (Sensor protocols for information via
  negotiation), MIT
• - requires prior knowledge of the network, use
  flooding for data negotiation and no support for
  situation-awareness
• Profile based information dissemination,
  University of Toronto
• - fixed infrastructure based wireless network,
  use profile for information dissemination

7
Background

• Reconfigurable Context-sensitive Middleware
  (RCSM), ASU
• - Supports situation-awareness
• - Supports context-sensitivity
• Ability of the device to detect current
  context and changes in contextual data
• Ability to capture and analyze context and
  interrelationship between users actions and
  devices
• Addition of information dissemination service
  (IDS) to RCSM

8
Information Dissemination Service (IDS) in RCSM
9
Addition of Information Dissemination Service in
a Ubicomp Environment using RCSM
IDS
IDS
Information
RCSM
dissemination
RCSM
Laptop
IDS
IDS
RCSM
RCSM
IDS
PDA
RCSM
Laptop
PDA
IDS
IDS
Wireless
RCSM
RCSM
link
PDA
Laptop
10
Features of Information Dissemination Service
(IDS)

• 1) Unknown destination A distant device is not
  reachable from a source device.
• 2) Situation-aware Ubicomp applications
  distribute information based on situation .
• 3) Multi-hop In ubicomp environment, a device
  has short-range wireless capability.
• 4) Mobility In ubicomp environment, devices are
  mobile.

11
Features of IDS (cont.)

• 5) Loop free Same information does not create
  unnecessary flooding.
• 6) Energy efficient The devices in ubicomp
  environment operate on battery.
• 7) Decentralized Information dissemination
  mechanism for ubicomp should be decentralized,
  since the devices are mobile (joins and leaves at
  their will).
• 8) Equality Information dissemination mechanism
  should be equal for each device.

12
Features of IDS (cont.)

• 9) Locality Each device is able to manage
  itself and to coordinate with others based on
  local information for information dissemination.
• 10) Self-containment Every device is
  self-contained in functions to manage itself and
  coordinate with others for information
  dissemination.

13
Our Approach to Information Dissemination
Step1
A device wants
to disseminate
information
Step2
Yes
No
Wants
response?
Information dissemination without response
Information dissemination with response
Step3
A
B
14
Our Approach to Information Dissemination (cont.)
Step1)
A
Associate communication
primitives with coordination
states
Step4
Use SA-IDL and SA-ADC to develop
B
Application with IDS
Step5
Yes
Add
Any device wants
coordination
to disseminate
rules
information?
No
Step6
A
End
15
Example A Shopping Mall

• Shoppers have their own PDAs.
• Shops and shopping mall authority have computing
  devices
• - Desktop computers (DCs), with wireless
  connections to PDAs.
• These devices collaborate by dynamically forming
  short range mobile ad hoc networks
• A shopper wants to know all the deals of a
  specific item when inside the shopping mall

16
Example 1 A Shopping Mall

• Shoppers have their own PDAs.
• Shops and shopping mall authority have computing
  devices
• - Desktop computers (DCs), with wireless
  connections to PDAs.
• These devices collaborate by dynamically forming
  short-range mobile ad-hoc networks
• A shopper wants to know all the deals of a
  specific item when inside the shopping mall

17
Example A Shopping Mall (cont.)

• - 9 devices in the shopping mall,
• D1, D2, D3,D9.
• - D1 is a PDA, and D2, D3, D4,. D9 are DCs.
• - Neighbors of D1 are D2, D3, D7, and
  expressed as
• N(D1) D2, D3, D7.
• - Similarly, others DCs N(D2) D1, D4, D7,
• N(D3) D1 , D5, D7, N(D9) D5 , D7 .
• - D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D7, and D9 have RCSM,
  including the add-on information dissemination
  service.
• - D6 and D8 not have RCSM, and hence D6 and D8,
  cannot participate in information dissemination.

18
Information Dissemination in A Shopping Mall
19
Step 1-3

• Step 1)
• - Shoppers PDA D1 is the single information
  dissemination source.
• -When inside the shopping mall, the shoppers
  PDA triggers information dissemination.
• Step 2) No need for Step 2 because information
  dissemination needs response.
• Step 3)
• -Shopper distributes query and wants to know
  all deals -- information dissemination with
  response.

