| SPP ICS 1996-99 |
SPP ICS user guidelines to results |
SPP ICS 2000-1 El. Commerce |
SPP IF 1992-95 |
SPP ICS -> SPP ICS user guidelines to results -> key results according to projects
- Module 1: Engineering of Distributed Applications and Networks: Quality and Security Aspects
- Module 2: Engineering of Distributed Applications and Networks: Management Aspects
- Module 3: Engineering of Distributed Applications and Networks: General Aspects
- Module 4: Engineering of Distributed Applications and Networks: Demonstrators
- Module 5: Networked Competence Center for Appplied Research and Development in Electronic Commerce
The key results of the SPP ICS are grouped according to modules and projects.
For each project, a short paper (pdf file) on the results can be viewed or downloaded when clicking on the link in the " key result no." column. The address of a contact person can be found at the end of this result paper.
Contact: You may also contact the SPP ICS programme management:
Jean-Michel.Grossenbacher@mcnet.ch.
| Legend: Key result numbers of projects in |
| Electronic Commerce will appear in light blue boxes, |
| all others in light yellow ones. |
Contact: maurer@inf.ethz.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| SECCO-1 | New protocols for secure multi-party computation have been developed in order to tolerate more realistic aspects of adversity than previously considered such as general (non-threshold) adversaries and mixed adversaries where different flavours of cheating may occur simultaneously. Previously known protocols for multi-party computation and verifiable secret sharing are costly with respect to round and message complexity. On the other hand, efficiency is crucial for their practicability. Protocols with improved efficiency have been developed. |
As an ambitious goal it would be interesting to find protocols with complexities as near as possible to the (provable) lower bound required. |
| SECCO-2 | As a special case of multi-party computation Byzantine agreement is of central importance as a building block for many protocols in the field of fault-tolerant distributed computing. Protocols for Byzantine agreement to tolerate general and mixed adversaries have been developed. | |
| SECCO-3 | A new protocol for incoercible electronic voting has been developed that, besides being more efficient, fixes some disadvantages of previous protocols for this task. Incoercible voting prevents vote buying by third parties by assuring that a voter will not be able to prove what he has actually voted for. | More efficient solutions would be desirable. |
| SECCO-4 | A voting demonstrator has been built in order to show that electronic voting such as for Swiss national elections would already be feasible right now. |
Contact: uzurfluh@ifi.unizh.ch:
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| SINUS-1 | Main result is the RSD security conception approach. It is designed for persons in SME's responsible for Internet and leads them in five steps from Internet usage scenario planning to realization of secure solutions, covering relevant (standard) Internet services, known threats and weaknesses, as well as security mechanisms. | Requirements for ongoing development on the approach include the adaptation to new internet services, new threats and attacking methods, and new security mechanisms. |
| SINUS-2 | Parts of the RSD security conception were implemented in an expert system called RSD-XPS. Its purpose is the interactive development and realisation of a secure Internet usage scenario, rather than going through the paper catalogue manually, and evaluation of optimal solutions by changing the different parameters. A main strength of RSD-XPS is the risk analysis based on exploitation statistics. | implementation of more aspects from RSD is required; especially more knowledge about security mechanisms and product classes. |
| SINUS-3 | The SINUS Firewall is a stateful packet filter with dynamic rules, a configuration format readable by humans, and a graphical configuration tool. It runs on the Linux operating system and its source code is freely available. | Adaptation to new attack methods (e.g. distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS)) and new Linux/Java versions are required. More experience and bug reports are welcome. Documentation should be overworked. |
Contact:; omueller@zurichcci.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| ZCCI-1 | Public Key Infrastructure is a well-known technology. The purpose of the project was the implementation of a certificate authority which can issue strong identity certificates to users for any e-commerce purposes and to promote it for commercial usage. This was achieved by making an alliance between Swisscom Inc. (Telecom) and Telekurs Holding Inc. (Banking sector) and the Swiss chambers of commerce. | The legal requirements of new legislation in Switzerland and the European Union have to be fulfilled.The procedures have to be checked against the technical specifications of the related ordinances, especially the Swiss PKI ordinance. |
| ZCCI-2 | A company - Swisskey Inc. - was founded which has been running an operational service since September 1998. the chambers of commerce being registration authorities. | In 2000, Swisskey will be accredited by the Swiss Accreditation System - SAS. |
| ZCCI-3 | Swisskey certificates are used In different applications (Banking with smart cards, replacing conventional payslips with PAYNET). Credit-Suisse and UBS are also acting as registration authorities. | International co-operation is required in order to be competitive world-wide. Swisskey is participating in "The Global Trust Authority", an international PKI supported mainly by financial institutions. Further alliances are required with standard code management bodies. |
Contact: Sebastian.Staamann@epfl.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| CrySTINA-1 | Security architecture (CrySTINA) for middleware (DPE) based telecommunication service platforms; designed for networks with self-administered administrative domains; Reference architecture: TINA-C. concepts for the realization aligned with CORBA. | Product /service development can now start. |
| CrySTINA-2 | Security architecture for CORBA based services. | Product /service development can now start. |
| CrySTINA-3 | DPE security services. | Product /service development can now start. |
| CrySTINA-4 | DPE security interoperability. | Standardisation can start. |
| CrySTINA-5 | Smart card support for CORBA/SSL | Product /service development can now start. |
Contact: jn@inf.ethz.ch; widmayer@inf.ethz.ch; rolim@cui.unige.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| NetMan-1 | Recovery from traffic disturbances
(P. Widmayer, K. Schlude, Haeni-Prolectron AG). For the dispatching problem for trams, a model was developed that captures traffic disturbances of various types; an online reaction mechanism was implemented that is based on an iterated local optimization in a network of nodes with forces on the edges. This approach is suitable for a large class of objective functions and of operational dispatching measures. |
The chosen approach needs to be extended to a distributed setting, where individual vehicles autonomously take a selfish decision on their reaction. It is anticipated that one can learn from microeconomic theory how to set up appropriate boundary conditions. |
| NetMan-2 | Airline optimization problems: Fleet assignment
(J. Rolim, D. Sosnowska, Aerocomputer SA) Data obtained from Swissair/Aerocomputer includes all flight schedules involving 1700 flights to be assigned to 60 aircrafts of 15 types. Necessary additional data (distances between airports, description of some aircraft types and flight ticket prices) were collected using freely accessible information. Branch-and-bound and genetic algorithms yield good approximate solutions to the fleet assignment problem. |
R&D with Aerocomputer SA is continued. |
| NetMan-3 | Algorithms and software for combinatorial optimization
(J. Nievergelt, A. Marzetta, A. Bruengger) A major achievement in this subproject is the development and exploitation of ZRAM, our parallel program library for combinatorial optimization (Ambros Marzetta). Its most impressive applications were reported in the dissertation of Adrian Bruengger, " Solving hard combinatorial optimization problems in parallel: two case studies", Oct 1997. |
|
| NetMan-4 | Algorithms and software for combinatorial optimization
(J. Nievergelt, C. Wirth, F. Maeser) Design and implementation of a distributed interactive decision laboratory where each agent, making his local decisions at his networked workstation, interacts with others in a combined cooperative-competitive venture to solve simple transport management problems. This Decision Bench includes distributed data structures suited to specific applications. Example of an application: SimCargo, a transport simulation game. The Decision Bench runs under Unix, Windows and Macintosh systems. |
