Pervasive Computing (Springer Professional Computing)
This book describes a new class of computing devices which are becoming omnipresent in every day life. They make information access and processing easily available for everyone from anywhere at any time. Mobility, wireless connectivity, di- versity, and ease-of-use are the magic keywords of Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing. The book covers these front-end devices as well as their operating systems and the back-end infrastructure which integrate these pervasive components into a seamless IT world. A strong emphasis is placed on the underlying technologies and standards applied when building up pervasive solutions. These fundamental topics include commonly used terms such as XML, WAP, UMTS, GPRS, Bluetooth, Jini, transcoding, and cryptography, to mention just a few. Voice, Web Application Servers, Portals, Web Services, and Synchronized and Device Management are new in the second edition.
Besides a comprehensive state-of-the-art description of the Pervasive Computing technology itself, this book gives an overview of today's real-life applications and accompanying service offerings. M-Commerce, e-Business, networked home, travel, and finance are exciting examples of applied Ubiquitous Computing.
Why Read This Book
You should read this book if you want a system-level view of early pervasive/ubiquitous computing: how small front-end devices, wireless networks, middleware and back-end services fit together and which standards and technologies drove early designs. It gives practical explanations of connectivity, service discovery, content adaptation and security that help you think about architecture and trade-offs for embedded/IoT systems.
Who Will Benefit
Embedded or IoT engineers and architects with some networking/systems background who need historical and architectural perspective on wireless connectivity, middleware, and service integration for pervasive devices.
Level: Intermediate — Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with networking concepts (TCP/IP, wireless basics), XML/markup fundamentals, and general software/system design principles.
Key Takeaways
- Understand pervasive/ubiquitous computing architectures and how front-end devices, middleware, and back-end services interact.
- Compare and evaluate wireless access technologies and early cellular standards (Bluetooth, GPRS, UMTS) for device connectivity.
- Explain middleware approaches and service-discovery mechanisms (e.g., Jini-style concepts) for distributed embedded services.
- Apply principles of content adaptation and transcoding for resource-constrained devices and heterogeneous clients.
- Assess security and privacy considerations relevant to pervasive systems and embedded devices.
- Identify standardization and interoperability challenges when integrating diverse devices and network stacks.
Topics Covered
- Introduction: Scope and Vision of Pervasive Computing
- Devices and Front-Ends: Mobile Phones, PDAs, and Sensors
- Wireless Access Technologies: Bluetooth, GPRS, UMTS, and Short-Range Links
- Networking and Protocols: XML, WAP and Data Transport for Mobile Devices
- Middleware and Service Discovery: Jini and Related Models
- Content Adaptation and Transcoding for Heterogeneous Clients
- Security, Privacy, and Trust in Pervasive Environments
- Operating Systems and Runtime Environments for Mobile Devices
- Back-end Infrastructure: Integration, Scaling and Service Platforms
- Application Scenarios and Case Studies
- Standards, Interoperability, and Deployment Issues
- Conclusions and Future Directions
Languages, Platforms & Tools
How It Compares
More technically detailed and standards-focused than Mark Weiser's original ubicomp vision pieces; compared with modern IoT/embedded books it is more architectural and historical and less up-to-date on current IoT stacks (e.g., MQTT, CoAP, BLE 5, LoRaWAN).
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