20
Step 3 Mechanism for Information Dissemination
in A Shopping Mall

• Coordination states
• - CS1 uploading query
• - CS2 downloading query
• - CS3 uploading deals
• Coordination rules
• - Rule 1 CS2 ? CS1,
• downloading query to uploading query
• - Rule 2 CS1 ? CS3,
• uploading query to uploading deals

21
Step 3 Mechanism for Information Dissemination
in A Shopping Mall (cont.)

• a) D1 sends its coordination state CS1 to all of
  its neighboring devices D2, D3, and D7.
• b) - D2 receives CS1 from D1 and checks its
  coordination rule and find a state match in Rule
  1.
• - D2 requests D1 to send query for all deals
  information.
• - D2 receives information and changes its
  coordination state to CS1.
• - D3 and D7 receive information. This is
  repeated for each device
• - Information is distributed from D1 to D2,
  D3, D7,
• D7 to D9 D2 to D4,, D3 to D5.
•  

22
Step 3 Mechanism for Information Dissemination
in A Shopping Mall (cont.)

• c) D7 can receive information from D1, D2 or
  D3.
• -Path D1 to D7 is chosen since D7 receives
  coordination state first.
• d) D2 moving out of vicinity of its neighbors and
  is out of communication range of its neighbors.
• - D2 distributes its coordination states to its
  neighbors.
• - D4 changes its state back to CS1 and receives
  information from D7.

23
Step 4 Associate Coordination States with
Communication Primitives
Basic communication primitives Send, receive,
forward, wait
24
Step 5 Use of SA-IDL for Information
Dissemination
RCSM_Context context1 string location
 ActionTuple action1 string
action_name  interface ShoppingMall S, P,
M Situation s1 //shopper is In Mall
currently (ForAny t in 0,0) context1.location
ShoppingMall  
Situation s2 //shopper was Outside one minute
ago (ForAny t in -2,-1) context1.location
ShoppingMall  Situation s3 // shoppers
device has not queried for last 30
minutes (ForAny t in -30, 0
action1.action_name FindDeals Situation
s4 // go query s1 and s2 and s3
outgoing activate at situation s4 void
FindDeals()
25
Example 2 Football stadium

• People using their PDAs to communicated in a
  football stadium
• When someone enters into the stadium, his PDA
  to distribute information about some player to
  other the people.

26
Information Dissemination in A Football Stadium

• - 9 devices in the Smart classroom,
• D1, D2, D3,D9.
• - D1 is a PDA, and D2, D3, D4,. D9 are DCs.
• - Neighbors of D1
• N(D1) D2, D3, D7.
• - Similarly, others DCs N(D2) D1, D4, D7,
• N(D3) D1 , D5, D7, N(D9) D5 , D7 .
• - D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D7, and D9 have RCSM,
  including the add-on information dissemination
  service.

27
Step 1-3

• Step 1)
• - Someones PDA D1 is the single information
  dissemination source.
• - When someone enters in the stadium and his
  PDA to distribute information about some player
  to other people.
• Step 2) Information dissemination without
  response.
• -Someones PDA distributes information
• Step 3) No need for Step 3 because information
  dissemination needs no response.

28
Step 3 Mechanism for Information Dissemination
in a Football Stadium

• Coordination states
• - CS1 uploading info
• - CS2 downloading info
• Coordination rules
• - Rule 1 CS2 ? CS1,
• downloading to uploading

29
Step 3 Mechanism for Information Dissemination
in Football Stadium (cont.)

• a) D1 sends its coordination state CS1 to all of
  its neighboring devices D2, D3, and D7.
• b) - D2 receives CS1 from D1 and checks its
  coordination rule and find a state match in Rule
  1.
• - D2 requests D1 to send information
• - D2 receives information and changes its
  coordination state to CS1.
• - D3 and D7 receive information. This is
  repeated for each device
• - Information is distributed from D1 to D2,
  D3, D7,
• D7 to D9 D2 to D4,, D3 to D5.
•  

30
Step 3 Mechanism for Information Dissemination
in Football Stadium (cont.)

• c) D7 can receive information from D1, D2 or
  D3.
• -Path D1 to D7 is chosen since D7 receives
  coordination state first.
• d) D2 moving out of vicinity of its neighbors and
  is out of communication range of its neighbors.
• - D2 distributes its coordination states to its
  neighbors.
• - D4 changes its state back to CS1 and receives
  information from D7.