Contact: Patrick.Thiran@epfl.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| IMMuNe-1 | An IMMuNe demonstrator was developed for the least cost planning and operation of a multimedia network offering reservation based services over a bandwidth on demand infrastructure. It makes it possible for a service provider to substantially reduce his bill to the network operator. | |
| IMMuNe-2 | Development of Call Acceptance Control algorithms for IP/ATM networks, together with regulation scheme for gradually adapting an overbooking factor to the actual loss rate in measurement based CACs. Such schemes are quite performant and yet very simple. | This research is currently investigated further by applying regulation schemes not only to reserved-based services, but also to best-effort traffic. |
| IMMuNe-3 | Web-based management and Java technologies applied to network management. Middleware based on applet/servlet communication and distributed Java objects managing IP networks has been developped. The implementation builds on existing platforms. A demonstrator has been implemented (JAMAP). | |
| IMMuNe-4 | Blocking Island (BI) paradigm that allows a hierarchical decomposition of the network into simplified graphs, for an efficient network planning. Medium-term planning is distributed from a centralized planning tool to autonomous intelligent agents, which will enable dynamicity in the BI paradigm, or allow negotiation between multiple service provider(s) and (multiple) network operator(s). | This research is currently investigated further by extending it to distributed agents. |
Contact: dittrich@ifi.unizh.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| SWORDIES-1 | SWORDIES has investigated the systematic development of workflow systems, with an emphasis on distribution and heterogeneity issues. Focal areas included the analysis of real-world business processes and organizational structures, workflow modelling, and the design and implementation of a workflow system. | |
| SWORDIES-2 | A rule-based methodology for a uniform modeling approach at different abstraction levels has been developed, and in particular a layer in the form of business rules between process and workflow models has been proposed. Business rules serve as an interface which allows to coordinate the inputs of different process modeling tools and the outputs to different workflow engines. | Intensify contacts with companies using the business rules paradigm, e.g., IBM, USoft, Everest, BlazeSoft, Versata Inc., BrightWare |
| SWORDIES-3 | The integration of existing applications serving as component systems of a WFMS and the execution of workflows in a distributed environment has been investigated. The event-based workflow engine EVE has been implemented in a prototypical form. The systematic development of workflow systems has also been dealt with. Based on the principles of component-based engineering, new workflow systems are composed out of existing, special-purpose reusable artifacts. This component-based methodology for workflow system development is novel for the domain of workflow management. | These results need to be explored further in upcoming research projects at the University of Zurich. |
Contact: stucki@ifi.unizh.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| Worldview-1 | A Virtual Reality based framework was developed that simulates electromagnetic wave propagation for mobile phones, pagers, and wireless-local-loop systems, based on a 3-dimensional digital terrain. The system supports exploratory interaction, placement of antennas, computation of essential characteristics in wireless networks, and interactive optimization. | Further fields of applications could be evaluated. A larger family of objectives in the optimization will be considered. |
| Worldview-2 | Distributed/Object Oriented databases were integrated and adapted to our Virtual Reality based framework. These databases are able to handle huge amounts of geographic data and answer range queries very efficiently. | Architecture for storing large GIS datasets efficiently. |
| Worldview-3 | A bidirectional remote procedure call (RPC) interface was developed. It is based on DCE's RPCs. This interface supports bidirectional data exchange in real-time. | |
| Worldview-4 | Algorithms for visualizing high-resolution terrain and texture data (e.g. aerial ortho photos, pixel maps) in real-time were implemented. For texture data, i.e. bitmaps, a new graphics file format based on wavlet technology was developed. The new graphics file format supports good compression ratios and progressive loading. | Refinement of algorithms for the visualization and management of large datasets (compression). |
| Worldview-5 | A refinement of a physical wave propagation model was proposed. Efficient algorithms for visibility computation were developed. The wave propagation prediction takes terrain data, morphological data, and antenna characteristics into account. | Algorithms need to be refined for use in practice (buildings must be taken in consideration within wave propagation algorithm). |
| Worldview-6 | Simulation of sound emission/propagation in space was implemented and tested. | further R&D work needed. |
Contact: werner.hug@alcatel.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| CIM-BB-1 | A survey of the telecommunications market in Switzerland and Germany after liberalization showed that only three tariff models are used: flat rate, two part tariff and discounts. No dynamic tariff models where the unit price changes with time during a connection were found. | |
| CIM-BB-2 | A method has been developed to reduce complex tariff models to a combination of simple ones. Application of this method showed that the possibilities of the presently used charging parameters are not fully exploited. No additional charging parameters are needed for novel tariff models. A switch model with respect to charging has been proposed. | Co-operation with service providers and operators needed on how the present charging parameters could be used for novel tariff models. |
| CIM-BB-3 | Various dynamic tariff models have been proposed, and their commercial aspects and technical implementation analyzed and discussed. Auctions, QoS-based charging and available resource-based charging have been treated in detail. An open but crucial point is the user behavior towards quick price changes, which is largely unknown, but has a heavy impact. | Research of user behavior needed. The user reaction to price changes for various services and user groups needs to be investigated in detail. |
| CIM-BB-4 | A software tool has been developed with the purpose of visualizing the effects of interaction between users, network and tariff models. This interaction can be quite complex with dynamic tariff models. | The following enhancements are desirable: single users instead of user groups, superposition of different user groups with different tariff models. |
| CIM-BB-5 | As an example, the visualization tool was applied to the dynamic tariff model of available resource-based charging. It turned out that instabilities in traffic may occur, depending on the assumptions made for the user behavior. | Implementation of additional dynamic tariff models is desirable. |
Contact: Ulrike.Lechner2unisg.ch; riedl@ifi.unizh.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| ABDRA-1 | An holistic approach for modeling organizational communication structures based on agents and media with a media spiral modeling the continuous dialogue between the organization as user community and its platform modeled as multi-agent system was developed. | Further research needs to validate the approach in instantiations of the models in cases. |
| ABDRA-2 | Logical models of communities, agents, and media providing a generic architecture for organizational communication structures. | These results are going to be explored further in the research at the mcm institute, UniSG. |
| ABDRA-3 | Framework for statistical and algebraic analysis of Intranets and information societies. | These results are explored further in upcoming research projects at IFI, UniZH. |
| ABDRA-4 | Demonstration of the feasibility of a prototypical agent implementation of a hybrid agent system. | These results are explored further in upcoming research projects at mcm institute, UniSG and IFI, UniZH. |
| ABDRA-5 | Identification of inherent problems of very large Intranets and concepts to overcome them with the approach developed within ABDRA II. |
Contact: Juergen.Ehrensberger@epfl.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| CANPC-1 | A generic platform for network planning (CANPC) has been developed. Heterogeneous hierarchically structured networks are modeled. The CANPC system provides support for planning, performance evaluation, and optimization of networks. It is very easy extensible to model new network technologies and to integrate new planning methods. | |
| CANPC-2 | An application for planning of transparent optical WDM networks has been integrated into CANPC. Routing and wavelength assignment to lightpaths are done. Network topologies can be optimized with respect to the network costs or the number of wavelengths used. | The application will soon be extended to include path protection algorithms. Furthermore, physical layer characteristics will be added as constraints for the routing and wavelength assignment algorithms. |
