This project generates communication solutions that support adaptive applications by tightly integrating context-awareness and communication. Specifically, the project focuses on providing efficient context sensing solutions and adaptive application-aware communication. A significant drawback of existing context sensing approaches is that they require additional network communication to generate reliable measures of context. This project develops passive context sensing, in which information about the state of the environment is inferred using information already known to communication protocols. To use this passive context sensing to enable adaptive application-aware communication, the project incorporates context information into communication protocols alongside application requirements to dynamically change the behavior and subsequently the effectiveness of particular communication protocols. Specifically, the approach dynamically adjusts the reactivity and proactivity of a dynamic routing protocol to account for changing context properties. When the overhead of gathering information for adaptation can be kept to a minimum, the benefits received from adaptation can be great. It is exactly this design point that this project exploits: reducing the overhead of collecting context information to near zero maximizes the payoffs adaptive communication protocols can achieve.
Broader Impact: The fact that the project's work revolves around pervasive computing makes it especially accessible and exciting to students and the public. Specific outreach activities will include not only university students but local middle and high school students and community members through university supported programs.
