The Mom Of Context-Aware Systems: A Survey

Context-aware computing enriches the capabilities of intelligent devices complemented with smart applications and helps establish smart ecosystems in fields such as Ambient Intelligence, Internet of Things, Mobile Computing, and Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing. Though the literature has many surveys that outline existing systems, it still remains critical to elucidate the basics of actually building an effective context-aware ecosystem. We outline the basic components required and essential for the same. We believe that a context-aware ecosystem becomes effective when these components are designed and implemented effectively. We call it the MOM of context-aware systems: generic and effective context Modeling, an efficient context Organization, and a robust context Middleware. Context modeling affords a syntax to the raw pieces of relevant information, the organization mechanism furnishes semantic import to the information and relationships, and the middleware compiles and integrates the information, enabling sharing of context. We discuss various context-aware ecosystems and middleware from the literature and highlight how the three building components function in each case. This paper will benefit newcomers to the field who are looking to learn about and build context-aware ecosystems.