1 Introduction

It is traditional in Novática and UPGRADE monographs for the guest editors to write a presentation in which they describe the content and the salient features, followed by an article in which the same guest editors set out the main characteristics and the so-called "state of the art" of the subject of the monograph. In this particular monograph, for practical reasons we have decided to combine these two articles into one, so as to provide the reader with a single overview. We start by looking at the  most common devices using ubiquitous computing technology: wireless modules and terminals which also make up the most innovative segment of mobile transmission and reception technology. Weighing in at just a few grams and optimized down to the smallest possible size, these modern high-tech components enable all kinds of objects, devices, and applications to communicate easily and at any distance. Wireless modules and terminals are able to transform anything into a mobile network connected device, opening up almost endless communication possibilities. This is no pipe dream: it is a foretaste of mobile applications to come, which will be based on wireless communication between machines (machine to machine or M2M technology).

1.1 Ever Smaller Devices

Terminals are becoming smaller and smaller and, according to Moore’s Law - first postulated in the sixties and still valid today - the processing power of microchips doubles every eighteen months. This has led technology providers to supply inter-connectable equipment to communicate "anything". In 1995 Siemens started the ball rolling in the machine to machine communications market with their M1, the first module to be compatible with the GSM mobile telephony standard. They were followed by NOKIA and WaveCom, and a number of other manufacturers who day by day brought improvements to the performance of wireless module (WM) technologies. Current wireless modules from the various manufacturers weigh in at a bare 8 to 12 grams. They incorporate (and in most cases support programming in) Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) or, in the case of the Windows Mobile devices, they incorporate .NET technologies.

Ubiquitous computing, or computing power anywhere and in any device, however familiar, is made possible by processors of this type connected wirelessly. By using tiny sensors, life is imbued with a new capacity for processing and communicating information wherever it is. This has given rise to a number of new applications which will have an economic and social impact beyond anything we can imagine.

In order to create this new type of ubiquitous computing software we need to distinguish between modules and terminals. On the one hand we can say that wireless modules are integrated in a solution; they are normally used to build new devices or they are embedded in domestic appliances or other more or less commonplace devices. On the other hand we have terminals which are independent units; they have their own case and can be connected to other devices by cable or by short range radio links such as Bluetooth or WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), as well as to data networks supported by the mobile telephony operators.

1.2 Devices Are Becoming Miniaturized

The miniaturization of components is making it possible for wireless module based ubiquitous computing to reach a world of applications that just a few years ago would have been unthinkable. For example, wireless modems used in home security systems enable householders to be kept perfectly informed about the state of their homes and even to remotely control certain devices, such as the heating, curtains or blinds, lighting, or the washing machine.

This brings us to the sectors currently enjoying the strongest growth: machine to machine (M2M) applications and the gadgets (or accessories) and applications used by the automobile industry. The latest ubiquitous computing terminals make it possible to monitor the correct functioning of the various modules to be found in a car. These permit insurance companies to be kept informed about the risk implicit in speeding or driving in areas with a large number of accident black spots, provide drivers with GPS-based (Global Positioning System) navigation, and even tell them where the nearest service station is when their car switches over to its reserve fuel supply. Or when the car detects that it needs some kind of service it can "negotiate" an appointment with the garage that best suits the user.

In homes, central heating and air conditioning systems can be remotely controlled, while refrigerators can be kept stocked up and consume-by dates controlled, in the same way that vending machines inform restockers when stocks fall below reorder levels.

Another important sector is telecontrol: wireless modules use sensors to obtain measurements of traffic flows, ambient air pollution, or weather data, process them, transmit them if necessary, and take decisions which are implemented via electronic actuators.
 

2 Good Prospects for Commercial Developments

Mobile telephony-based machine to machine applications and solutions are forecast to enjoy strong growth and stable market conditions in the future. In fact, it is expected that the vast majority of objects, devices, and machines engaged in mobile interaction will soon equal or outnumber human users of cellular telephony.
According to estimates from NTT DoCoMo, <http:www. nttdocomo.com>, Japan’s top mobile phone operator, by the end of the first decade of this century only one in three of their customers will be human. The Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Telecooperation (SIT) predicts that in 2008 mobile devices will be the most common way to make a telephone call, connect to the Internet, and make electronic payments (see <http://www.sit.fraunhofer.de/cms/en/forschungs bereiche/forschungs bereiche.php>). Services and content for the household sector are also expected to be the most successful applications. And according to Forrester Research, in 2020 the number of mobile machine "sessions" will be exceed the number of personal "sessions" by a factor of 30 (see <http://www.forrester.com/my/0,7179,2-0,00.html>). Market research forecasts that the world market for wireless modules and terminals will turn over around 3,500 million euros in 2006. This market can be broken down into three main segments: M2M, automotive, and consumer products.