| CANPC-3 | Models for performance evaluation of IP Integrated Services networks using IP have been developed. An application that evaluates blocking probabilities of resource reservations and link utilization in large high-capacity networks has been integrated into CANPC. A numerical model to evaluate the resource demand of aggregated reservations has been developed. | Evaluation methods will be added to treat LANs and low capacity WANs with Integrated Services and RSVP. |
Contact: alonso@inf.ehtz.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| WISE-1 | A working prototype has been developed. The prototype incorporates novel solutions to typical problems in business to business electronic commerce: reliability, scalability, exception handling, payment protocols, interaction with legacy systems and transactions | The prototype is being extended and will be deployed in several companies as part of other projects (Mariflow, a EU project; and INVENT, continuation of WISE as part of the Competence Network for E-Commerce). |
| WISE-2 | The WISE engine is a complete solution for the design, development and deployment of business to business electronic commerce processes over the Internet. The engine has industrial strength and provides a number of features not readily available in commercial products | The engine will be tested as part of test trials in real business to business environments. The users will be real companies involved in the exchange of electronic documents and commercial information. |
| WISE-3 | The WISE engine incorporates a number of innovative solutions in a variety of areas: exception and event handling, reliability, scalability, transactional interaction, execution guarantees, and interaction with legacy applications | Some of the novel aspects incorporated into WISE will be extended as part of the INVENT project which will be a continuation of WISE within the Competence Network for Electronic Commerce. |
| WISE-4 | WISE has demonstrated the ability to use heterogeneous commercial applications as building blocks for a virtual enterprise. Moreover, it has also shown how to build the infrastructure behind virtual enterprises and solved many of the technical issues related to heterogeneity and distribution. | Further work is needed to explore the interaction with heterogeneous components and provide execution guarantees across different execution domains. |
Contact: denis.gillet@epfl.ch:
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| ReM-1 | The Remote manipulation of physical systems using public communication channels has been demonstrated. The scope focused on telerobotic platforms for scientific benchmarking and on mechatronic setups for distance education. Solutions to cope with transmission delays have been proposed to ensure good quality of service | Standardized network interfaces and best practices have to be refined. Alternative e-commerce schemes can be established for providing and accessing real equipment remotely. Remote manipulation has to be recognized and promoted as a new real-time Internet service. |
| ReM-2 | Characterization of data streams and operational constraints involved in remote manipulation of mechatronic systems. Solutions for real-time adaptation of the transmitted content according to the Internet bandwidth variation to ensure a high degree of interaction. | Compliance between the proposed adaptation mechanisms and the standardized Internet protocols has to be established. A generalized integration of augmented reality is the major trend. |
| ReM-3 | Validation of the remote manipulation paradigm in distance education. Distributed laboratory resources shared worldwide among academic institutions. Applications to sustain practical experiments in automatic control education. | Sharing and use of distributed laboratory resources is a new educational facility that can be deployed to support flexible learning in engineering education. |
| ReM-4 | Characterization of user behaviors in remote manipulation and specification of dedicated user interface features. This includes in particular intelligent remote mechanisms that help to cope with delays and poor immersion. | Application to industrial situation has to be studied in detail. Additional R&D necessary. |
| ReM-5 | Full scale experimentation of mobile robotics environments controlled remotely and under public access. Three years of experience have shown constraints in content, user-interface and features available. | Application to online exhibitions and e-commerce show-rooms can be implemented immediately. A commercial package for the implementation of such installations is available by partners of the project. |
Contact: mschoen@ifi.unizh.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| IDEE-1 | The IDEE integration system (implemented as proof-of-concept demonstrator) is a tightly coupled federated database system which provides a centralised global view on logically integrated data stored in various heterogeneous engineering applications. Especially with respect to homogenisation, version management, integrity control, object materialisation and object caching, the system is tailored to support a wide range of engineering applications (file-based to database-based). | Work so far focussed on basic integration services and version management. Additional work is needed on transaction management, access control, and possibly workflow management on the global layer. |
| IDEE-2 | A flexible and powerful data version model has been developed that comprises all concepts of version models typically found in engineering environments. Provisions have been taken to realise a bidirectional mapping between the IDEE data versioning model and any other engineering version model even in the case that the latter offers some concepts in different flavours or not at all. This unique ability makes the IDEE data versioning model suitable as the global data version model of a federated engineering environment. A proof-of-concept demonstrator has been implemented. | Real-world verification is required for the versioning system. |
| IDEE-3 | A method and a proof-of-concept demonstrator have been developed to allow the versioning of object behaviour. This means that not only attributes of objects are versioned, but also the methods of an object. In most of todays existing oo-environments, this means, that classes need to be versioned and we show, how the runtime environment can deal with different class versions. | Further R&D work needed on issues such as language independent solution, garbage collection of unused classes, versioning granularity (class-wise vs. method-wise), evolution of object interfaces (binary incompatibility), versioning of superclasses influencing class inheritance, and scalability of proposed solution. |
Contact: kurmann@arch.ethz.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| AECtool-1 | An information environment for the Swiss building industry has been developed, to provide a common technical platform for information, communication, and collaboration between all partners in the building planning, design, construction, and management processes. This environment is fully web-based. It allows to manage and present distributed, related data generated and exchanged in the context of a collaborative building project. The use of constraints is suggested to express possibly large families of acceptable solutions in order to facilitate and abbreviate the negotiation process. |
Further R&D work is needed on issues such as portability of database and interface, data security and translational facilities between alternative data representations. In order to increase member's perception of the work context in a computational environment we are conducting further research in the use of the team awareness theory to increase team performance effectiveness. |
| AECtool-2 | Visualizations of the information structures that result from the collaborative activities empower the partners in an analysis and understanding of these processes and, consequently, increase effectiveness during collaboration. | Representing information contents and editing the contents of the stored information graphically is of increasing importance in many fields dealing with information. |
| AECtool-3 | The spatial modeling program called Sculptor has been implemented and extended to enable the synchronous collaboration. It provides simultaneous collaborative modeling and designing in three dimensions in a distributed environment. A Web-based monitoring site manages all active collaborative sessions. | The methods for real-time spatial modeling as the research focus were implemented within a prototype. Further development is required to establish a commercial product for architects and designers. |
