CCAST - Context Casting - providing an end-to-end context-aware communication framework
Duration: 24 months (2008 - 2010)
Start: 1/3/2008
Project Website: "http://www.ict-ccast.eu/"
Principal Investigator: Ανδρέας Πιτσιλλίδης
Main Funding Source: European Commission
Total Cost: 246,800
Partners: Portugal Telecom Inovação S.A.(Portugal), Telecom Italia (Italy), Deutsche Welle (Germany), BigBand Networks Ltd.(Israel), Motorola SAS (France), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.(Germany), Instituto de Telecomunicações de Aveiro (Portugal), University of St Gallen (Switzerland), University of the West of England (UK), University of Applied Sciences Osnabrueck (Germany), University of Kaiserslautern(Germany), University of Cyprus (Cyprus), Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (France), IBM Israel – Science and Technology LDT (Israel)
C-CAST is based on two main competence areas: creation of context awareness and multicasting technologies. Context information defines groups that demand the same information or service. These services are delivered efficiently by multicasting bearers. The project will research, investigate and define ways to use the situation/environment of a user (a mobile device) to initiate group communication. This environment mediated multicast may be triggered by an event or something in the physical environment offering a situation or context orientated service. C-CAST will provide an end-to-end context-aware communication framework specifically for intelligent multicast-broadcast services.
The main strategic objective of Context Casting is to evolve mobile multicasting to exploit the increasing integration of mobile devices without everyday physical world and environment. It addresses three key issues: Development of context and group management service enablers for context representation, context assisted group management and context reasoning; Definition of a framework to collect sensor data, distribute context information and manage efficiently context aware multiparty and multicast transport; and Development of mechanisms for autonomous context driven content creation, adaptation and media delivery.