CS 8803 E – Pervasive Computing with Distributed Sensors

Final Take Home Exam (15% of your course grade)

Due: May 1, 2002 (before 5 PM), NO EXCEPTIONS!

 

          NOTES:

1.     The exam has to be done individually.

2.     No consultation with fellow students beyond looking at the scribe notes on the web. 

3.     No one should post anything that can be deemed as potential solutions to the following questions on the web.

4.     The completed answers can be submitted by e-mail before the due date and time.

5.     Hard copies will also be accepted.

6.    Enjoy doing the exam!

 

  1. For pervasive computing to become a reality, it is desirable to provide network identity for every device.  IPv4 has its limitations, which are apparently solved by IPv6. 

(a)  First explain the limitations and how IPv6 solves them. 

(b)  Second explain if these limitations of IPv4 absolutely warrant the introduction of IPv6.  If not, why not?  If yes, justify why the proposed workarounds for these limitations in IPv4 are insufficient?

  1. What is source routing in IPv4, and how is it used?  What are some of the problems with source routing in IPv4 that limit its use for mobile IP?  Do these problems apply to IPv6?
  2.  

(a)  Compare and contrast the design points targeted by Infopad, Itsy, and Compaq Backpaq.

(b)  Discuss how the choice of the design point may have influenced the architectural decisions in each of these devices.

(c)  If you were designing an embedded computing platform to serve as a data aggregator for sensors in pervasive computing framework, what design choices would you incorporate in your architecture?

  1.  

(a)  What are the key research issues in embedded software?  Why are these new? What makes them interesting and/or hard research problems? Justify with real-life examples.

(b)  If we have Java everywhere together with middleware such as CORBA, are the issues you identified in (a) still relevant?  Why or why not?

  1. Once upon a time (and perhaps still!) CPU was the precious resource in a computer system.  Hence the entire OS was designed around ensuring fair use of this precious resource.  Fast forward to the year 2010.  Energy is the precious resource.  With this in mind sketch the design of an adaptive OS for a Personal Mobile Digital Assistant (PMDA) whose primary goal is to optimize energy use while making forward progress on a set of ubiquitous computing applications.

 

In answering this question,

(a)  State your assumptions about this futuristic PMDA (architectural features, power requirements, etc.).

(b)  State your assumptions about applications you envision running on the PMDA.

(c)  State your assumptions about the QoS requirements you envision in these applications.           

 

            Your answer will be evaluated by its (a) originality, (b) creativity, and (c)

attention to OS details.