Data Management in Pervasive Systems

This book contributes to illustrating the methodological and technological issues of data management in Pervasive Systems by using the DataBenc project as the running case study for a variety of research contributions: sensor data management, user-originated data operation and reasoning, multimedia data management, data analytics and reasoning for event detection and decision making, context modelling and control, automatic data and service tailoring for personalization and recommendation. The book is organized into the following main parts: i) multimedia information management; ii) sensor data streams and storage; iii) social networks as information sources; iv) context awareness and personalization. The case study is used throughout the book as a reference example.

The goal of this book is to provide a systematic description of the various research issues related to the management of information in pervasive systems, illustrating the state of the art in this area. Accordingly, it both outlines the foundations and basic technologies and presents more advanced aspects, making it suitable for self-contained graduate courses or seminars on pervasive data management or distributed systems.

The book is organized into six parts, including an illustrating case study. Part 1 briefly covers the basic ideas underlying the economic, technological, social and legal aspects of pervasive systems. Part 2 then describes several aspects of sensor networks and data stream processing, while part 3 highlights the main aspects of social networks with a special emphasis on cultural heritage applications. Next, part 4 details personalization and context awareness issues in pervasive environments, and part 5 reports on multimedia aspects, again with a particular focus on cultural heritage. The overall picture of the technological challenges and opportunities are illustrated in part 6 with the support of a cultural heritage case study, the DATABENC1 project on Italy’s Campania region. Each part is accompanied by its own foreword.

Readers from two main categories will benefit most from this book: IT researchers and professionals will learn about the latest advances in pervasive technologies and at the same time familiarize themselves with specific issues concerning cultural heritage; while humanities and cultural heritage experts and enthusiasts will find an introduction to the enabling technologies that are so promising for their field of application.