Middleware support for reconciling client updates and data transcoding

ABSTRACT

In mobile Internet applications, data can be transcoded, updated, and transferred across heterogenous clients. The problem then arises where updates made in the context of an initial transcoding results in content too stringently transcoded for subsequent clients, thereby causing loss of semantic value. We solve this problem by suggesting that the updates themselves can be transformed so that they can be applied directly to the original data instead of to the transcoded data; this approach allows the data to preserve as much semantic value as possible across all heterogeneous clients without unnecessary transcoding artifacts. We define reconciliation rules that can govern the interaction between client updates and transcoding, demonstrate a complete middleware architecture that supports our methodology, and provide two case studies using content-transferring applications. We show that our resulting middleware system executes our reconciliation approach with acceptable latency (under 5 seconds for 200 kbytes of layered content), good scalability, and well-organised modularity.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

General Terms:
Design, Management

Keywords:
client updates, data management, middleware, mobile computing, reconciliation, transcoding