Reconfigurable Component-based Middleware for Networked Embedded Systems

Abstract

Next generation embedded systems will be composed of large numbers of heterogeneous devices. These will typically be resource-constrained (such as sensor motes), will use different operating systems, and will be connected through different types of network interfaces. Additionally, they may be mobile and/or form ad-hoc networks with their peers, and will need to be adaptive to changing conditions based on context-awareness. Our focus in this paper is on the provision of a middleware framework for such system environments. Our approach is based on a small and efficient 'middleware kernel' which supports highly modularised and customisable component-based middleware services that can be tailored for specific embedded environments, and are runtime reconfigurable to support adaptivity. These services are primarily communications-related but also address a range of other concerns including service discovery and logical mobility. In the paper we provide an overview of our approach, focusing in detail on both the middleware kernel and the services. We also discuss an application scenario in which we are currently applying and evaluating our middleware approach.

Fine-Grained Tailoring of Component Behaviour for Embedded Systems

“…The RUNES [3] component model brings OpenCOM functionality to more embedded devices. Along with a smaller footprint, RUNES adds a number of introspection API calls to the OpenCOM kernel.…”

“…A number of run-time reconfigurable component models have been developed for embedded systems, most notably OpenCOM [4], RUNES [3], and OSGi [13]. These component models address the problems of dynamism, evolution and reuse by offering developers:…”

ReWiSe: A New Component Model for Lightweight Software Reconfiguration in Wireless Sensor Networks

“…Therefore we are able to reconfigure the system by switching from an old component to a new one implementing the same interfaces. As mentioned before, a few works have been done recently to enable high-level software reconfiguration for WSN applications [11,12,13]. All these proposals adopt the general common component model as their basic building blocks.…”

“…Although these works could give some clues for handling dynamicity in WSNs, the special characteristics of WSNs bring several new issues that should be considered as well. Also, a few works have been reported on proposing middleware solution for reconfiguration and adaptation in WSNs [11,12,13]. The main drawback of these proposals is that they assume sensor nodes are powerful enough to run heavyweight reconfiguration and adaptation tasks.…”

Programming Approaches and Challenges for Wireless Sensor Networks

“…Recently, some middleware proposals based on CBSE are appearing in the field of WSNs. In [10], a reconfigurable componentbased middleware for networked embedded systems, called RUNES, is introduced. This approach comprises two distinct layers: a foundation layer, called the middleware kernel, which is the runtime realization of a simple but welldefined software component model, and an on top layer of component frameworks that offer a configurable and extensible set of both middleware and application services.…”