| AECtool-4 | SpaceSolver is an Internet based collaboration platform integrated into the environment. It demonstrates the usefulness of Constraint satisfaction algorithms when implementing least commitment decision strategies, when making decisions during negotiation, and when changes in the project's context occur. | Constraint satisfaction algorithms are additionally suitable for parametric specifications such as layout design, product configuration. |
Contact: Rainer.Alt@unisg.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| BNRed-1 | Business Network Redesign - Contrary to Start-ups, such as Dell or Amazon, most companies have structures for logistics and distribution in place and, therefore, have to deal with (strategic) channel conflicts, such as disintermediation and substantial integration requirements on the process and technology side. Together with ETA SA, a member of 'The Swatch Group', an eCommerce solution was developed for the distribution of spare parts within a business-to-business environment. An approach was developed which combines traditional approaches from Business Process Redesign with the eCommerce literature. | Further research needed on the joint modeling of Supply Chain Management and eCommerce processes. |
| BNRed-2 | Method for Business Networking - Projects for setting up process networks have to deal with a high level of complexity since they involve redesigning strategies, processes and systems among multiple business partners. During the project different procedural models, techniques and result documents were developed which can be used in other Business Network Redesign projects. | Extend method to include the set up of portals and marketplaces. |
| BNRed-3 | Success Factors - The solution at ETA SA consisted of supply chain reengineering (setting up a direct delivery channel) and eCommerce (developing electronic catalog). Acceptance among the future users was regarded as critical for the diffusion of the solution. Several measures were undertaken during the project (e.g. shaping win-win situations, frequent change requests) which were formulated as success factors for the diffusion of Business Networking projects. | Validation and application of success factors in other projects. |
Contact: thalmann@cui.unige.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| DistCom-1 | Software which provides an interactive communications medium allowing distant users to interact with each other in many ways. The basic tools for interaction are designed so as to allow anyone owning a Personal Computer to interact with another PC. The system provides the basic tools, the scene, virtual avatars, the network layer and basic navigation. | Additional work could extend the basic tools to provide more tools and a system which allows a more extended feeling of presence. This would allow to achieve a better sense of interaction. |
| DistCom-2 | Within the framework of the overall system we provide a package for extension of the system to 3rd parties. This means not only that the system can be expanded by use of creative virtual environments, but the tools that are used within this environment can also. | No real expansion of the system needs to be undertaken, but practical trials of the SDK may be required in order to test complete viability. |
| DistCom-3 | The system itself provides, more specifically, virtual autonomous avatars. These Avatars, although simple in some respects, can provide large amounts of interaction where before there was none. This allows an operator of a virtual world to provide easily a greater array of information to the user. | Depending on the intended application, it may be that the Autonomous Avatars behaviour needs to be expanded in some ways, therefore more development of the Autonomous Module may be required in this instance. |
| DistCom-4 | In a continuing effort to interact with industry, the work done for this project was used to provide a demonstration at Telecom99 in Geneva; this allowed major businesses to advertise themselves in an Interactive Demonstration. This showed a practical result of the software to a large public audience. | No real expansion is foreseen for this key result. |
Contact: RD.Hersch@epfl.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| CAP-1 | The CAP parallel scheduling tool is a C++ preprocessor: it allows to define a parallel schedule at a high level of abstraction and to translate the description into C++ source code. It supports flow control, load balancing and isochronous access requests. | The know-how about CAP has been transferred to company Axs Technologies SA, Lausanne. CAP is being used as a strategic tool for building parallel media servers (Web servers). |
| CAP-2 | CAP has been successfully applied by industry for the computation of radio listening rates (http://www-imt.unine.ch/Radiocontrol/rdcpart2.htm) and for the creation of topographic image servers (http://www.axs-tech.com). | |
| CAP-3 | Run-time support for graceful degradation in the case of parallel server node failure (watchdog, kill of processes, exploration of network, dynamic reconfiguration). |
Contact: txomin.nieva@efpl.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| NePESM-1 | A conceptual model of data acquisition systems (DAS)is proposed. This model is the main result of a systematic review of DASs and software patterns, and our practical experience from the development of a web-based monitoring tool applied to railway equipment. This model gives researchers a high level of abstraction of generic DASs. It also gives them a formal way to discuss the main aspects of a DAS, and it enables them to compare existing standard and/or to propose a new open standard. | This conceptual model is a theoretical result that needs practical validation. Currently an implementation of a DAS system based on this model is being realised, in order to validate it. There are plans to extend this model by formalizing, using UML, to the process of monitoring an industrial system. |
| NePESM-2 | Three prototypes of a remote monitoring tool for railway equipment. Demonstrations of these prototypes can be seen at http://icawww.epfl.ch/nieva/romain/ | A systematic comparison of the different approaches is suitable. It is planned to provide some guidelines that will help remote monitoring tools developers to chose the right approach to their specific system requirements. Investigate applicability of new technologies (SOAP, Jini, …) for remote monitoring of embedded systems. |
Contact: decker@cscs.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| INDICE-1 | The transparent integration of distributed and heterogeneous high-performance computing resources into a single computing framework has been demonstrated using an open and flexible object-oriented approach based on CORBA and Java. | Advances in the OMG standardization process of CORBA firewalls need to be monitored and eventually adapted to INDICE. |
| INDICE-2 | Support for the transparent data transfer within environments without shared file systems has been provided. Users do not have to explicitly transfer computational models from local workstations to the the computing resources dynamically scheduled for problem simulation. | |
| INDICE-3 | A set of tools for job status and key application parameter monitoring and steering over the network have been developed. Using such tools the user can observe the status of running problem simulations and take appropriate steering actions. | Embedding of monitoring and steering agent components within the GUI need to be investigated to improve the usability of the system. |
Contact: roland.siegwart@epfl.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| WebRobot-1 | New concepts for controlling an interfacing of real robots to the Internet have been established. Various demonstrators have been installed, One of them is permanently accessible on http://robonweb.verkehrshaus.org . | Further R&D is needed for issues such as robust autonomous navigation and mobile robotics hardware. Clients interested to have a robot for distant access to their site (e.g. museum, hotel, shopping center,...) are welcome. |
| WebRobot-2 | Virtual reality tools for robots have been elaborated. They allow to train the user before he accesses to the real robot on the Web and are commercialised by Cyberobotics. | Further R&D should be carried out for virtual representation of more complex environments. Cooperation in the filed of education is welcome. |
| WebRobot-3 | Very small mobile robots sizing less than 2 cm have been developed. They are excellently suited for animated education in computer science and probably as intelligent toys. | Further R&D is needed to redesign the robot for large volume and low cost manufacturing. Cooperation with companies involved in education and/or toys are welcome. |
| WebRobot-4 | A new hand-held short range communication device has been developed by collaborators of the project. Its primary application is to ease the communication and contact at conferences. The product is commercialised by spin-off company SheckFish Communications. | Integration of bluetooth technology is required. Further customers involved in the organization of conference and exhibition and similar fields are welcome. |
No entry.