2.1    The Machine to Machine Communications Sector: Possible Opportunities for Application in Telemetry And Telematics Systems

In this section we look at some of the sectors in which M2M applications show the strongest growth.

The Telemetry Sector

On the one hand there is telemetry which enables the properties of systems and devices to be controlled remotely wherever they are located by sending numerical measurement information or capturing data within their reach. Meanwhile telematics systems combine telecommunications and computing to enable connected and normally mobile systems to exchange data. The effective operation of telematics systems allows companies to maintain a virtual presence wherever it is needed, thereby improving their bottom line.

Thus, by way of an example, Siemens Mobile’s latest M2M module is the XT55, the first compactly designed tri-band GSM/GPRS-enabled (General Packet Radio Service) module featuring a GPS receiver for satellite navigation. The combination of these two technologies enables users to seamlessly track goods, vehicles, and even people. The new tracking module will have a great many uses, especially in such fields as transport, logistics, and security services.

The Automotive Sector

One of the applications of this technology expected to gain a major boost from the incorporation of UMTS are multimedia and telematics systems for vehicles, providing infotainment services for drivers and their passengers while increasing the safety of the vehicle itself. Although this market is still in its infancy, according to analysts Frost & Sullivan the total turnover from automotive infotainment technologies in Europe will top the 9,000 million euro mark in 2010. In the next few years telematics systems will become practically standard equipment in all new vehicles sold in Europe.

2.2  The Consumer Products Sector

Wireless terminals and modules provide connection with greater freedom of movement for both work and private use. Thanks to GPRS and 3G/UMTS (Third Generation/Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) technologies, connections can be kept active permanently (operators charge per byte transmitted, not by connection time). Current technology already allows us to enjoy mobile computing and multimedia services on our PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and laptops, and the multiplexer function permits parallel wireless voice telephony, faxing, text messaging, downloading, emailing, and Internet access so as to be able to stay connected without communicating if need be. The packet-based transmission mode in GPRS (i.e. packet switching) permits continuous operation, enabling users to keep their email accounts open without interruption so they can read their messages as they come in.

Some manufacturers, like Siemens with their Gericom model, have already started to install wireless modules in their portable devices. Panasonic, for example, offers wireless modules as an option in their "Toughbook" range of laptops and handhelds designed for use on construction sites and in maintenance, rescue, and research work and able to withstand extreme conditions.

By way of an example, some service providers are offering wireless handheld PCs (Personal Computers) to stockbrokers in Taiwan to enable them to keep up to date with stock market trends and to trade online. Another example is in Hong Kong where PDAs are used by betting offices to keep them in touch with their customers so they can place bets from anywhere at any time. A doctoral student is developing a ubiquitous computing based system to meet the quality management requirements of a major nationwide corporation, and a research team is developing a PDA-based system for use as a smart virtual tourist guide for programming routes according to the time the tourist has available, his or her tastes, and any possible overcrowdedness of tourist venues, plus other considerations such as the weather and traffic congestion.

More and more multiple use modems are coming onto the market. These small add-ons, also referred to as dongles, can be connected via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface, or when produced in the form of slim PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) cards can be inserted into laptops, handhelds, and other units.

3 Communication Technologies

3.1 GPS Systems

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is a digital system for land mobile communications which was initially used in Europe but later became a worldwide standard [5].
A GSM system is a radio cellular communications system. The area to receive coverage is divided up into smaller cells in order to make the best use of the spectrum assigned to each operator and to reuse the available channels.

Basically communication via GSM works as follows. When the mobile device is switched on, a signal is sent to the Base Station Controller (BSC) via the base transceiver station which is providing coverage to the mobile terminal at that moment so the call can be recorded in the VLR (Visitor Location Register).

In order to make a call the first thing the system does is to request a signalling channel to communicate with the network and send it the necessary information (contained in the SIM, Subscriber Indetification Module) to establish a call. Then there is a dialogue with the HLR (Home Location Register) to establish such parameters as routing, speed, target address, error correction technique, etc.) after which communication is established.

3.2 GPRS systems

GPRS systems were introduced by the ETSI (European Telecommunication Standard Institute) as part of the second phase of GSM. It uses packet switching communication permitting, among other things, always-on Internet connection and access to data networks. The transmission speed and bandwidth are also greater than with GSM and the service is priced by the amount of data transmitted rather than by connection time.

In addition to some software changes to the current GSM network, GPRS incorporates three new hardware elements (GGSN, SGSN and PCU), over an IP-based backbone.

