OPEN DISTRIBUTED AND COLLABORATIVE SYSTEMS
New strategies of the group under preparation
Description
The rapid advances in data communication networks have greatly increased the possibilities to make use of the various computational and information services available within reach of a computer network. These services may have different origins, they are implemented on different types of computational platforms, they can be located on sites far apart, and they can be administered independently. As different services become reachable, interoperability of services must be considered. Distributed computation needs an enhanced functionality of the infrastructure, including the emerging technologies.
The first phase of research in the ODCE group contributes to open architecture models, such as the Open Distributed Processing reference model (RM-ODP) standardised by ISO and ITU, and open platforms, such as OMG CORBA. The research is also in close relationship with telecommunication related architectures, like TINA.
Current interests of the ODCE group include electronic business environments with inter-enterprise aspects, supported by B2B middleware for open, dynamic collaboration management.
Current projects
web-Pilarcos
The web-Pilarcos project studies solutions for inter-enterprise cooperation. New solutions are expected to replace heavy system integration approaches with more flexible mechanisms. The federation mechanism provides a degree of automation in service composition and use of services across enterprise boundaries. The approach combines service-based architectures, modern middleware, ideas of workflow management, and modern views to software production styles and tools. The conceptual development is tested out as prototypes using Web Services technologies.
See project page on web-Pilarcos
TUBE
Description The TUBE project opens a serie of projects on trust management. The project aims for defining a trust management architecture that addresses application level needs; the architecture addresses the trust concept, expressing and managing trust information, and system management facilities that apply trust information. The architecture especially focuses on detecting misbehaviour and contractual breaches in virtual enterprises. Further in the project series, middleware level services for counteractions will be demonstrated.
See project page on TuBE
INTEROP NoE
INTEROP is a Network of Excellence supported by the European Commission for a three-year-period. INTEROP aims to create the conditions of an innovative and competitive research in the domain of Interoperability for Enterprise Applications and Software.
See project page on INTEROP NoE
Past projects
AHTO
The department started research activity in the area of open distributed processing at the end of 1980's. In our first project (AHTO) we designed a distributed software environment (middleware) offering for a user a homogeneous interface to the computing services available in a heterogeneous computer network. Since that time the department has participated in the development of the Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing, under the auspices of ISO and ITU-T (former CCITT).
DRYAD
The DRYAD project, 1992-1996, concentrated on heterogeneous environments where autonomously administered systems federate with each other. Federation problems arise from the asynchrony of member system evolution, and from the independent technology choices at member systems (hardware, operating system, middleware, languages, applications). The federation solutions are built on meta-information services, like trading services (global and dynamic repository of service providers), and type repository services (dynamic repository of service types, federation contract schemata, and mappings to local technology solutions). The DRYAD project developed a prototype software package for some of the middleware services - especially for the trading function.
CORBA-FORTE
The CORBA-FORTE project (CORBA-Based Framework for Telecommunications) is starting in 1998. The project will concentrate on CORBA technology. It will seek general patterns for improving CORBA system performance. Prospects for improved quality of service and performance are found on two areas. First, additional services can be implemented into the platform itself. Second, applications can exploit the platform services more efficiently when tailored object design patterns are used.
PILARCOS
The PILARCOS project developes middleware solutions for automatic management of interorganizational applications.
The challenge of interorganizational application management stems from the sovereignity of organizations: they are free to choose supported services, develop the services independently, use differing operational policies, and use different platform technology, too.
The Pilarcos project works at two fronts
- architecture development for a federated environment where applications are constructed based on community descriptions populated by traded components; and
- prototyping (mainly in CORBA environment) some essential middleware services required for negotiation of federations, instantiating communities in a distributed fashion, and creating a communication channel over a heterogeneous networking environment.
The results of the project are applicable for example in mobile environment, especially in mixed mobile-fixed-network systems, and electronic commerce applications.
Publications from PILARCOS
ODP standardization work
The ODCE group actively participates the international standardization (ISO IEC/JTC1 SC33) work on Open Distributed Processing Reference Model and its component standards.
Activities
DAIS99 conference
Organisation of the second international IFIP WG6.1 Working conference on Distributed Applications and Interoperable Systems (DAIS99)
Standardization meetings
Hosting the joint standardisation meeting of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC21 WG7 and ITU-T SG4 Q.12/Q.14 in Helsinki, 14-25 July, 1997. The joint meeting covered 12 separate standardisation issues, and about 60 delegates were present from 13 countries.
Alumni
Contact
Lea Kutvonen
Department of Computer Science
P.O. Box 26 (Teollisuuskatu 23)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Lea.Kutvonen@cs.Helsinki.FI