Contact: Dimitri.Konstantas@cui.unige.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| HyperNews-1 | The HyperNews project developed a system that allows the commercial dissemination of information by encapsulating and protecting the data into mobile agents. The system enforces copyright protection at the point of access of the content. It supports superdistribution and hierarchical added value contents. | extended co-operation needed; product /service development that can proceed; |
| HyperNews-2 | Electronic payment mechanisms and for on-line and off-line micro and macro payments. | Requires more R&D to complete the required level of security. Market survey would be required for user acceptance of payment mechanisms. |
| HyperNews-3 | Framework for the development of secure mobile agent-based applications. | Further development is required. |
| HyperNews-4 | Infrastructure for the development of business applications. | Further R&D is needed for the integration of the applications. |
Contact: Thierry.Pun@cui.unige.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| KryPict-1 | Robust image, video digital watermarking algorithms and products. | Product /service development is proceeding. |
| KryPict-2 | Secure copyright protection environment. | Product /service development is proceeding. |
| KryPict-3 | Content-accessible image database of historical papers, in collaboration with the Swiss Paper Museum in Basel. On-line demonstration of the SWIC (Search Watermark Images by Content) system at: http://cuiwww.unige.ch/~vision/demos.html. | Further R&D work needed. Product /service development can proceed on some aspects. |
Contact: Ciaran Bryce: bryce@cui.unige.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| ASAP-1 | The mobile agent paradigm is a viable way to programme distributed systems. The Java language is the best of the current languages for this though its security model is not adapted. Thus an alternative security model for the language was developed. | More work needs to be done on the design of tools for developing, programming and debugging mobile agent applications. Mechanisms for accounting ot the resources consumed by a mobile agent are also needed. Finally, it must be analysed how agents can be exploited to improve system security and reliability. |
| ASAP-2 | Understanding of the security weaknesses of Java and other object-oriented languages. A security model for these language was proposed. | New language constructs are required, and are being designed in a follow-up SNF project. |
| ASAP-3 | Design and implementation of a basic kernel for agents, over which different agent systems and applications can be built. | Hand-held devices will become more common for internet access. This means that the agent kernel and virtual machine must be redesigned for small devices. |
| ASAP-4 | A support platform for electronic commerce applications was developed, in particular for the HyperNews (SPP 5003-045333) and the DNX (SPP 5003-05540) projects. | Other electronic commerce models can be investigated for electronic commerce support. This is being done in the SPP INVENT project (CNEC 2000-01). |
Contact: Marc.Mazzariol@epfl.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| GigaServ-1 | An integrated toolset for building parallel media servers (image servers, multimedia servers) comprising (1) a parallel scheduling system (CAP), (2) a parallel file striping system and (3) a socket-based run-time system. For supporting continuous media applications, the toolset is used in conjunction with an acceptance control and resource allocation procedure. |
The toolset provides support only for single scalable multi-PC server applications (e.g Web servers). Future research should lead to more flexibility,ie., the possibility of launching several server applications sharing common resources (e.g.disk cache). Acceptance control and resource allocation should be shared between several several applications (item in future research project). |
| GigaServ-2 | For serving terabytes of data, the toolset is being extended to support multiple jukeboxes connected to server PCs. | This research will be pursued to offer servers for reading, processing and writing large amounts of data (e.g. video streams). |
| GigaServ-3 | A full-blown server application, the 3D Visible Human Slice and Surface server was developed to test the toolset (http://visiblehuman.epfl.ch). | A project is foreseen with specialists in anatomy in order to offer teaching modules based on the Visible Human Server. |
Contact: Konstantin.Knorr@ifi.unizh.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| MobiMed-1 | Analysis of security mechanisms in health care environments. | |
| MobiMed-2 | New access control mechanism based on a process definition | Further analysis of the new access control mechanisms required, e.g. through the extension of the process model (timeliness of the data, public keys, and digital signatures) |
| MobiMed-3 | Web based prototype supporting the clinical test of a new medication focussing on the security of data transfer and storage (authentication through smart cards possible, SSL used) | Test of the prototype in a field study required, topics like performance and acceptance have to be considered. |
| MobiMed-4 | Risk analysis and technology assessment of security mechanisms in health care, especially hospitals |
Contact: bmhaemmerli@hta.fhz.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| Secastud-1 | Case studies for a information security lab were developed using solutions of leading users in economy. The 12 labs uses 9 hours for each case study and hardware to solve the problems. Beside the lab a model of a fictituous corperation was built. On this model variouse additional management case studies can be made. The 12 topics are:
|
Already existing cooperation with leading edge users of security tools are being intensified and new ones initiated. |
Contact: Thierry.Pun@cui.unige.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| ABWeb-1 | Web sonification tool, WebSound, that allows to associate with each HTML tag of a document a given sonic object (earcon or auditory icon). Each sonic object is then projected into the virtual 3D sound space according to the finger position on the screen. | Product /service development can proceed. Interested companies searched for technology transfer. |
| ABWeb-2 | 3D-audio Web browser, based on WebSound, that allows blind and sighted computer users to explore Web pages, fill in forms, etc., using the 3D sonic rendering. | Product /service development can proceed. Interested companies searched for technology transfer. |
| ABWeb-3 | 3D audio sonic games, From dots to Shapes, to help in a playful manner to teach blind pupils notions such as spatial environment and auditory interaction with computers. Examples of such games are a concentration game (Memory), Tic Tac Toe, Simon, etc. | Further R&D work needed. Some product development can proceed on several games. Cooperation with blind user groups and schools searched. |
| ABWeb-4 | Tool, IDEA, that allows to comprehend simple drawings and to create graphics by means of 3D audio rendering | Further R&D work needed. Cooperation with blind user groups and schools searched. |
Contact: blepori@unisi.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| Swisscast-1 | A prototype for an information service on Internet has been produced, which delivers relevant information according to user-profiles. The prototype includes tools to manage the service, to publish information and to search for new items on the web. | Further research needed in some advanced topics like tools for automatic classification of documents and user's feedback. Co-operation with user groups to develop real applications in other information areas and to support software development. |
| Swisscast-2 | An information service in the R&D area has been implemented for the Università della Svizzera italiana and is now fully operational | Co-operation sought for the extension to an R&D information service for Switzerland; exchange of experience with other agencies working on R&D information services sought. |
| Swisscast-3 | An information service for the pharmaceutical information area based on the Swisscast application will come during the next months into business with a private partner (Actamed) | Cooperation with other partners in the medical and pharmaceutical area would be very useful. |
