Design and Implementation of Context-Aware Information Push Systems

Modern communication systems enable information access at any time and any location. Significant challenges arising from this are how to deal with information overload and information retrieval effort. Novel information systems are required to tackle these challenges. Context-aware Information Push Systems (CAIPS) may provide a possible solution. These systems automatically supply the users with exactly that information they are currently interested in by incorporating their current situation (context). The author introduces a conceptual framework facilitating the rapid design and implementation of such a system. The framework specifies the fundamental functional components and provides a novel reactive rule language framework (CAITL). CAITL enables the usage of standard query, subscription, and action languages to declaratively define WHAT should be sent to WHOM and WHEN. The applicability of the conceptual framework is demonstrated by implementing CAIPS-IM – a context-aware information push system implemented as integrated part of a mobile tourist information system in Innsbruck/Austria.