31
Step 4 Associate Coordination States with
Communication Primitives
Basic communication primitives Send, receive,
forward, wait
32
Step 5 Use of SA-IDL for Information
Dissemination
RCSM_Context context1 string location
 ActionTuple action1 string
action_name  interface StadiumS, D,
B Situation s1 //In stadium (ForAny t
in 0,0) context1.location Stadium  
Situation s2 //Outside one minute ago (ForAny t
in -2,-1) context1.location
Stadium  Situation s3 // device has not
distribute for last 30 minutes (ForAny t in
-30, 0 action1.action_name
DistributeInfo() Situation s4 // go
query s1 and s2 and s3
outgoing activate at situation s4 void
DistributeInfo()
33
Total Messages (Y)in IDS

• n is the total number of devices
• l is the length of message
• s length of short message
• m is the average number of neighbors of each
  device
• If l s, we get the complexity O(n)

34
Energy Consumption Models in IDS

• Use Feeney and Nilssons energy consumption
  models based on their empirical results of
  802.11b radios

• b send energy consumptions due to send for
  fixed data packets
• m send energy consumptions due to send for
  incremental data packets
• Siz send size of data packets

35
Evaluation

• Demonstration on Test bed
• Small number of devices
• Simulation tools
• Large number of devices

36
Architecture of Information Dissemination Service
(IDS)
File service
Application
Application
IDS
State Processor
Input processor
Coordination Transport Engine
State Table
Rule Table
Rule processor
Address Pool
Adaptive Object Container (ADC)
R-ORB
37
IDS service and Demo Application
File transfer service
File transfer service
Information
Information
Dissemination Service
Dissemination Service
(ADCs)
(ADCs)
(IDS)
(IDS)
Object Request Broker (R-ORB)
Object Request Broker (R-ORB)
Transport Layer Protocols for Ad Hoc Networks
Transport Layer Protocols for Ad Hoc Networks
38
IDS service and Demo (Announcement) Application
IDS service
Demo(Announcement) Application
39
Experimental Set up (Device Configurations)

• Casio E-200 PDAs
• Intel Strong Arm 1110 with 206 MHz clock speed
  CPU.
• Flash ROM 32 MB
• RAM 64 MB
• D-LINK Air DCF-660W Compact Flash 802.11b
  adapter.
• Configured in mobile ad hoc network

40
Experimental Results from the Demonstration on
the Test bed

• Number of threads 5
• Lines of code10000
• Executable file size 138 KB
• Maximum size of the message 972 bytes
• Delay(Response time) 7800unit
• 1 unit 100 nano sec
• Throughput 66.30 bytes/sec
• Power consumption shown in next slide

41
Power Drain out in
42
Power Drain out (in milli watt)
43
Text Based Simulation Tool
44
GUI Based Simulation Tool
45
Experimental Results from Simulation
46
Experimental Results from Simulation
47
Experimental Results from Simulation
48
Experimental Results from Simulation
49
Impact of IDS

• File transfer service in RCSM test bed,
  announcement in Smart classroom
• Football stadium
• Shopping mall
• Hospital
• Construction management
• Environment monitoring
• Sensor networks
• Disaster relief

50
Summary of Contribution
IDS for Ubicomp Applications with the following
characteristics

• Destination unknown
• Situation-aware
• Multi hop
• Mobility of the devices
• Loop free

• Energy efficient
• Locality
• Self contained
• Equality
• Decentralized

51
Discussions

• Information dissemination service (IDS) for
  ubicomp applications
• Experimental results show our approach is much
  better than broadcasting
• Currently implemented in Windows CE environment
• -Platform Builder 3.0
• -Embedded Visual studio 3.0
• -CASSIOPEIA E-200 PDA
• -RCSM is installed on each PDA
• -IDS is an add-on module to RCSM.

