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The Grids that exist today, mostly consist of fixed systems. Access, by for instance a mobile lap-top, constitutes already great difficulties when moving around. Inclusion of mobile-devices as telephones in Grids virtually does not exist.
The Akogrimo wants to change this: by leveraging the large base of mobile users it is aiming to radically advance the pervasiveness of Grid computing across Europe.
For users, Akogrimo will provide the technologies and concepts to establish a "virtual home", with nomadic and mobile environments across network technology and provider domains. Akogrimo will see these environments as "Mobile Dynamic Virtual Organisations". These environments will incorporate network-identity-based concepts of personalization, profiling, privacy, security and trust.
The Grid that Akigromo intends to develop is not a traditional computational Grid, but a next-generation knowledge Grid. from a technological perspective, iw will build on top of the emerging mobile Internet infrastructures based on IPv6.
Akogrimo will of course, leverage the series of Grid technology challenges that currently exist, including mobility, QoS, AAA and security functionalities provided by corresponding network-related middleware systems.
For provider the "Akogrimo world" will provide new business models and opportunities eventually making commercially viable Next Generation Grids a reality.
The Akogrimo Grid wil consist of four layers:
- Mobile Internet
- Network Middleware
- Grid Infrastructure Layer
- Generic Application Support Services Layer
The Mobile Internet will be pushed by the Wireless LAN trend and IPv6, and allow nomadic users to get access to the network in a very user-friendly way. The Akogrimo networking concept will provide the QoS Broker concept to the Akogrimo mobile network architecture.
The Network Middleware will include the service provisioning platform towards the Grid layer. This includes the Authentication, Authorization, Accounting aspects. Akimogrid will introduce the notion of Grid based sessions and user/service centric transactions.
The Grid Infrastructure Layer will be developed using the Open Grid Service Infrastructure (OGSI) and later the Web Services Resource Framework (WSRF). This core functionality covers Service Discovery and Location, Service Instantiation, Lifetime Management and Asynchronous Notification. Akimogrid will additionally use Profiles provided from the AAA2 Architecture to deliver services that are personalised and commercially oriented.
A Generic Application Support Services Layer will provide the user access to Grid enabled applications that hide the complexity and details of the lower layers. Such applications can be built relying solely on the services
provided by the infrastructure layer but could be more easily built using richer complex services, Akimogrid expects.
Akogrimo will focus on three user scenarios.
The Akogrimo eLearning testbed will be embedded in the frame of the E-Learning domain. It uses a scenario from a student on travel that has to perform typical tasks.
The Akogrimo eHealth testbed will be relevant to health care services because these typically require the creation of instant temporary Virtual Organisations, for instance around a patient requiring complex treatment at differnt hospitals.
Akogrimo Disaster Handling and Crisis Management involves incidents where various crises or disasters should be handled by rescue services and other mission-critical mobile personnel, who have to collaborate within time-critical and dangerous situations. Such incidents could occur in: large sporting events and concerts; airports, railway stations, ports; disaster areas. With the accidents in the Amsterdam railway station and the Paris airport, the validity of this case does not need further explanation.
The project has a website at http://www.mobilegrids.org where public deliverables and news will be placed after the project has started in July 2004.
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