Applying Location-Aware Linkcell-Based Data Management to Context-Aware Mobile Business Services

Providing location-aware services to mobile users comes with an inherent service-degrading data management problem for which the location-aware linkcell-based data management method was developed as a solution. Context-aware services are often viewed as generalizations of location-aware services; thus, many context-aware application systems necessarily inherit the data management problems associated with any subsumed location- aware subsystems. Despite their potential to solve these problems, linkcell-based methods have not been previously examined for use in context-aware applications. This article explores how linkcell-based methods may be incorporated into context-aware applications to support the provision of context-aware services to mobile business users. The article begins by reviewing the essentials of linkcell-based data management. Next it decomposes a prototypical context-aware system into its essential components and then contemplates how the linkcell method may be reformulated to support the data management requirements associated with providing context-aware mobile business services.