UbiVal: Fundamental Approaches to Validation of Ubiquitous Computing Applications and Infrastructures
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Computer Science
Abstract
Mark Weiser's vision of ubiquitous computing, in which computers become transparently and seamlessly woven into the many activities of our daily lives, is slowly becoming a reality. Researchers have created prototype ubiquitous computing environments such as 'smart homes' that can automatically sense the presence of a resident in a particular room and change some aspect of the environment of the room such as turning on the lights, or 'smart museums' that can play recorded information about the museum artefact a visitor is standing in front of. There seem to be limitless possibilities for the kinds of environments and applications that can be developed for ubiquitous computing, yet the very nature of ubiquitous computing creates new and significant challenges for engineers who would like to build these environments and applications. Anybody who has ever used a computer has experienced the extreme frustration of using a software package that doesn't work the way it's supposed to, or that unceremoniously crashes in the middle of its operation, or that runs extremely slowly, or that transmits sensitive information such as credit card numbers over untrusted networks. For ubiquitous computing to achieve true transparent and seamless integration with its surroundings, it is important to prevent such mishaps, crashes, inefficiencies and insecurities from happening to the greatest extent possible. This project will define and implement a suite of sound, systematic methods that engineers can use to create correctly functioning, efficient and secure ubiquitous computing environments and applications. The research will be conducted and evaluated using the smart urban spaces and applications being developed in another ubiquitous computing project called Cityware.
Organisations
Publications
Liu Z
(2010)
A biologically inspired QoS routing algorithm for mobile ad hoc networks
in International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing
Kattenbelt M
(2010)
A game-based abstraction-refinement framework for Markov decision processes
in Formal Methods in System Design
Kwiatkowska M
(2009)
Algorithmic Bioprocesses
Bucur D
(2009)
Ambient Intelligence
Chilton Christopher James
(2013)
An algebraic theory of componentised interaction
Arapinis M
(2010)
Analysing Unlinkability and Anonymity Using the Applied Pi Calculus
Kwiatkowska M
(2008)
Analysis of a gossip protocol in PRISM
in ACM SIGMETRICS Performance Evaluation Review
Jurdzinski M
(2009)
CONCUR 2009 - Concurrency Theory
Colombo D
(2019)
Current State and Future Directions of Technology-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment and Intervention for Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review.
in Journal of clinical medicine
Description | This project has defined and implemented a suite of sound, systematic methods that engineers can use to create correctly functioning, efficient and secure ubiquitous computing environments and applications. At Oxford and Birmingham, the research focused on formulating probabilistic model checking techniques for analysing performance and reliability of ubiquitous computing applications; designing a framework for simulation and verification of wireless network protocols, including multi-objective specifications; analysing network security, anonymity and access control protocols; and developing software verification techniques and tools for sensor networks. The research was conducted and evaluated using several significant case studies, e.g. the Zigbee protocol, for which a range of performance and energy measures were automatically calculated for a variety of scenarios to identify possible improvements the design. |
Exploitation Route | The project developed methods as well as software, available from: http://qav.cs.ox.ac.uk/projects/epsrc-ubival/ |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
URL | http://qav.cs.ox.ac.uk/projects/epsrc-ubival/ |
Description | This project has defined and implemented a suite of sound, systematic methods that engineers can use to create correctly functioning, efficient and secure ubiquitous computing environments and applications. At Oxford and Birmingham, the research focused on formulating probabilistic model checking techniques for analysing performance and reliability of ubiquitous computing applications; designing a framework for simulation and verification of wireless network protocols, including multi-objective specifications; analysing network security, anonymity and access control protocols; and developing software verification techniques and tools for sensor networks. The research was conducted and evaluated using several significant case studies, e.g. the Zigbee protocol, for which a range of performance and energy measures were automatically calculated for a variety of scenarios to identify possible improvements the design. |
Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
Title | PRISM case studies |
Description | Variety of models of randomised distributed algorithms, communication protocols and biological case studies developed in the PRISM modelling language |
Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Modelling and analysis of performance of the IEEE 802.15.4 CSMA-CA Protocol (ZigBee) Predictive modelling and analysis of the FGF signalling pathway via probabilistic model checking |
URL | http://www.prismmodelchecker.org/casestudies/index.php |
Title | Probabilistic model checker PRISM |
Description | PRISM is a probabilistic model checker for Markov chains, Markov decision processes and probabilistic timed automata. It accepts property specifications in temporal logic. The tool was first released in 2001, and this output concerns PRISM 4.0 released in 2011. |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2011 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | PRISM is widely used for research and teaching, with 50,000 downloads to date and over 700 citations to the 2011 tool paper. |
URL | http://www.prismmodelchecker.org/ |