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Future grid computing systems will be
pervasive, invisible, and provide access to a wide range of
services, at any time, and from a variety of devices. The scale and
nature of next-generation grids pose important research and
engineering problems. The JGrid project at the University of
Veszprem investigates the use of Jini as a potential infrastructure
for next-generation grids. This article makes the case for Jini as
a grid computing technology, and summarizes the JGrid project's
current status.
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The focus of this paper is on the application
of Jini network technology for resource-constrained mobile devices.
As a result of a recent technology breakthrough, a micro version of
Jini network technology can now be used to address a number of
current challenges and gaps faced by the mobile industry.
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Jini network technology provides a protocol
and system architecture whereby devices and services are added to
the vehicle in a completely spontaneous and (often) autonomous way.
When first launched, Sun Microsystems' Jini technology captured the
imagination of automakers looking to seamlessly integrate new
product and service offerings into automobiles. At JavaOne 2000,
Ford demonstrated a Jini technology-enabled vehicle. However, at
the time Jini technology required more device storage than was
available, limiting its use for in-vehicle applications.
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Web-based technologies are changing the
manufacturing processes that are currently in place and ushering in
a new era of collaboration between the factory floor and enterprise
supply chains. The Internet has already trans-formed the business
world, with the Web-centric customer mandating the flow of
business. However, now that the front-end ordering capability of
e-commerce is in place for the customer, the back-end execution
processes of the manufacturers must also be able to handle business
at the speed of the Internet.
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For at least the past two decades, networks
have been a part of computing. Local area networks have allowed
users to share peripherals and files. The Internet has enabled
communication with electronic mail, remote access via telnet, and
management at a distance. More recently, the Web has become a
feature of everyday life, allowing the publishing and finding of
information in ways that had been dreamed of, but never
realized.
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This document describes a new type of
architecture for distributed systems. Intrinsic to this
architecture are a set of dynamic capabilities and reliance on a
Quality of Service guarantee that improves upon traditional
capabilities currently found in distributed systems.
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As the next level beyond network connectivity,
Jini technology provides developers with tools to construct systems
from distributed objects over networks. It offers a simple
infrastructure for delivering services over the network and
creating spontaneous interaction between programs that use these
services, regardless of their hardware or software
implementations.
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The Spanish Inquisition (SI) is a scalable
communication framework built upon Jini and JavaSpaces functioning
through the use of agents. It is designed upon distributed
decoupled communication principles that utilize "Shared Distributed
Memory" across processors and networks. The Spanish Inquisition is
both an architecture and an application interface which easily
joins applications and diverse protocols.
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To better understand how to design and build
this new "lifestyle environment", DaimlerChrysler's Research and
Technology Center (RTC) in Palo Alto, California, teamed up with
the DaimlerChrysler Liberty & Technical Affairs division, the
DaimlerChrysler Design Office and Sun Microsystems, Inc. on a
project that focused on providing Infotainment, Edutainment and
Entertainment services and content to a vehicle over a wireless
network. The goal is to showcase a family environment "Infotronic"
system that meets the need of each family member.
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This document describes the high level
architecture of a Jini software system, defines the different
components that make up the system, characterizes the use of those
components, discusses some of the component interactions, and gives
an example. This document identifies those parts of the system that
are necessary infrastructure, those that are part of the
programming model, and those that are optional services which can
live within the system.
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Here's the vision: When you walk up to an
interaction device that is part of a system employing Jini
technology, all of its services are as available to you as if they
were on your own computer--and services include not only software
but hardware devices as well, including disk drives, DVD players,
VCRs, printers, scanners, digital cameras, and almost anything else
you could imagine that passes information in and out. Adding a new
device to a system employing Jini technology is simply plugging it
in.
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Several technology development efforts are
underway to answer this call for more interconnectivity and an
easier way to build, manage, and use the services of digital
networks. One of the most exciting of those developments is Jini
connection technology. Built on Java technology, it is designed to
enable users to simply connect any number of digital devices, and
to access those valuable services provided by rich, dynamic
communities of systems such as personal digital assistants (PDAs),
televisions, digital cameras, fax machines, cell phones, even smart
card readers.
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Objects that interact in a distributed system
need to be dealt with in ways that are intrinsically different from
objects that interact in a single address space. These differences
are required because distributed systems require that the
programmer be aware of latency, have a different model of memory
access, and take into account issues of concurrency and partial
failure.
This paper looks at a number of distributed systems that have
attempted to paper over the distinction between local and remote
objects, and shows that such systems fail to support basic
requirements of robustness and reliability. These failures have
been masked in the past by the small size of the distributed
systems that have been built. In the enterprise-wide distributed
systems foreseen in the near future, however, such a masking will
be impossible.
This paper concludes by discussing what is required of both
systems-level and application-level programmers and designers if
one is to take distribution seriously.
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