52
Future Directions for IDS

• Develop real-time IDS for Ubicomp applications.
• Security, and other QoS of information
  dissemination service in ubicomp environments
• Develop fault tolerant IDS for distributed mobile
  ad-hoc applications.
• IDS with other types of networks
• IDS for sensor networks
• IDS for monitoring systems

53
End of Middleware and IDS
For further information www.eas.asu.edu/rcsm
54
An Application-Smart Classroom Enhancing
Collaborative Learning Using Pervasive Computing
Technology
Stephen S. Yau, Sandeep K. S. Gupta, Fariaz
Karim, Sheikh I. Ahamed, Yu Wang, and Bin
Wang,"Smart Classroom Enhancing Collaborative
Learning Using Pervasive Computing
Technology",   Proc. of American Society of
Engineering Education 2003 Annual Conference,
June 2003.
55
Outline for 3 application

• Introduction
• Background and state of art
• Our approach
• Functionalities of Smart Classroom
• Some scenarios
• Illustrative example
• Software Packages
• Conclusions and future work

56
Pervasive (or Ubiquitous) Computing Technology

• Computing and communication essentially
  transparent to the users
• Embedded, wearable, and handheld devices
• - wirelessly connected, possibly to fixed
  network infrastructures such as the Internet
• Major characteristics
• - situation-awareness
• Whats going on? in its surroundings.
• - ad hoc group communications
• multiple devices dynamically form networks to
  facilitate collaborative computing

57
Smart Classroom

• Facilitating collaborative learning among college
  students 
• Students form small groups to solve a specific
  problem or develop a group project
• Each student has a situation-aware PDA (location,
  noise, light, and mobility)
• Students' PDAs dynamically form mobile ad hoc
  networks for group meetings
• Situation triggering communication

58
What is Collaborative Learning?

• creates an environment that the instructor
  involves students in solving problems and reaches
  students who otherwise might not be engaged
• encourages active student participation in the
  learning or small group learning.
• every student learns from everyone else, no
  student is deprived of the opportunity for making
  contributions

59
Characteristics of Collaborative Learning
S1) Sharing knowledge the instructor shares
his/her knowledge with students, and students
share their knowledge with others S2) Mediation
the instructor participates in the discussions to
give feedback or advice to students S3)
Heterogeneity heterogeneous perspectives,
experiences, and backgrounds of all students
enrich learning
60
Characteristics of Collaborative Learning and Our
Smart Classroom

• S1 addresses relationships between the instructor
  and students
• S2 characterizes instructors approaches
• S3 addresses the composition of a collaborative
  classroom
• Our Smart Classroom enhances all of the
  above(S1-S3)

Our Smart Classroom.
61
State of Art

• Interactive Classroom
• - a virtual whiteboard, electronic textbook,
  and the World Wide Web for in-class discussions
  SDSU
• Smart Kindergarten
• - uses sensor data collected from children or
  toys to review childrens activities and track
  their learning progress UCLA
• Classroom 2000
• - captures classroom context (teaching material
  or student notes) to automatically generate
  Web-accessible multimedia GATECH

62
State of Art

• Classroom with Handheld devices
• - developed a system for test taking using
  handheld devices CMU
• Smart Classroom
• - use pervasive computing technology
• - enhances collaborative learning among college
  students ASU

63
Major Features of Our Smart Classroom

• Situation-Aware Interactions among PDAs
• - use our RCSM to provide situation-aware
  interactions among PDAs
• - This feature addresses S1).
• Ephemeral Group Formation and Communication
• - Depending on the current situation, the PDAs in
  the classroom form groups
• - Situations are the location of the current
  classroom, class schedule, and availability of
  other group members
• - Groups are dissolved as soon as the
  group-forming situations are no longer needed.
  
• - This feature addresses S1) and S3).

64
Major Features of Our Smart Classroom (cont.)

• -An instructors PDA can dynamically join a
  student group to
• monitor and evaluate the groups progress
• provide timely feedbacks
• -This feature addresses S2).

