CFP : Special Issue of IEEE Network Magazine on Middleware Technologies for Future Communication Networks

CFP : Special Issue of IEEE Network Magazine on Middleware Technologies for Future Communication Networks
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Call for Papers for IEEE Network Magazine Middleware Technologies for Future Communication Networks Overview: Middleware developed upon network operating systems provides application designers with a higher level of abstraction to achieve distribution transparency. Mature middleware technologies, such as CORBA, Java 2 Enterprise Edition, and SOAP/Web services, have been designed and used successfully with fixed networks. However, there remain significant challenges to design and optimize middleware for programmable (or self-organizing) networks and/or for mobile settings. It is therefore essential to devise new middleware solutions and capabilities to fulfill the requirements of these emerging network technologies. For programmable networks, we need more powerful abstractions than are provided by traditional middleware. As the variety of services and devices that populate the network is expanding rapidly with different levels of granularity, we no longer have networks of desktop machines connected to servers. Instead, we increasingly have networks consisting of elements ranging from hand-held devices and laptops up to clusters of super computers. These entities may have different requirements on quality of service (QoS). They also increase greatly the level of heterogeneity in the system requiring a higher level of configurability from the middleware infrastructure. In this context, it is also crucial that such flexibility is not introduced at the expense of the requisite predictable performance, security, or dependability. For mobile networks, conventional middleware platforms expect high bandwidth that is not yet available with wireless access. Moreover, hiding network topologies and other deployment details from distributed applications becomes both harder and undesirable since applications and middleware should adapt according to changes in location, connectivity, bandwidth, and battery power. New wireless network middleware is required to increase performance of applications running across a wireless network, to support multiple wireless devices, to provide continuous wireless access to content and applications, as well as to overcome periods of disconnection. Wireless middleware could also ensure end-to-end security and dependability from handheld devices to application servers. In the face of changing requirements and environments, there is a clear need not only for more configurable middleware but also dynamic re-configurability, possibly enabled with multiple meta-levels of the system, to react to changing contexts. Techniques such as reflective middleware and self-repairing systems are therefore particularly important to meet such technical challenges. Topics of interest for the IEEE Network Magazine Special Issue on Middleware Technologies for Future Communication Networks include: - Middleware support for micro/macro/multi-domain mobility - Real-time and reflective middleware - Middleware for peer-to-peer platforms - Support of hierarchical heterogeneous environments (different protocols, resource discovery mechanisms, etc.) - Distributed objects in reconfigurable pervasive applications - Specification and enforcement of Quality of Service (QoS) - Design of CORBA, .Net, and Java-based broker applications for mobile/fixed networks - Management and programmability of distributed object systems - Middleware for distributed and mobile agents - Middleware security, including authorization and authentication - OMG Model Driven Architecture (MDA) and its application to network middleware - Patterns for distributed object design - Reliable and fault tolerant middleware - Integration of distributed object and Web technologies, including SOAP interoperability and service discovery - Reports on best practices based on case studies. Manuscript Submission: Interested authors should submit an electronic version of the manuscript, in either Postscript or PDF format, as an email attachment to one of the guest editors. Additional information including Guidelines for authors is available on the IEEE Network magazine Website at URL http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/net/ntwrk/authors.html Important Dates: Submission Deadline: January 2003 Acceptance Notification: April 2003 Final Manuscripts: July, 2003 Publication of Special Issue: Sept/Oct 2003 Guest Editors: Fosy Daoud, Communications Lab. fosy@networking.onestop.net Douglas C. Schmidt University of California, Irvine, USA, schmidt@cs.wustl.edu Gordon Blair Lancaster University, UK gordon@comp.lancs.ac.uk

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             Call for Papers for IEEE Network Magazine

      Middleware Technologies for Future Communication Networks

Overview:

Middleware developed upon network operating systems provides application
designers with a higher level of abstraction to achieve distribution
transparency. Mature middleware technologies, such as CORBA, Java 2 Enterprise
Edition, and SOAP/Web services, have been designed and used successfully with
fixed networks. However, there remain significant challenges to design and
optimize middleware for programmable (or self-organizing) networks and/or for
mobile settings.  It is therefore essential to devise new middleware solutions
and capabilities to fulfill the requirements of these emerging network
technologies.

For programmable networks, we need more powerful abstractions than are
provided by traditional middleware. As the variety of services and devices
that populate the network is expanding rapidly with different levels of
granularity, we no longer have networks of desktop machines connected to
servers. Instead, we increasingly have networks consisting of elements ranging
from hand-held devices and laptops up to clusters of super computers. These
entities may have different requirements on quality of service (QoS). They
also increase greatly the level of heterogeneity in the system requiring a
higher level of configurability from the middleware infrastructure. In this
context, it is also crucial that such flexibility is not introduced at the
expense of the requisite predictable performance, security, or dependability.


For mobile networks, conventional middleware platforms expect high bandwidth
that is not yet available with wireless access. Moreover, hiding network
topologies and other deployment details from distributed applications becomes
both harder and undesirable since applications and middleware should adapt
according to changes in location, connectivity, bandwidth, and battery power.
New wireless network middleware is required to increase performance of
applications running across a wireless network, to support multiple wireless
devices, to provide continuous wireless access to content and applications, as
well as to overcome periods of disconnection. Wireless middleware could also
ensure end-to-end security and dependability from handheld devices to
application servers.

In the face of changing requirements and environments, there is a clear need
not only for more configurable middleware but also dynamic re-configurability,
possibly enabled with multiple meta-levels of the system, to react to changing
contexts. Techniques such as reflective middleware and self-repairing systems
are therefore particularly important to meet such technical challenges.

Topics of interest for the IEEE Network Magazine Special Issue on Middleware
Technologies for Future Communication Networks include:

- Middleware support for micro/macro/multi-domain mobility 
- Real-time and reflective middleware
- Middleware for peer-to-peer platforms
- Support of hierarchical heterogeneous environments (different protocols, 
  resource discovery mechanisms, etc.)
- Distributed objects in reconfigurable pervasive applications
- Specification and enforcement of Quality of Service (QoS)
- Design of CORBA, .Net, and Java-based broker applications for mobile/fixed networks
- Management and programmability of distributed object systems
- Middleware for distributed and mobile agents
- Middleware security, including authorization and authentication  
- OMG Model Driven Architecture (MDA) and its application to network middleware
- Patterns for distributed object design 
- Reliable and fault tolerant middleware
- Integration of distributed object and Web technologies, including SOAP 
  interoperability and service discovery 
- Reports on best practices based on case studies.


Manuscript Submission:

Interested authors should submit an electronic version of the manuscript, in
either Postscript or PDF format, as an email attachment to one of the guest
editors. Additional information including Guidelines for authors
is available on the IEEE Network magazine Website at URL 
http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/net/ntwrk/authors.html

Important Dates:
Submission Deadline: January 2003
Acceptance Notification: April 2003
Final Manuscripts: July, 2003
Publication of Special Issue: Sept/Oct 2003

Guest Editors:
Fosy Daoud, Communications Lab. 
fosy@networking.onestop.net

Douglas C. Schmidt
University of California, Irvine, USA, 
schmidt@cs.wustl.edu

Gordon Blair 
Lancaster University, UK
gordon@comp.lancs.ac.uk