Resumen de tesis doctoral

Autonomous Agents in Collaborative Ubiquitous Computing Environments

Agentes Autónomos en Ambientes de Cómputo Colaborativos Ubicuos

Graduated: Marcela D. Rodríguez
Facultad de Ingeniería
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, UABC
Blvd. Benito Juárez S/N, ex ejido Coahuila
Mexicali, B.C. México C.P. 21900
marcerod@uabc.mx

Advisor: Jesus Favela
Ciencias de la Computación
CICESE
Km. 107 Carretera Tijuana – Ensenada
Ensenada, B.C. México C.P. 22860
favela@cicese.mx

Graduated on: August 29, 2005

Abstract

The idea of ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) is an environment dominated by computing and communication devices of different scales which are seamlessly integrated to the users activities. The features of ubiquitous computing environments require developers to face important challenges in dealing with the complexities associated to the development of ubiquitous computing systems. This thesis describes a middleware to facilitate developers to manage some of the complexities associated with the development of ubiquitous computing systems by means of the use of autonomous agents, which enable ubiquitous computing technology to respond to users' particular conditions and demands. Autonomous agents were used to implement the desirable features of ubiquitous computing systems and for enhancing the interactions of the users with the environment. The contributions of this thesis focus on presenting the functional requirements of autonomous agents for implementing ubiquitous computing systems and the agent SALSA middleware, which was created with the aim of facilitating the implementation and evolution of ubicomp systems. Finally, this thesis provides evidence of the SALSA flexibility for enabling the progressive development of ubicomp systems.

Keywords: ubiquitous computing, autonomous agents, middleware.

Resumen

La idea del cómputo ubicuo propone un ambiente físico dotado de dispositivos de diferentes escalas, con capacidades computacionales y de comunicaciones, los cuales se integran de forma natural a nuestras actividades diarias. Las características de los ambientes de cómputo ubicuo, conlleva a los desarrolladores a abordar varias complejidades de estos sistemas y a enfrentar importantes retos. Esta tesis describe un middleware que facilita a los desarrolladores manejar algunas de las complejidades asociadas con el desarrollo de los sistemas de cómputo ubicuo por medio del uso de agentes autónomos. Los agentes autónomos se utilizaron para implementar las características deseables de estos sistemas de cómputo ubicuo y para mejorar la interacción de los usuarios con el ambiente. Las contribuciones de esta tesis se enfocan en presentar los requerimientos funcionales de los agentes autónomos para implementar sistemas de cómputo ubicuo, y el diseño e implementación del middleware SALSA creado para facilitar la implementación y evolución de sistemas de cómputo ubicuo. Finalmente, se proporciona evidencia de la flexibilidad de SALSA para desarrollar progresivamente sistemas de cómputo ubicuo.

Palabras clave: cómputo ubicuo, agentes autónomos, middleware.

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