Research projects
Distributed systems and data communications
web-Pilarcos (Production and integration of large scale systems in web services environment)
Period: 1/2004-12/2005
Researchers: Lea Kutvonen, Toni Ruokolainen, Janne Metso
Funding: a cooperation with VTT, funded by Tekes, Elisa, SysOpen and Tellabs
Enterprises use data systems to make their operations more effective and to promote control over their own business processes. Various technologies are used to integrate business systems; component middleware (J2EE, CORBA), for example, or EAI (Enterprise Application Ingetration) methods can be used to integrate internal systems. In the modern networked business environment, the integration of internal systems is not enough to ensure competitive operations, but there is also a need to be able to connect to the data systems of other enterprises.
The challenges of inter-business activities are
- the technical and semantic heterogeneity of electronic services,
- the autonomy of enterprises and systems,
- the dynamics of business networks, and
- the need to function in multiple business networks at the same time.
The goal of the Web-Pilarcos project is to create a middleware platform for the use of service-orientated business networks. The middleware services include the environment needed to create a cooperation network, and tools for monitoring and managing the contracted activity in the environment.
The project is implemented in cooperation with the University of Helsinki and VTT Information Technology. The projects of Elisa Communications Oyj and SysOpen also joined the consortium. During the project, 13 joint seminars were arranged for the partners. The subjects ranged from tools by way of architecture and technology overviews to modelling of cooperation processes. Further a Laudatur course called ‘Application integration in the network economy and standards for electronic business’ was arranged at the university in spring 2004, in addition to seminars on the subject.
The project group at the University of Helsinki has worked on a prototype middleware based on previous work. The goal is to develop the group’s own software for the research environment, for testing individual services in more detail. At the moment, the middleware includes a populator, a tender warehouse, the basic stage of a type warehouse, a contract-management environment and control tools.
TuBE (Trust based on evidence)
Period: 1/2004- 8/2005
Researchers: Lea Kutvonen, Lea Viljanen, Sini Ruohomaa
Funding: Tekes, Nixu, Stonesoft
The TuBE project studied trust-management from the viewpoint of autonomic application services and their cooperation. Autonomic application services pertain to the concept of so-called business services and the utilisation of services produces with so-calle web-service technologies. The research into cooperation management creates tools for partially automating the creation and follow-up of cooperation contracts. Essential parts of these tools are the creation of trust information, its use in partially automated decision-making, the lifespan of trust information based on observations, and mechanisms for reacting to changes in the trust information.
An analysis of the current state of the project resulted in an overview of models and systems for trust management, and of different methods for discovering reasons for distrust to form during the use of services. Furthermore, the project has systematically studied reputation systems.
It has created an architecture that is based on global reputation-conveyance and local trust decisions, as well as on the collection of trust and distrust experiences in connection with services rendered.
The TuBE project has worked in close cooperation with web-Pilarcos, connecting the architecture design and concept-development.
InterOP NoE (Interoperability Research for Networked Enterprises Applicationa and Software)
Period: 11/2003 – 12/2006
Researchers: Lea Kutvonen, Toni Ruokolainen, Sini Ruohomaa. Around 50 additional organisations are partners in the network.
Funding: Sixth EU framework programme
INTEROP NoE, an expert network supported by the European Union, has the object of increasing the mobility of research and expertise in the field of inter-operability between applications and software for business use. The specified sub-fields are ontologies, modelling and architectures. Our input into the network has focused on the architectures of distributed application platforms and the needs of new service forms. During its initial years of operations, the network has produced some overviews of the present state of research, drawn up common guidelines for the research and arranged conferences. We have participated actively in these operations with the coordination of certain themes, issues of trust, and by arranging workshops, among other activities.
Middleware for Network Eccentric and Mobile Applications (MiNEMA)
Period: 9/2003 – 8/2008
Researchers: None. (Cooperation project between European academic institutes)
Funding: European Science Foundation/Academy of Finland
The European Science Foundation’s project MiNEMA forms a connection between European universities that study middleware. The programme supports expertise in this field by promoting post-graduate and researcher exchange, as well as arranging quality summer schools. The project focuses on middleware for mobile ad-hoc networks. Professor Kimmo Raatikainen represents Finland in the steering committee of the project.