Contact: coray@epfl.ch; flueckiger@ndit.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| Classroom-1 | In CLASSROOM 2000 several methods and tools supporting the use of new learning technologies within (virtual and semi-virtual) courses in (postgraduate) engineering education have been developed. The technological and pedagogical competencies of the different project partners are further at the disposal in the framework of net4net, the national network for new educational technologies. | The start of net4net is planned for Summer 2000. The network will operate as a special interest group within the Swiss Centre of Competencies for TeleCommunications (CCTC). net4net joins classical universities, universities of applied science and specialised enterprises to a pertinent interest group. |
| Classroom-2 | MEDIT authoring tool: MEDIT is an authoring environment for management and distribution of Web based interactive courses, developed at EPF Lausanne (LITH). | MEDIT will be further developed at EPFL and at University of Firenze (Italy). Other institutions with interest in MEDIT are welcome. |
| Classroom-3 | Virtual Classroom Concept: CLASSROOM 2000 developed and tested a virtual classroom concept using an interactive distant learning environment in combination with head on course elements and interactive learning material for self studies (suitable for group learning). | The Virtual Classroom Concept is pursued in the framework of the Virtual Campus Switzerland. Projects to be mentioned are: NDIT Online, eDucation, Forum New Learning. |
| Classroom-4 | Learning Assistant is a web based tool for use in the framework of distance education. The Learning Assistant serves functions to structure learning activities, to personalize the learning path and to self-evaluate the degree of knowledge and skills acquisition. | The Learning Assistant is pursued in the framework of the Virtual Campus Switzerland. Projects to be mentioned are: NDIT Online, eDucation, Forum New Learning. Also, the Learning Assistant will be further developed in the "NRP 43 - Education and occupation" as well as in the NCCR-project "Establishing Web-based learning environments for effective individual self-learning" by NET, ETH Zürich. |
| Classroom-5 | TeleLaboratory: The TeleLaboratory is a realisation of a remote control system for a telecommunication laboratory at the "Ecole d'Ingénieurs de Fribourg". | see key result "Classroom-4". |
| Classroom-6 | HEURIS Teacher Support System: Within the CLASSROOM 2000 project a prototype - called HEURIS - of an information system concerning the technical and didactical use of new learning technologies has been developed. | HEURIS is pursued in the project Forum New Learning in the framework of the Virtual Campus Switzerland. It will also be applied in the international SOCRATES-projects FACILE and VIOLET. |
Contact: ivyteam@access.ch;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| Ivybeans-1 | IvyFrame is a new and revolutionary way to design, animate and simulate processes, e.g. business processes, administration processes etc. Its main strength are its simplicity and its animation and simulation capabilities. IvyFrame can be integrated into e-business or ERP systems, thus becoming a configuration, workflow design and monitoring tool. Very important customers (like the biggest Swiss insurance, certain government departments, an important telecom company, etc.) decided for Ivybeans against stiff competition. OEM partners, use the IvyFrame as a frontend to their ERP systems. This way the system behaves as specified by the IvyFrame process model. |
IvyFrame is being extended to a Web application design and (!) run-time package for process-based (or workflow-based) Intranet and Internet applications (IvyFrame/WebApp). Flexible and transparent solutions can be developed in a fraction of the time needed with conventional approaches. Partners are sought, especially ASPs (Application Service Providers) for a potential mass market and to further develop software that allows to generate Web based workflow systems directly from an IvyFrame process model. |
Contact: katarina.stanoevska@unisg.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| VSH-1 | Business models for a virtual software house: online delivery and payment of software, pay per use, online sales of software, bundling of software and online consulting | Developments in the software brunch have to be watched and the business models have to be adapted to them. For example outsourcing of licensing, online learning and support, etc. . |
| VSH-2 | Platform for online distribution of software: An integrated platform for online distribution of software was developed and commercialised by the spin-off Information Objects (www.informationobjects.com) | The platform will be developed further with partners from industry and university. |
| VSH-3 | Federated Electronic Product Catalogs: Concepts for federated electronic catalogs for semantical integration and interoperability between online distributors of software have been developed and validated on a prototype. The prototype can be accessed at http://arabella.mcm.unisg.ch. | The technology is currently available as a prototype but needs further development. It has been applied in other application areas as tourism and insurance as well. It is planned to commercialise the technology. |
| VSH-4 | Electronic Product Catalog for Software Products: as part of the federated electronic product catalogs a single catalog for software products was developed based on applied terminology in existing software houses. | The used terminology requires permanent updates according to the appearance of new technology and products. |
| VSH-5 | A prototype that allows customers and consultants to meet requiring a minimum installation (a browser). Server is full fledge, offers warranty of payment, best consultant search available, high security (proof of non-repudiation) between clients and server, The server is replicated and fault tolerant while allowing load-balancing | To have a full fledged product, an extended co-operation is needed, some R&D would be required in order to generalize the idea. |
| VSH-6 | The marriage of two worlds: load-balancing and fault tolerance, allowing to have a large distributed applications. | The concept works for CORBA. It would be interesting to generalize it some more and see how it works with RMI and JINI. Some extended co-operation with a big brand name would be interesting in order to put the protocol in their product. |
| VSH-7 | Integration of high security, the customers and the consultants have a proof of non repudiation of the contract and all data transferred are encrypted through SSL | Working off the shelf as an extended SSL. |
| VSH-8 | Distributed Software Development Environment: Software components keep a link back to their developers during their whole lifetime. A demonstrator was developed which shows the potential of this approach towards development, support, training and consulting of/for software components. | The demonstrator was integrated into the Forest framework of Sun Laboratories. |
| VSH-9 | Specification of Software Component Interaction: Component interaction is described in terms of domain specific languages. A mechanism for providing modular and reusable specifications is supported by a prototype tool. | The software will be developed further in the Montages project of TIK, ETH. |
Contact : Prof. B. Faltings, LIA EPFL Lausanne; faltings@lia.epfl.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| Scalcat-1 | For scalable electronic catalogues applications have been developed using constraint programming to create product configuration applets.The selected applications support airline travel planning and health insurance. | Each application requires modeling of its constraints to fit the tool. Commercialization is currently being discussed. |
| Scalcat-2 | A new way has been developed for users to interact with electronic catalogues using a conversational interface, helping to elicit criteria and needs. | User studies will probably be carried out with EPFL students in the spring of 2000. |
| Scalcat-3 | A new way of networking electronic catalogs within a single framework, based on a standard interchange language. | The new standard interchange language needs further development work (e.g. in the IMCR project of the SPP ICS). |
Contact: Dr. A. Lang, BFSH1/INFORGE, Uni Lausanne; andre.lang@hec.unil.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| RFP-1 |
An operational web site has been developed to support and ease the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Tailored for business-to-business e-commerce, it offers all necessary tools to create, publish, submit, analyse and follow (audit trail) a RFP, allowing therefore to dramatically reduce costs and time, and to substantially increase effectiveness. This electronic platform can be used by any industry sector for any product or service. | With actual support from Swisscom AG, the state of Geneva, Vaud and the Vaud Chamber of Commerce, we are now actively seeking industrial partners to use our web site (www.rfp.ch).