65
RCSM Architecture in Our Smart Classroom Test Bed
Situation-Aware Application Objects
RCSM
Optional Components
O
p
e
Other
Information
RCSM Ephemeral Group
r
a
t
Dissemination Service
Communication Service
Services
i
n
g

S
Core Components
y
s
t
e
Adaptive Object Containers (ADCs)
m
Providing awareness of situation
Object Request Broker (R-ORB)
Providing transparency over ad hoc communication
Transport Layer Protocols for Ad Hoc Networks
Sensors
66
Functionalities of Smart Classroom Applications
i)     For a single student a) reminds the
student of his/her homework and class schedule
based on current time and current
location b) synchronize the lecture notes
between a students PDA and desktop computer
before and after class ii)     For
instructor/TA a) synchronizes the lecture notes
between instructor or TAs PDA and desktop
computer before and after class, since desktop
computers have the original lecture notes  
67
Functionalities of Smart Classroom Applications
iii)     For student-to-student communication a)
enables students to exchange and share their
documents. b)  enables students synchronize
document among their PDAs. iv) For instructor/
TA-to-students communication a) distributes
teaching material (lecture notes/survey
forms/grade sheet/course schedule) from
instructor or TA to all students at proper
situations, -such as at the beginning of a
class, when light is dimmed and noise is
low.       
68
Functionalities of Smart Classroom Applications
b)  - creates exams for students and groups
- sends exams to the students and groups and
collect answers, grade - sends the grade
back to the students v)    For
student-to-instructor/TA communication a) -
facilitates students to store their questions or
concerns in text format in their PDAs.
-When the instructor or TA is available (in
classroom), the questions are automatically
transferred to the instructor or TAs PDA.
69
Functionalities of Smart Classroom Applications
b) - submit their progress report in a similar
way -At the end of a class, their
reports are submitted to the instructor or TA
automatically c) make appointments with the
instructor using their PDAs to send the request
to the instructors PDA d) write answers of the
exams and send answers to the instructor e) run
and display their homework on the PDAs and
project it on the screen
70
Some Scenarios from Smart Classroom

• Scenario 1 Group discussion
• Scenario 2 Distribution of lecture slides

71
Scenario 1 Group Discussion

• At least two group members in the classroom start
  to form a group.
• Additional students coming in to join the group.
• Groups are formed.
• Instructor moves around student groups.
• Some students leave during discussion.
• Discussion session finishes.

72
Step1 Start Forming Groups

• Context
• Two or more group
• members in proximity
• Time is up to form
• groups

• RCSM
• Sense context
• Recognize other devices
• Select device leader
• Device leader initiates the
• group communication

73
Step2 Additional Students Join Groups

• Context
• Time for forming the group
• Additional student in a group
• is at the location of the group

• RCSM
• Sense context
• Recognize other devices
• Discover group

• Action
• Additional student
• joins the group.

74
Step3 Groups are Formed
Group2
Group1
Group4
Group3
75
Step 4 Instructor Moving around Student Groups

• Situation
• During group discussion,
• instructor moving
• to group1

Group1

• RCSM
• Sense location
• Detect devices in vicinity
• SAEG service

Group2

• Action
• Instructors PDA
• is downloading
• group 1s discussion

Group3
Group4
76
Step 5 Some Students Leaving During Discussion

• Context
• Some students are not
• at the locations of their
• groups

Group2
Group1

• RCSM
• Sense context
• Delete the students
• from their groups
• SAEG service

Group4
Group3
77
Step 6 Discussion Session Finishes

• Context
• Time is up to finish
• discussion or
• discussion completed

• RCSM
• Group meeting
• terminates

78
Scenario 2 Distributing Presentation Slides

• Context
• Instructor is near the screen
• (location)
• The light is dimmed(light)

• RCSM
• Sense Contexts
• File transfer service

• Action
• Instructor
• distributes slides

Lecture slides
79
Example CSE 461 Software Engineering Project I

• Students and the instructor in CSE 461 carry
  their PDAs
• Students are provided with the group project
  requirement specification and major milestones
• Each group member participates in the project
  actively
• Each group member communicates with each other
  verbally and exchange documents through their
  PDAs
• The instructor frequently interacts with various
  student groups and monitors their progress

