Network Interface Information Module for an API

Abstract

The seamless computing paradigm provides a framework where a user is able to move freely between heterogeneous networks and is able to change devices and their connection to the internet and the mobile world, while still maintaining application continuity. The issue which needs to be addressed in such an environment is in dealing with how to support data, voice and video streaming where the context of computation may change e.g. disconnections may occur or Quality of Service (QoS) provided by the network may change. Applications are interested in choosing the best interface to connect with, taking into account the QoS parameters. For this reason information regarding the available network interfaces and changes occurring at the link layer which are typically hidden from applications are important for applications in making vertical handover decisions. The thesis focuses on a module called the Network interface information module which gathers the properties of the available network interfaces and link layer notifications from the mobility management system for applications to set application specific rules in choosing a particular interface. The Network interface information module provides an application programming interface (API) with the information collected from the mobility management system. The module is part of a framework which allows the applications to know about the different QoS parameters. The thesis includes the design and functioning of the module in accordance with the API and concludes with a look towards further design. The thesis was done as part of the Innovation Prototyping for Vertical Handover project at the Product Modelling and Realization Group in the Laboratory of Software Technology at Helsinki University of Technology.