Information management architecture for multiaccess networks

A proliferation of mobile devices with several bundled network access technologies is taking place, which when combined with the wide deployment of more wireless networks, creates an unprecedented multiaccess environment. At the same time, though, communications become far more complex, if one wants to fully take advantage of the opportunities unveiled in this new setting. In recent years there has been a drive for allowing end-users to be "always best-connected", anywhere, anytime, which places further stringent requirements on the already over-engineered domain of mobile computing. This computational complexity is reinforced by the growing number of wirelessly-connected mobile devices. Dynamic multiaccess networks will require services that reliably share the latest information in order to simplify and foster autonomic decision-making. We introduce an information service architecture developed in the ambient networks and autonomic Internet projects and explain how it supports both enhanced mobility management and context-aware communications in today's pervasive networking environments by providing the means for gathering, correlating, and managing cross-domain information. We explain how service platform components, applications, and end-users can benefit in the near-term and summarize results from a testbed implementation. (37 refs.)