80
Example CSE 461 Software Engineering Project I
(cont.)

• The classroom of CSE 461 needs facilities for
  group collaboration and student-instructor
  interactions
• PDAs form groups depending on the current
  conditions
• - locations of the students in the
  classroom,
• - class schedule
• - availability of other group members
• - The situation-aware interactions among
  the PDAs in a group collaboration with S1) and S3)

81
Example CSE 461 Software Engineering Project I
(cont.)

• The instructors PDA can dynamically join a
  student group to
• - monitor and evaluate the groups progress
  and
• - provide timely feedbacks
• - This type of student-instructor
  interactions has the characteristics S1) and S2)
• Our Smart Classroom addresses all these three
  characteristics S1)-S3) by facilitating both
  group collaborations and student-instructor
  interactions capabilities

82
Device Configurations

• Casio E-200 PDAs
• Intel Strong Arm 1110 with 206 MHz clock speed
  CPU.
• Flash ROM 32 MB
• RAM 64 MB
• D-LINK Air DCF-660W Compact Flash 802.11b
  adapter.
• Configured in mobile ad hoc network

83
Tools Used to Develop Applications

• Embedded visual studio version 3.0
• By Microsoft
• Platform builder version 3.0
• By Microsoft
• RCSM compiler version 1.0
• We developed the compiler
• Rational Rose
• By IBM

84
Software Packages RCSM

• R-ORB
• Situation-awareness
• Ad hoc communication
• Detects context and process contexts
• Services
• Ephemeral Group service
• Supports ad hoc group communication
• File service
• Applications use it to transfer files
• Information dissemination service
• Distributes information

85
Software Packages Applications

• Chat
• Schedule reminder
• Exam creating
• Exam taking
• Exam grading
• Homework
• Announcement
• Appointment
• Presentation

86
1) Chat software- Functionalities

• 1 n Communication in a group (multicast)
• 1 1 Private Communication in a group (unicast)
• View Profiles of other users
• Name (first and last)
• Email address
• Could be expanded to include a unique USERID

87
1) Chat software- Functionalities (cont.)

• Unicast of a file to another group member
• Logging of a groups chat to a file for later
  review

88
1) Chat software- Implementation

• Input method
• Text, Text file
• Output method
• Text, Text file
• Components Used
• R-ORB
• SA-ADC
• SAEG
• User profile utility
• File transfer service

89
2) Schedule Reminder - Functionalities

• Pops up the students schedule when student is
  inside the classroom.
• Pops up the instructors schedule when instructor
  is inside the classroom

90
2) Schedule Reminder - Implementation

• Contexts used
• Noise, Motion, Location, Time
• Input method
• Text File
• Output method
• HTML in Internet Explorer
• Components Used
• R-ORB
• SA-ADC
• Sensors

91
3) Exam Creation Functionalities

• Adding, removing, and modifying new Multiple
  Choice and Essay questions
• Adding questions from an old exam
• Opening an old exam and adding, removing, or
  modifying questions.
• Saving the exam with all questions and answers
  (.cxm file)
• Creating a set of distributable files, complete
  with student information.

92
3) Exam Creation Functionalities

• Multiple Choice Questions can have
• variable number of answer choices
• one or multiple correct answer choices
• different point values for each question
• Essay Questions can have
• variable number of answer hints
• different point values for each question
• different lengths for each answer

93
3) Exam Creation - Implementation Details

• Input method
• Text, Text file
• Output method
• Text, Text file
• RCSM Services Used
• None
• Implementation Platform
• Microsoft C
• Operating Environment
• PC running Windows 9x/NT/2k/XP

94
4) Exam Taking Application Functionalities

• Read from the distributed exam files
• Get students name and ID from user profile and
  verify information with student
• Display relevant exam information (i.e. name of
  class, instructor, total points) for student on
  PDA
• Display exam interface for essay and
  multiple-choice questions on PDA

95
4) Exam Taking Application Functionalities

• Disable all other applications during exam (i.e.
  no access to internet or chat applications)
• Save students answers to a solution file
• Send solution file to instructor for grading.