3.2   UMTS Systems

UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) is a member of the global IMT-2000 family of the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) third generation mobile standards. UMTS will play a leading role in the creation of the future mass market for high quality wirelessmultimedia communications which will reach 2,000 million users worldwide in 2010. UMTS is the preferred mobile platform for tomorrow’s large content services and applications. In the last ten years UMTS has been the focus of intensive research and development worldwide, and is supported by a many of the major telecommunications manufacturers and operators as it provides an opportunity to create a mass market for access to the Information Society for highly personalized and user-friendly mobile services.

UMTS extends current mobile wireless and satellite technologies, providing greater capacity, data transmission capabilities, and a much wider range of services by using an innovative radio access program and an improved core network.

4 Use of Modules

Wireless modules are typically governed by a PC or a PDA, but when the application has to fit into a small space it is normal to use an ad hoc circuit controlled by a small microcomputer, such as a PIC or similar.

It is now becoming normal for the microcomputer controlling the module to be capable of being manipulated by some sort of programming language provided by the module manufacturers themselves. This program is stored in part of the user’s memory and generally communicates via AT type commands.

The development of truly robust business applications in which security aspects may be compromised is also a field which needs to be looked into, as is the entire lifecycle of ubiquitous computing based information systems.

5 Content of the monograph

This monograph comprises ten articles covering specific aspects of the ubiquitous computing world both from a theoretical and a practical standpoint. Some of these  articles have been chosen from the First Iberoamerican Congress on Ubiquitous Computing  (CICU) held in the city of Alcalá de Henares, Spain, from May 4 to 6 of this year, <http://www.cicu.uah.es/>, which took over the baton from the Mobigame conferences held at the same university the four previous years. Other prestigious European authors have also been selected to complete the view afforded by this edition.

To prepare this monograph we decided to divide the articles up into four broad thematic sections, the first of which deals with fundamentals and emerging technologies. For this section we chose the article "The Critical Mass Problem of Mobile Ad-hoc Networks" by Jörg Roth, from the University of Hagen in Germany, written having in mind that mobile ad-hoc networks have become increasingly popular in the last years and promise a huge potential for the future for mobile and ubiquitous computing scenarios. In this section we also include the work "Device and Context Influence on Wireless Infotainment Access: A Real World Story", by Tacha Serif and George Ghinea, from Brunel University in the United Kingdom, which describes the interesting results obtained from a real case study of the use of mobile devices.

The second section is devoted to new needs of today’s mobile communications and is headed by Luis Bengochea-Martínez’s article "The Problems of Printing in Server-Based Computing Environments", where the author, from the Universidad de Alcalá in Spain, looks at the need for standardised criteria for companies, and more specifically he proposes the use of PDF documents to try to alleviate the load on print controllers and servers. In their article "Using FOAF to Support Community Building", Brian Kelly and Leigh Dodds, from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, provide us with a practical case of how to use FOAF to capture metadata in XML (eXtensible Markup Language) capable of being used in the construction of a globally available semantic web for ubiquitous terminals. Meanwhile, the paper "Towards Ubiquitous Computing with Quality of Web Service Support", by Yannis Makripoulias, Christos Makris, Yiannis Panagis, Evangelos Sakkopoulos, Poulia Adamopoulou, Maria Pontikaki, and Athanasios Tsakalidis, all from the University of Patras in Greece, stress the need to establish control parameters in order to select Web Services with sufficient quality, especially when they involve consumers of services using ubiquitous devices. This second section is completed by the article "The Open Source Software vs. Proprietary Software Debate and Its Impact on Technological Innovation", provided by a research group from several universities comprising Ricardo Rejas-Muslera,  Juan J. Cuadrado Gallego, Javier Dolado-Cosín and Daniel Rodríguez García; this article takes a look from a legal point of view at the possible future consequences of current policies and trends affecting legal software protection and the presence and accessibility of Open Source software, with a special focus on ubiquitous devices where any decision taken will affect millions of potential users.

The third section deals with initiatives for creating new services for ubiquitous, and the first article is from a group of lecturers from the Electronics Department of the Universidad de Alcalá (Carlos-Manuel De Marziani, Jesús Ureña-Ureña, Álvaro Hernández-Alonso, Manuel Mazo-Quintas, Ana Jiménez-Martín, Juan-Jesús García-Domínguez, José-Manuel Villadangos-Carrizo, and Fernando-Javier Álvarez-Franco) entitled "Localization in Ubiquitous Computing Using Acoustic Sensor Network" in which they present their results regarding the processing of contexts or relevant  information about objects, and the techniques and mechanisms that determine the spatial relationships that exist between those objects which enable them to be located. The other article in this third section is entitled "Portable System For Patient Monitoring With Wireless Technologies", by José-Manuel Rodríguez-Ascariz, Luciano Boquete-Vázquez, Ignacio Bravo-Muñoz and Pedro Martín-Sánchez - also from the Electronics Department of the Universidad de Alcalá - describes a hardware-software solution in a ubiquitous computing environment for processing electrocardiograms capable of performing calculations to help doctors make their diagnoses.

