Middleware Extensions for Pervasive Computing

Pervasive computing is defined as a class of devices and applications designed to integrate into everyday life. These devices include smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart cards, radio frequency ID (RFID) tags, and a myriad of other devices used in non-traditional computing environments. Wireless communications are important to allowing these devices to network with peers and larger systems. The software part of pervasive computing has, until now, featured a variety of incompatible standards, each tailored for a specific niche. Middleware is the software that links different application components and is used in pervasive computing to link client applications with host systems. By providing extensions to middleware for pervasive computing such as Web services, context-sensitive applications, and message queues, development complexity can be reduced and interoperability can be improved.