By providing a sufficient number of requests for proposals and by supporting the use of our electronic platform, collaboration with large corporations as well as public administrations and chambers of commerce is the key for the ultimate success of this project. |
| RFP-2 |
Requests For Proposals (RFP's) follow specific rules and processes depending on the industrial sector and specific regulations. An electronic platform for RFPs has been built around a dynamic structure allowing to customize each step of the process and the interaction between buyers and sellers. | No further work is planned in this area as these results were achieved using previous work performed at the University of Geneva. |
| RFP-3 |
The use of XML has been validated as exchange medium and its combined use with HTML (X-HTML) to support the creation, processing and analysis of complex documents. | The functionalities that can be implemented to leverage the use of XML and HTML need to be further investigated. Collaboration will continue with our present partners at the EPF Lausanne |
Contact: V. Koerner, mcm Uni St.Gallen; Veith.Koerner@UNISG.CH
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| Refmod-1 | The use of a validated Reference Model for Electronic Markets is recommended as a methodology guiding the development of Electronic Business Solutions from the development of the concept to the actual implementation. Validation has been performed with the ElCom projects. |
Contact: V. Koerner, mcm Uni St.Gallen; Veith.Koerner@UNISG.CH
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| NetAcad-1 | The Net Academy has been set up as an information and knowledge exchange to communicate and disseminate project objectives, project results, announcements of events, workshops, symposia. It may also be used by project partners for the support of an electronic discussion forum. An closed domain and an open domain may be made use of. | To be further used in SPP ICS projects ElCom 2000. |
| NetAcad-2 | Distribution of information, particularly on ElCom related project work. Besides archiving information, the NetAcademy is being used as a means for the distribution of data. For instance, the announcements of workshops and research results made so far. Through the combined use of database facilities and multimedia Internet facilities processes of knowledge generation can easily be supported. | To be further used in SPP ICS projects ElCom 2000 |
Contact : Dr. Jarle Hulaas, CUI Uni Geneva; jarle.hulaas@cui.unige.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| DNX-1 |
The viability of mobile agent technology as a generic infrastructure for business-to-business e-commerce has been demonstrated using the application of Domain Name Exchange( DNX). Particular attention was given to the case where the reservation or purchase of distributed goods needs to be personalized by the customer. The developed event notification service is also a useful model for future large-scale customizable information filtering systems. | Further R&D work needed on issues such as performance, security (especially in open environments), and appropriate programming models in the mobile agent environment. In the project DNX a somewhat restricted, but nevertheless promising approach has been used. |
| DNX-2 |
Solutions have been developed regarding security in mobile agent platforms, cooperation in heterogeneous environments, use of code mobility to enhance reliability (delegating responsibility through remote execution of customer transactions). | These results need to be explored further in upcoming research projects at UniGE and UniZH. |
| DNX-3 |
New market models have been developed and proposed in the domain name business, with well-defined roles and enhanced guarantees for the domain name holders (registrants). | Further work is to submit these ideas to experts of the domain name business (such as our industrial partners) to enhance our propositions and to obtain support for their dissemination. The results are to be extrapolated to name businesses beyond the application to Internet domain names. |
| DNX4 |
Domain Name EXchange (DNX) is a practical application of agent technology to the secure management of the domain name space, with a new software architecture supporting original value-added services. Proposition for a new IETF standard for domain name registration protocols. | Need for more tests of DNX with CORE's delayed name registry system. Cooperation with lawyer associations in the form of new projects is also under investigation in order to develop techniques for online conflict resolution. |
Contact: B. Schopp, mcm Uni St.Gallen; Bernd.Schopp@unisg.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| Seco-1 | 'Secure Contract Container' has been developed offering the necessary intelligence to support secure transactions between contract parties using cryptography and digital signatures. | Support of non-repudiation functionality; and secure interface for digital signature process of the contract object need to be further addressed. |
| Seco-2 | A central " Contracting Container for secure electronic contracts " has been developed that processes and stores the contracting information that supports the transparency of contract enforcement mechanisms. These require that the contract is legally binding and all the information to enforce it is securely processed and stored. | International legislation is required to provide a legal basis for enforceable contracts. Further work on security mechanisms which give insights in the risk of market transactions (e.g. insurances etc.) . Interest groups should be set up between various players (arbitrating courts, certification authorities etc) that support the transaction process. |
| Seco-3 | Electronic contract templates for certain business applications have been developed for supporting longterm contracts for Business to Business ElCom. Business processes can be combined (controlled, executed, abut) with the support of electronic contracts based on intelligent documents, that include workflow logic. | International legislation is required to provide a legal basis for enforceable contracts. Further work on security mechanisms which give insights in the risk of market transactions (e.g. insurances etc.) . Interest groups should be set up between various players (arbitrating courts, certification authorities etc) that support the transaction process. |
| Seco-4 | Proof of the applicability of the Reference Model Electronic Markets as a general model for the Modelling and Development of Electronic Business Solutions | Application and refinement of the models and derived methodologies |
| Seco-5 | Electronic contract functions have been developed for the support of an integrated information flow throughout the entire electronic commerce transaction. Electronic Markets can be characterized as distributed applications, that support the search of products and services, the contracting phase and the settlement of a market transaction. |
Specification of different market services which can support the contracting process (e.g. arbitration court |
Contact: Mr. M. Michels; Entrust Technologies/Europe, Glattzentrum ZH;
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| Smartpay-1 (MacPay & MicPay) |
