Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

Instruction Division

First Semester 2014-2015

Course Handout: Part-II
In addition to part I (General Handout for all courses appended to the timetable), this portion gives
further specific details regarding the course.
Course Number:
Course Title:
Instructor-in-Charge:

CS G 541 / SS G531
Pervasive Computing
Rahul Banerjee

1. Course Description: The course is about the emerging discipline of Pervasive Computing which is also
known as ubiquitous computing. The key element here is the omnipresence of information devices. These
devices can be embedded into cars, airplanes, ships, bikes, posters, signboards, walls and even clothes. This
course focuses on independent information devices including wearable computers, mobile phones, smart
phones, smart-cards, wireless sensor-compute nodes and the services made available by them.. It includes
human-computer interaction using several types of elements including sensing, text, speech, handwriting and
vision.

2. Scope and Objectives : The course aims at providing a sound conceptual foundation in the area of

Pervasive Computing aspects. The course attempts to provide a balanced treatment of the mechanisms and
environments of pervasive computing and initiates senior CS students to the state-of-the-art in the area. At the
end of this course, students should be able to conceptualize, analyze and design select classes of pervasive
computing systems.

3. Prescribed Text Books: <No graduate level course can depend on only one book. Text book is
being mentioned here only for providing a useful point of reference in keeping with the
current practice.>
T1
Stefen Poslad: Ubiquitous Computing: Smart Devices, Environments and Interactions,
Wiley, Student Edition, 2010.
4. Reference Material:
R1.
R2.
R3.
R4.
R5.
R6.

Laurence T. Yang, Evi Syukur and Seng W. Loke (eds): Handbook on Mobile and Ubiquitous
Computing: Status and Perspective. Auerbach Publications, 2013 (available to all registered
students via Books 24x7 portal connected to BITS Pilani Library homepage.).
Fundamentals of Mobile and Pervasive Computing by Frank Adelstein, Sandeep Gupta,
Golden Richard III and Loren Schwiebert (Dec 30, 2004)
Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction by Claude Ghaoui (ed)
Context-Aware Pervasive Systems: Architectures for a New Breed of Applications by Seng
Loke
Fundamentals of Pervasive Information Management Systems, 2nd Edition by Vijay Kumar
Building the Mobile Internet: Pervasive, Ubiquitous Computing Technologies and Protocols
that are Shaping the Future of Our Mobile Experience by Mark Grayson, Kevin
Shatzkamer and Klaas Wierenga

5. Plan of Study and Lecture-Schedule

Sr.
No.

Lecture
Topics
No. / Nos.

Sections from
T1

3-4

2.1-2.4

6-8

9-11

12-15

16-17

18-19

20-22

10

23-26

11

27

12

28-30

13

31--35

14

36-37

15

38

1-2

Introductory concepts, brief history, How to model

involved fundamental attributes / properties relevant to
ubiquitous / pervasive computing? HCI as relevant to
everywhere computing, Architectural Elements of
Pervasive Computing Systems

Case Studies in Past, Contemporary and In-research Pervasive

Computing Systems and related products / applications, Current
Status and Emerging Trends in Pervasive / Ubiquitous /
Everywhere / Invisible Computing

A Visit to the Pervasive & Wearable Computing Laboratory

in the New Academic Block for getting to know what
actually could be used by you for building your projects
under the Learning-by-Doing model

1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4,

1.5

Not applicable

Pervasive Computing Device Technologies and Service

3.1-3.3
Architectures: Device types, Device Characteristics, Pervasive
Computing Service Architectural Paradigms, Service / Resource
Discovery basics, Elements of service composition, invocation
and deployment
Concepts in Operating Systems, Virtualization and their relevance 3.4
to Pervasive Computing, select example Operating Systems of
relevance
Phones, Smart Cards and related hardware / software concepts
4.1, 4.5
(OS included), select case studies, connectivity through Gateway
services: the OSGi approach
Computer Interactions (HCI) in Pervasive Computing: basics,
5.1-5.4
select representative approaches to the HCI, invisible / hidden UI
techniques and technologies
The Human-Centered Design (HCD), fundamentals of User
5.5-5.7
modeling, the iHCI paradigm
Active and Semi-Active Tagging fundamentals and applications:
6.1,6.2
the RFID approach, the Internet of Things paradigm and role of
the RFID tags
Introduction to sensors, sensor-compute nodes, sensor networks
6.3
and wireless sensor networks (WSNs)
Fundamentals of real-time and non-real-time embedded systems
6.5
of relevance, select examples
Fundamentals of Context-Aware Computing, Context Modeling,
7.1-7.6
Mobility aspects of awareness and its implications, Spatial
aspects of awareness and its implications, Temporal aspects of
awareness and its implications, complementary aspects of
awareness and its role in service adaptation
Elements of intelligent / smart pervasive computing systems,
8.1-8.79.3.5, 9.3-9.4
Environments and Architectures of relevance, brief discussion on
major types / classes of Intelligent Systems (ISes) and their
relevance to Ubiquitous Computing Environments, Multi-Agent
ISes, generic, / social networking / media-exchange /
recommender and referral systems and associated work flow
aspects in pervasive computing
Basics of Autonomous Systems and Intelligent Life paradigm of
10.1-10.6
computing
Communication Networking aspects of Pervasive / Ubiquitous
11.1-11.7

16

39

17

40

Computing
Principal challenges, issues and contemporary approaches in
pervasive computing
Recent Advances in Pervasive / Ubiquitous Computing, select
case studies

6. Evaluation Scheme:

13.1-13.13.9
Online notes

Evaluation
Component
Research Seminar

Type

Weight

Duration

Schedule

Individual

20%

To be announced
via Nalanda LMS
after Mid-Semester
Test

Course Project

Group (2/3 members)

20%

20-minutes for
presentation
and 10 minutes
for discussion
in each case
(after a month
of topic
selection)
Two months
since problem
statement
approval

Mid-Semester Test

Open Book

30%

2 Hours

Comprehensive
Examination

Closed Book

30%

3 Hours

Selection of
Problem Statements
shall close before
Mid-Semester Test
but Demonstration
cum Viv-voce
schedule shall be
published in the
month of October
As per IDs
Announcement
As per IDs
Announcement

7. Notices: All notices shall be displayed electronically only at the Course Page of the
Nalanda LMS
8. Make-up Policy: Only in genuine cases, on a case-by-case basis, Make-ups shall be
allowed.
9. Chamber Consultation Hours: Monday, 4 PM.

Instructor-in-charge