Interface strategy pattern for context-aware service based environment

Abstract

This research work focuses on the development of the Context-Aware Component Interfacing Pattern, CACIP, aimed at contributing to current developments in distributed communication and collaboration in mobile wireless environment. CACIP derives from the component bus and the component glue patterns as standard solutions to robust producerconsumer interaction in a mobile wireless environment, Communication between the participating components is managed by a common data structure referred to as rhe information bus. To showcase usefulness of the pattern, a prototype of an example service was implemented which was subsequently used as a testbed when evaluating the performance of the proposed scheme. We evaluated performance of rhe model in terms of mcssage throughput, round-rrip time and we finally measured rhe significance of context-awareness to the model. For message throughput, the model displayed a normal behaviour of any distributed system since as the number of components participating in communication activiries were increased, rhe overall message rhroughput dropped. When measuring the moders round-trip rime, i.e. the time taken to send a request message and receive back a response, we observed that increasing the number of messages exchanged among the participating components caused the mode!'s round-trip time to increase. Again, rhis was an expected resulr. An experiment aimed at measuring the significance of context-awareness to rhe model was also conducted. The obtained results showed rhat when contexr data was not utilised. the number of inaccurate responses was higher compared IQ that of accurare ones. On Loe other hand, incorporaring context-awareness produced rhe opposire of rhe first resulr, rhus proving that comeXI-awareness is a useful fearure rhar mobile apphcations must adopt to improve [heir quality of service.