Seamless Service Inter-working in Heterogeneous Mobile and Ad-Hoc Networks (SESSI)
Period: 1/2005 – 12/2005
Researchers: Kimmo Raatikainen, Jukka Manner, Simone Leggio, Antti Hulkkonen
Funding: Tekes, Elisa, Finnet, Nokia
The research object is to enable the use of services designed for the internet over ad-hoc networks like peer-to-peer networks. The basic research problem relates to the distribution of centralised server-based protocols. Users cannot expect to find servers in ad-hoc networks, which means that each node must act as client and server for other nodes at the same time. This is a challenging problem because centralised servers are a mainstay of internet architecture and protocols. The research has produced new protocols and procedures to make old applications and protocols function in a completely distributed way. The project studies and develops three main sub-fields: session initiation and management with the SIP protocol, service locating with the SLP protocol, and data security.
The research consortium consists of three sub-groups: 1) The Department of Compute Science, University of Helsinki (director Professor Kimmo Raatikainen), 2) Telecommunications Software and Multimedia Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology (director Professor Antti Ylä-Jääski) and 3) Department of Information Technology, Tampere University of Technology (director Professor Tommi Mikkonen).
Improving Internet Protocols for Heterogeneous Traffic on Wireless Links (IIP Mixture)
Period: 3/2003-3/2005
Researchers: Kimmo Raatikainen, Markku Kojo, Davide Astuti, Laila Daniel, Lauri Hyttinen, Ilpo Järvinen, Aki Nyrhinen
Funding: Tekes, Nokia Research Center, TeliaSonera Finland
The IIP Mixture project studies internet solutions for the smooth handling of the heterogeneous traffic of different applications over wireless links.
The main question is how different competing communication classes (mixed communication) behave and how their behaviour can be managed with the help of mechanisms that influence the QoS of the IP protocol, such as separate handling of packages (DiffServ). In addition, the project has developed the TCP protocol and algorithms to better suit a wireless environment (2.5G and 3G), and how different internet applications should implement the application-layer protocol so that they could function as effectively as possible at the transport layer. The results will be contributed to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
In 2005, the project focused on three main activities:
1) study of behaviour and performance of competing heterogeneous traffic loads (data transfer, Web browsing and real-time audio)
2) development of the collaboration of the transport and network layer of the internet by enhancing transport protocols in cooperation with the ICSI/ICIR research unit (Berkeley)
3) IETF contributions.
Improving Internet Protocols on Wireless Links using Cross-layer Design (IIP Cross)
Period: 5/2005-2/2006
Researchers: Markku Kojo, Davide Astuti, Laila Daniel, Lauri Hyttinen, Ilpo Järvinen, Aki Nyrhinen
Funding: Tekes, Nokia Research Center, TeliaSonera Finland
Description: The IIP Cross project studies how the internet transport protocol performance could be improved in mobile and wireless networks with an appropriate co-operation across the different protocol layers .
The current Internet architecture and protocols adhere to quite a strict division of the data communication functions into different protocol layers. Introducing additional co-operation across protocol layers enables a new set of transport protocol performance improvements. In 2005, the focus of the project was on studying how the TCP protocol behaves in a mobile environment with vertical handovers, where the end user terminal moves and the link characteristics of the access link may change dramatically after the handover The project has studied and developed various enhancements for the TCP protocol and its algorithms, such as the TCP Quick Start mechanism for better estimating the available end-to-end network capacity after the handover. In addition, the project has studied how explicit loss notifications from the link layer can be used in improving TCP performance.
The results will be contributed to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Some of the research has been carried out in cooperation with the ICSI/ICIR research unit (Berkeley).
Linux Software Analysis and Development (LiSAD)
Period: 1/2005 – 12/2005
Researchers: Kimmo Raatikainen, Heikki Lindholm, Taneli Vähäkangas
Funding: Nokia
The project analyses open-source real-time operating systems and the implementations of clustering, OpenGGSN, SCTP and DCCP in Linux.
Linux Service Enabler Development (LiSED)
Period: 1/2005 – 12/2005
Researchers: Kimmo Raatikainen, Mika Karlstedt
Funding: Nokia
The project developed service components for the MobiLife research project.