The fourth and final section deals with real applications in the world of computing mobility. Here we have chosen an article by José-Julio González-Pozo and Manuel Ortega-Cantero, from the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Spain, entitled "SIGLAS: A practical case of the application of Ubiquitous Computing in Warehouse Management" in which they take a look at the processes that need to be undertaken in order to implement this kind of technology in specific business organizations. This section, and the monograph, close with the article "Ubiquitous E-Management of Indicators", written by Eladio Domínguez-Murillo, Ángel De Miguel-Artal, Beatriz Pérez-Valle, Áurea Rodríguez-Villanueva and María-Antonia Zapata-Abad, from the Universidad de Zaragoza in Spain, provides us with, among other things, an action protocol for the diagnosis and treatment central catheter related infections which focuses on those technologies of ubiquitous computing that involve the creation of environments with high processing and communication capabilities that respond to static changes.


Acknowledgements

The work that went into this current edition of UPGRADE and Novática would not have been possible without the selfless work of a great many people. First and foremost, the authors themselves, whose labours, under the guidance of the reviewers who I would also like to thank for their efforts, resulted in the articles making up this edition. I would also like to thank the members of the programme committee of the First Iberoamerican Congress on Ubiquitous Computing (CICU’2005) for their valuable work in disseminating these technologies and, finally, I would like to thank Novática and UPGRADE’s editor in chief for all the contributions and improvements he has made since the inception of this monograph and all the encouragement and help he has provided.


Translation by Steve Turpin

---

Developer communities are free membership associations in which tools can be found to develop J2ME applications. Normally manufacturers do not open up their websites to you unless you have registered as a community member. When you are a member of a specific community the manufacturer will allow you access to privileged information and let you download the relevant toolkits by using the user keys and passwords provided.

The toolkits contain compilers, device emulators, and even some examples for testing and training purposes, to help users build their own first applications.

One of the most important communities we should mention is the one belonging to SUN Microsystems, the JDC (Java Development Connection) community, which can be accessed at <http://developer.java.sun.com/developer>. The environment has the functionality required to create and compile projects and then test them on various wireless simulators, such as a colour phone, a black and white phone, and a widescreen phone. It is also integratable with Forte for Java project development.

IBM’s user/developer community is accessible at <http://www.ibm.com/developerworks> and uses IBM’s Visual Age Micro Edition for Java. The environment incorporates not only compilers and emulators but also a number of virtual Java machines to test several different environments and a support tool for project management.

Borland’s Java community is at <http://community. borland.com/java> which provides JBuilder tools integrated to work with Nokia. The version, called Nokia Mobile Set, enables users to develop J2ME applications.

In some cases it is a good idea to use the developer environments provided by the mobile device manufacturers such as Motorola’s community with their MAGNET (Motorola Applications Global Network) environment, available at <http://www.motorola.com/developers>. There is also a 30-day trial version of the development kit Metrowerks CodeWarrior which enables users to develop projects using J2ME, as in the previous environment, but which can be used to produce offline games as it has a Wireless Toolkit. The downside is that its software only emulates some of Motorola’s own terminals, such as the i50 and the i85.

NOKIA’s development environment, called Nokia Development Forum, is accessible at <http//www.forum. nokia.com> while Siemens’ environment is to be found at <http://www.siemensmobile.com> by accessing the Developers Portal.

Other interesting information is to be found in KVMwp.pdf which is a set of general information about J2ME downloaded from SUN’s website at
<http://archives.java.sun.com/archives/kvm-interest.html>.

Other mobile communications fora and sites are listed below:

• <http://www.umts-forum.org> is the body promoting UMTS in the market.
• <http://www.3gpp.org/>  from Third Generation Partnership Project, creators of 3G standards.
•  With regard to standardization processes we should also mention the IEEE 802.16 committee whose purpose is to standardize broadband wireless access. IEEE 802.16 is, in fact, the WLL (Wireless Local Loop) standard today.
•  Information on the Eighth International Conference of Ubiquitous Computing to be held in California is available at <http://ubicomp.org/ubicomp2006/>.
• A journal providing news and views on the subject of ubiquitous computing can be found at <http://www.  personal-ubicomp.com/>.
• Information on ubiquitous computing can be found in "wikipedia" at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubiquitous_computing>.
• Information about initiatives from the Ubiquitous Computing Evaluation Consortium can be found at <http://ubiqcomputing.org/ubiq_initiatives.html>.
• Information about Carnegie Mellon University’s Project Aura is available at <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~aura/>.