A Model-based Analysis of First-Generation Service Discovery Systems
Abstract
Information technology is undergoing a paradigm shift from desktop computing, where isolated workstations connect to shared servers across a network, to pervasive computing, where myriad portable, embedded, and networked information appliances continuously reconfigure themselves individually and collectively to support the information requirements of mobile workers and work teams. This shift will not occur overnight, nor will it be achieved without solving a range of new technical and social problems. Still, this inexorable change should yield many economic opportunities for the global information technology industry, and for the increasing swath of businesses that depend on information. The potential value of pervasive computing motivated the NIST Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) to establish a five-year program of research to help the information technology industry identify and solve some looming technical roadblocks that seemed likely to slow development and acceptance of the new paradigm. The ITL Pervasive Computing program addressed three general areas: human-computer interaction, programming models, and networking. Service discovery systems, which reside in an intersection between programming models and networking, cover a key aspect of pervasive computing. For this reason, researchers in ITL decided to study various industry designs for service discovery systems that could play a key part in future technology to enable pervasive computing applications. This special publication provides an analysis of a first generation of designs for service discovery systems. Over the period from about 1998 to 2000, industry developed a first generation of competing architectures and protocols for device and service discovery. Such a plethora of incompatible approaches might impede the interoperability required by a market for pervasive computing. Is the existence of so many different service discovery systems justified?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA523379
Entities
People
- Christopher Dabrowski
- Kevin L. Mills
- Stephen Quirolgico
Organizations
- National Institute of Standards and Technology