Coordinating Mobility in a Pervasive Computing Scenario with Co-Fields

This paper presents a new model to coordinate the movements of a large number of autonomous components (i.e. agents) in a pervasive computing scenario. This model is based on the concept of computational fields (Co-Fields): distributed data structures providing agents with a perception of the environment in terms of abstract force fields. Fields are dynamically constructed by the components of an embedded infrastructure (or by a software substrate of the agents themselves). Agents, by sensing the gradient of these fields and acting accordingly, can achieve very complex coordination task in a context-aware fashion. The Co- Fields model is described, simulated, and evaluated in the context of a case study in the area of mobile tourist assistance.