Context-aware middleware for mobile multimedia applications

Abstract

We present a context-aware middleware for mobile multimedia applications. The middleware offers functionality for service discovery, asynchronous messaging, publish/subscribe event management, storing and management of context information, building the user interface, and handling the local and network resources. It supports a wide range of context information including location, time, and user's preferences. Further, it allows controlling the connectivity of the device; the middleware is capable of switching traffic from one network connection to another. It can locate the services and software components as well. It facilitates development of multimedia applications by handling such functions as capture and rendering, storing, retrieving and adapting of media content to various mobile devices. The middleware offers facilities for media alerts, which are multimedia messages that are generated when predefined context is recognized. With these capabilities, it enables development of complex context-aware multimedia applications for mobile devices.