96
4) Exam Taking Application - Implementation
Details

• Input
• Text file
• Output
• Text file
• Implementation Platform
• Embedded Visual C 3.0 for Pocket PC
• System/Services Used
• File Transfer Service
• R-ORB
• SA-ADC

97
5) Exam Grading Application -Functionalities

• Reading from a exam created by the instructor
• Reading from an exam solved by a student
• Automatically grading the multiple choice
  questions

98
5) Exam Grading Application -Functionalities

• Viewing the hints/correct answers to the
  questions
• Viewing the students answers to the questions
• Saving the grades and the comments in a file
• Organize the exams into a neat directory
  structure.

99
5) Exam Grading/Distribution Application -
Implementation Details

• Input method
• Text, Text file
• Output method
• Text, Text file
• Implementation Platform
• C for Desktop PC operation environment
• System/Services Used
• File Transfer Service
• R-ORB
• SA-ADC

100
6) Homework- Functionality

• PC-based program
• Create homework assignments.
• Allows creation of Multiple Choice Essay
  Questions
• Grade homework assignments.
• Grades the homework assignments received by the
  professor.

101
6) Homework- Functionality (cont.)

• Homework grading incorporates an auto-grader
  program that automatically grades multiple java
  programs
• Compares the output of the students java program
  to that of the professors, and grades accordingly

102
6) Homework - Implementation Details

• Input method
• Text, Text file
• Output method
• Text, Text file
• RCSM Services Used
• None
• Implementation Platform
• Microsoft C
• Operating Environment
• PC running Windows 9x/NT/2k/XP

103
7) Announcement - Functionalities

• Instructor will be able to send announcements to
  all students
• Students will be able to receive the
  announcements from the instructor
• Students will be able to view the announcements

104
7) Announcement - Implementation

• Input
• Text message
• Output
• Text messages
• System/component used
• R-ORB
• SA-ADC
• Information Dissemination service(IDS)

105
8) Appointment Maker Application Functionalities

• Allow the instructor/student to specify a date,
  range around that date, and remote user, compile
  the two users schedules, and display the range
  chosen.
• Allow the instructor/student to
• setup,
• cancel,
• change an appointment

106
8) Appointment Maker Application Functionalities
(cont.)

• If the remote the instructor/student is not
  available, store the appointment request or
  change until the user is available or the date
  has passed
• provides a GUI for viewing the the
  instructor/student schedule and adding solo
  appointments.

107
8) Appointment Maker - Implementation

• Contexts used
• Time, Relative Location
• Input method
• Text File
• Output method
• Text and Text file
• System/component used
• R-ORB
• SA-ADC
• File Transfer Service

108
9) Presentation - Functionalities

• Instructors device will be able to distribute
  presentation slides to all students when
• The PDA is near the screen
• Light of the room is dimmed
• Students will be able to receive the
  presentation sides from the instructor
• Students will be able to view the presentation
  slides

109
9) Presentation - Implementation

• Context used
• Light and location
• Input
• Presentation slides
• Output
• Presentation slides
• System/component used
• R-ORB
• SA-ADC
• File Transfer Service

110
Conclusions

• Designed our Smart Classroom, which facilitates
  collaborative learning using pervasive computing
  technology
• Increased the level and quality of interactions
  between students and instructor
• Discussed functionalities of our Smart Classroom
  using an example course
• Developed RCSM Object Request Broker (R-ORB) to
  facilitate situation data acquisition and
  situation-aware communication

111
Conclusions (cont.)

• Developed an application development framework in
  RCSM to facilitate the development of
  situation-aware application software
• Implemented of situation-aware ephemeral group
  communication service (SAEG) and a chat module
• - group collaborations and
• - student-instructor interactions
• Implemented information dissemination service
  (IDS) for distributing information
• Implemented file transfer service for
  transferring files

112
Conclusions (cont.)

• A number of new features is being developed
• - appointment making,
• - announcement,
• - question answering, and
• - schedule creating
• Evaluation of our Smart Classroom with various
  scenarios
• Future work includes implementing security
  service, exam-taking and grading tools using the
  facilities provided by the RCSM

113
Thanks!
For further information www.eas.asu.edu/rcsm