A new-generation robust payment scheme for Macro Payments has been developed for secure use over open networks. It is based on public key cryptography, while other cash systems in use today are essentially based on symmetric cryptography. The ECBS Electronic Purse TCD 101 working draft for POS payments was taken as technology basis. | Potential future work is the transfer to the recently issued POS standard CEPS and its integration into a real world PKI. Partners would be banks that intent to switch their purse system to CEPS and a PKI vendor. |
| Smartpay-2 (MacPay & MicPay) |
The basic design of two secure micro-payment schemes applicable to two applications (HyperNews and IP-Phone) has been performed and implemented on a JavaCard. A hash-chain based micro-payment scheme has been developed where the identities of all service providers are included in the root of the chain. | The results of the project may be applied in value cards for supporting the IP Phone applications. |
| Smartpay-3 (MacPay & MicPay) |
The Resource Reservation Protocol RSVP (RFC 2205) has been extended for carrying hash chain payment information for IP phone applications. The extensions of RSVP have been implemented in Java. A first prototype illustrates the feasibility of the chosen approach. | The results achieved with the design of payment and charging extensions for protocols will be utilized in the M3I project that is part of the European Union's Fifth RTD Framework Program. |
| Smartpay-4 (MacPay & MicPay) |
For allowing the off-line purchase of documents, the required cryptographic functionalities have been implemented on a smart-card. This permits to effectively replace an on-line financial institution, developed in the SPP project 'HyperNews'. The requirements and concepts for the integration of the smart card have been defined and implemented for the HyperNews system. | The expertise and technology gained in the SmartPay projects in the operation and capabilities of smart cards will be reused in the development of the authentication and security system for the visually impaired users of the ABA (" Association pour le Bien des Aveugles ") library. Furthermore, the combined payment and access control mechanism used in the HyperNews application is a basic technology for encrypted data streams (like digital video), and will be applied in the planned SPP ICS ElCom 2000 project " StreamCom ". |
Contact: Prof. Dr. B. Stiller; TIK ETHZ, Zürich; stiller@tik.ee.ethz.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
|
CATI-1 (CAPIV & Medeb) |
An integrated scenario and architecture for Charging and Accounting Technologies for Internet (CATI) has been defined, supporting IntServ/DiffServ service models and for VPN management mechanisms. Security and trust features are incorporated, and a business model has been developed. | Generalization required of the business model for Differentiated Services and for VPN service scenarios for future heterogeneous Internet Service Provider markets. Further R&D work needed. |
| CATI-2 (CAPIV & Medeb) |
Pricing models for Internet-Services and basics for a cost model have been developed and evaluated. | Further trial and experimentation work in a real user/provider environment needed. Future European 5th FW project " M3I " will work in this area |
| CATI-3 (CAPIV & Medeb) |
sample IP telephony application with charging and accounting extensions in reservations and a graphical user interface have been designed, implemented and demonstrated . | Further engineering work necessary for full integration of User Interfaces with widespread productive IP telephony applications Deployment of an Integrated Services Internet equipment and infrastructure (a.o. RSVP, Traffic Control) required. |
| CATI-4 (CAPIV & Medeb) |
VPN service management has been designed, implemented and demonstrated, based on a hierarchy of brokers with a Web-based VPN configuration user interface. | Full integration of management configuration functionality into quasi-standard vendor equipment required, however, in principle, product/service development can proceed. |
| CATI-5 (CAPIV & Medeb) |
accounting and flow detection approach has been designed and implemented. | Based on generalized ideas, a dedicated solution for an ISP scenario has been developed, therefore, in principle a basic product/service development can proceed. |
| CATI-6 (CAPIV & Medeb) |
Signalling methods for trading Internet Service Level Agreements and for bandwidth brokering have been developed and verified by simulation. | Further R&D work needed on signalling methods for SLAs. |
| CATI-7 (CAPIV & Medeb) |
A set of demonstrators has been developed on Charging and Accounting extensions, VPN management service, and flow accounting and detection tool for Internet. |
Contact: C.Stricker, LEM EPFL Lausanne; claude.stricker@hec.unil.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| ACE-1 | Concepts have been developed and validated for supporting a market of federated workflow and supply chains, in particular for an electronic market of federated workflows to enable better coordination of out-sourced processes. The feasibility has been demonstrated with the case of software development process. | Additional work :A standard interface enabling to access any kind of catalog's. Tests with more than 2 WFMS. Publication of ACE-flow standard of communication between Trader and WFMS (XML). |
| ACE-2 | A prototype of a computer supported federated workflow and process engineering system has been developed: SER Proflow Workflow systems have been linked with an automated trader (binder). This binder can be reused with other Work Flow Management Systems (WFMS) in order to open the federation to any other systems wanting to enter the market. Also the automated trader and the catalogs technology software prototypee and their technical reports can be reused for further experiments and development. |
Additional WFMS technology providers would be needed for interfacing their workflow products with ACE-flow trading system. |
| ACE-3 | Tools for inter and intra organizational collaboration have been developed: Any kind of services can be electronically outsourced with ACE-flow mechanism (printing, market survey, publishing, software development, logistics (transport, shipping etc.). Providers of outsourced processes send automatically during execution status to the outsourcers. |
ACE-flow platform is of interest to any industry association or communities that need to better support their outsourcing market. |
Contact : A. Coignet, Operating Systems Lab, EPFL, Lausanne; allan.coignet@epfl.ch
| Key result no. | Key results | Requirements for additional work and extended co-operation; future work on key results |
| Merc-1 |
Non-repudiation protocols have been developed based on SSL (Secure Socket Layer), allowing to prove later on that an exchange has taken place between two parties. | Future work: protocol opinizations |
| Merc-2 |
Non-repudiation protocols have been integrated by developing CORBA extensions (E-CORBA). This allows any service running on top of it to use the non-repudiation security service. | |
| Merc-3 |
Service components that allow to retrieve non-repudiation proofs of CORBA requests/replies and also to set up non-repudiation protocols features from the services, using E-CORBA. | |
| Merc-4 |
An architecture has been developed primarily for allowing non-savvy providers to offer their services integrating non-repudiation security services to customers, without having to know how to integrate this security service into their application (handled by the E-CORBA platform). |
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