Task Computing – The Semantic Web Meets Pervasive Computing

Abstract

Abstract. Non-expert users have to accomplish non-trivial tasks in application and device-rich computing environments. The increasing complexity of such environments is detrimental to user productivity (and occasionally, sanity). We propose to reduce these difficulties by shifting focus to what users want to do (i.e., on the tasks at hand) rather than on the specific means for doing those tasks. We call this shift in focus "task computing"; we argue that "task computing" offers an incentive to device manufacturers to incorporate semantic web technologies into their devices in order to get the benefits of easier and more flexible use of their devices' features by end-users. To support task computing, we developed an environment called a "Task Computing Environment" (TCE), which we have implemented using standard Semantic Web (RDF, OWL, DAML-S), Web Services (SOAP, WSDL) and pervasive computing (UPnP) technologies, we describe and evaluate our TCE implementation, and we discuss how it has been used to realize various deviceusage scenarios.

Feta: A Light-Weight Architecture for User Oriented Semantic Service Discovery

“…Much of the work on semantic web services has focused on the upper levels of the expressivity. In common with other authors [9], we have found that "being light-weight and flexible trumps other features". We believe that our XML and RDF(S) based architecture fulfils most of the requirements of the bioinformatics domain while retaining the simplicity, which enables us to adapt service discovery to the specific nature of bioinformatics.…”

The Role of Ontologies in Emergent Middleware: Supporting Interoperability in Complex Distributed Systems

“…Specifically, ontologies have been used during discovery to express the capabilities of services, as well as the requests for capabilities; in this case, the proof theory recognizes whether a given capability fits a given request. A number of semantic middleware technologies provide this ability, e.g., the Task Computing project [13], and the Integrated Global Pervasive Computing Framework [14]. One important solution, EASY [15], implements efficient, semantic discovery and matching to foster interoperability in pervasive networking environments.…”

Group-aware Service Discovery using Effect Ontology for Conflict Resolution in Ubiquitous Environment

“…It contains service model. We defined "Task" as a service granularity [15]. Task has IOPE (Input, Output, Precondition, Effect) [9] to register and discover service semantically.…”