Another mechanism for evaluating the research of the programme is to
take a look on the evolution of Smart Spaces, their characteristics and their
management. We have selected three characteristics to show this evolution:
Ad-hoc-ness, Adaptiveness and Heterogeneity. Figure 4
shows the current status of these characteristics by means of an axis diagrams,
assuming that the original status before the M-Zones programme was 1 for all of
the three characteristics.
Figure 4 – Evolution of Smart Spaces
and their Management
The metrics
of this diagram are specified as follows:
|
Axis
|
Value
|
Meaning
|
|
Ad-hoc-ness
|
1
|
Group bindings controlled centrally
|
|
2
|
Group bindings controlled locally with federation
mechanism between locales supported
|
|
3
|
Individuals perform group bindings
|
|
Adaptiveness
|
1
|
Monolithic – cost of change exceeds cost or original
system
|
|
2
|
Adaptable – cost of change managed though
appropriate structuring
|
|
3
|
Adaptive – change happens automatically at runtime
|
|
4
|
Autonomic – automatic change is constrained by
policies
|
|
Heterogeneity
|
1
|
Conformance to common global model required
|
|
2
|
Conformance to organization / domain model required
|
|
3
|
Anyone can use their own models
|
As the diagram shows, Smart Spaces, and even more important their
management, evolved from central (ad-hoc-ness and heterogeneity) and monolithic
(adaptiveness) systems towards almost individual-driven,
almost autonomic systems with many specific models.
