Middleware

Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits

Overview

Middleware names a software layer between transmission network and applications. It's task is it to hide details and complexity of the used infrastructure and to allow applications to interact in a smooth and standardized way. A service is a program unit that fulfills a self-contained task and is is developed, maintained and offered by a service provider. The spectrum of possible services reaches from system near services via more complex, user near user services up to standard office automation tools. Often services are integrated seamlessly into the middleware, what ensures that the users can find a service and interact with it.
Primarily a middleware offers services for identification, authentification, data access, information exchange and security, to facilitate networked working. Nowadays, many applications still contain such services themselves, which leads to competitive and incompatible standards.
The Java Intelligent Network Infrastructure (JINI) is Java based middleware. JINI guarantees inependence of the platform and faciliates cooperation ad dynamic reconfiguration of services in local area networks. Thus, the services can be tailored to the user's needs and situation.
In this framework Fraunhofer IIS engineers have developed up-to-date local news services, which allow to offer position-aware services to a mobile user - an ability that increasingly wins in importance. Such position-aware services need to know the position of the user as central information. This can be determined by a navigation service, that allows efficient, redundant positioning, and integrates smoothly into the JINI middleware.
The emerging standard in the area of computer and multimedia networking is UPnP (Universal Plug and Play). At Fraunhofer IIS we are develloping UPnP compatible devices, especially for multimedia services.
A second point of focus at Fraunhofer IIS is middleware for medical applications. We are heavily engaged with the VITAL standard.