The beginning of the twenty-first century is characterized by global markets, and the mobility of people is becoming an important fact of life. Consequently, the mobile user is demanding appropriate technical solutions to make use of customized information and communication services. In this context the notion of next-generation networks (NGNs), which are driven by the convergence of the entertainment sector, the mobile Internet, and fixed/mobile telecommunications, is emerging. Such NGNs are aggregating a variety of different access networks and supporting the seamless connection of an open set of end-user devices, and due to the adoption of an all-IP network paradigm they enable a much better integration of voice and data services. Coincidently the buzzword ‘fixed mobile convergence’ (FMC) describes the current trend towards providing common services across fixed and mobile networks resulting in the medium term in the full integration of fixed and mobile telecommunication networks. The adoption of appropriate middleware technologies and the provision of - called service delivery platforms driven by the ongoing innovation in the field of information technologies provides today the technical foundation for supporting terminal, personal and service mobility and thus the implementation of real seamless information and communication services. Furthermore, users are nowadays looking, in light of an omnipresent service environment, for a much higher degree of customization and context awareness in the services they use. The papers in this volume look at these enabling mobility-aware technologies and their use for implementing mobility-aware and context-aware applications.

It is becoming quite clear that there will be important technological advances in - bile and wireless connectivity, known as third-/fourth-generation (3G and 4G) mobile telecommunications systems. As a result we will be surrounded by ever-growing m- tidomain (technical and administrative) heterogeneous communications in both wired and wireless networks. This resulting environment deals with communication in m- tizoned networks, where people, devices, appliances and servers are connected to each other via different kinds of networks. Networks will be pervasive, ubiquitous, multis- vice, multioperatorand multiaccess. The mobility trend will also be spurred forward by the growing availability of mobile-enabled handheld devices. Mobile systems are expected to provide mobile users with cost-effective, secure, yet ubiquitous service access anywhere and anytime. Users will then continue to enjoy the new-found freedom mobile access provides and will have increasingly high exp- tations of mobility-aware applications that should be capable of seamlessly supporting the mobile lifestyle. The papers in this volume discuss issues from models, platforms, and architectures for mobility-aware systems to security, mobile agent technologies, sensitive com- nications, context awareness, mobile applications and management. They cover both practical experience and novel research ideas and concepts.

The beginning of the twenty-first century is characterized by global markets, and the mobility of people is becoming an important fact of life. Consequently, the mobile user is demanding appropriate technical solutions to make use of customized information and communication services. In this context the notion of next-generation networks (NGNs), which are driven by the convergence of the entertainment sector, the mobile Internet, and fixed/mobile telecommunications, is emerging. Such NGNs are aggregating a variety of different access networks and supporting the seamless connection of an open set of end-user devices, and due to the adoption of an all-IP network paradigm they enable a much better integration of voice and data services. Coincidently the buzzword ‘fixed mobile convergence’ (FMC) describes the current trend towards providing common services across fixed and mobile networks resulting in the medium term in the full integration of fixed and mobile telecommunication networks. The adoption of appropriate middleware technologies and the provision of - called service delivery platforms driven by the ongoing innovation in the field of information technologies provides today the technical foundation for supporting terminal, personal and service mobility and thus the implementation of real seamless information and communication services. Furthermore, users are nowadays looking, in light of an omnipresent service environment, for a much higher degree of customization and context awareness in the services they use. The papers in this volume look at these enabling mobility-aware technologies and their use for implementing mobility-aware and context-aware applications.

The beginning of the twenty-first century is characterized by global markets, and the mobility of people is becoming an important fact of life. Consequently, the mobile user is demanding appropriate technical solutions to make use of customized information and communication services. In this context the notion of next-generation networks (NGNs), which are driven by the convergence of the entertainment sector, the mobile Internet, and fixed/mobile telecommunications, is emerging. Such NGNs are aggregating a variety of different access networks and supporting the seamless connection of an open set of end-user devices, and due to the adoption of an all-IP network paradigm they enable a much better integration of voice and data services. Coincidently the buzzword ‘fixed mobile convergence’ (FMC) describes the current trend towards providing common services across fixed and mobile networks resulting in the medium term in the full integration of fixed and mobile telecommunication networks. The adoption of appropriate middleware technologies and the provision of - called service delivery platforms driven by the ongoing innovation in the field of information technologies provides today the technical foundation for supporting terminal, personal and service mobility and thus the implementation of real seamless information and communication services. Furthermore, users are nowadays looking, in light of an omnipresent service environment, for a much higher degree of customization and context awareness in the services they use. The papers in this volume look at these enabling mobility-aware technologies and their use for implementing mobility-aware and context-aware applications.

"This book will provide insight on the issues and repercussions of collecting and analysing the movement of people using techniques such as privacy preserving data mining, ontologies, space-time modeling and visualization"--Provided by publisher.

Fast and Efficient Context-Aware Services gives a thorough explanation of the state-of-the-art in Context-Aware-Services (CAS). The authors describe all major terms and components of CAS, defining context and discussing the requirements of context-aware applications and their use in 3rd generation services. The text covers the service creation problem as well as the network technology alternatives to support these services and discusses active and programmable networks in detail. It gives an insight into the practical approach followed in the CONTEXT project, supplying concrete guidelines for building successful context-aware services. Fast and Efficient Context-Aware Services: * Provides comprehensive and in-depth information on state-of-the-art CAS technology. * Proposes a system architecture for CAS creation and delivery, discussing service management and active network layers. * Describes the service lifecycle functional architecture, covering service authoring, customization, invocation, and assurance. * Explains system design considerations and details, system evaluation criteria, test-bed requirements, and evaluation results. Fast and Efficient Context-Aware Services is an invaluable resource for telecommunications developers, researchers in academia and industry, advanced students in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, telecoms operators, as well as telecommunication management and operator personnel.

Blockchain is emerging as a powerful technology, which has attracted the wider attention of all businesses across the globe. In addition to financial businesses, IT companies and business organizations are keenly analyzing and adapting this technology for improving business processes. Security is the primary enterprise application. There are other crucial applications that include creating decentralized applications and smart contracts, which are being touted as the key differentiator of this pioneering technology. The power of any technology lies in its ecosystem. Product and tool vendors are building and releasing a variety of versatile and robust toolsets and platforms in order to speed up and simplify blockchain application development, deployment and management. There are other infrastructure-related advancements in order to streamline blockchain adoption. Cloud computing, big data analytics, machine and deep learning algorithm, and connected and embedded devices all are driving blockchain application development and deployment. Blockchain Technology and Applications illustrates how blockchain is being sustained through a host of platforms, programming languages, and enabling tools. It examines: Data confidential, integrity, and authentication Distributed consensus protocols and algorithms Blockchain systems design criteria and systems interoperability and scalability Integration with other technologies including cloud and big data It also details how blockchain is being blended with cloud computing, big data analytics and IoT across all industry verticals. The book gives readers insight into how this path-breaking technology can be a value addition in several business domains ranging from healthcare, financial services, government, supply chain and retail.

"This book will provide insight on the issues and repercussions of collecting and analysing the movement of people using techniques such as privacy preserving data mining, ontologies, space-time modeling and visualization"--Provided by publisher.

Discusses the main issues, challenges, opportunities, and trends related to this explosive range of new developments and applications, in constant evolution, and impacting every organization and society as a whole. This two volume handbook supports post-graduate students, teachers, and researchers, as well as IT professionals and managers.