Model-driven engineering of middleware-based ubiquitous services
Supporting the execution of service-oriented applications over ubiquitous networks specifically calls for a service-oriented middleware (SOM), which effectively enables ubiquitous networking while benefiting from the diversity and richness of the networking infrastructure. However, developing ubiquitous applications that exploit the specific features offered by a SOM might be a time-consuming task, which demands a deep knowledge spanning from the application domain concepts down to the underlying middleware technicalities. In this paper, first we present the model-driven development process underpinning ubiSOAP, a SOM for the ubiquitous networking domain. Then, based on the domain concepts defined by the conceptual model of ubiSOAP, its architecture and its technicalities, we propose a domain-specific environment, called ubiDSE, that aids the development of applications that exploits the ubiSOAP features, from design to implementation. ubiDSE allows developers to focus on the main behavior of the modeled systems, rather than on complex details inherent to ubiquitous environments. As part of ubiDSE, specific tools are provided to automatically generate skeleton code for service-oriented applications to be executed on ubiSOAP-enabled devices, hence facilitating the exploitation of ubiSOAP by developers.
service-oriented middleware service-oriented development model-driven service engineering ubiquitous computing