Location-aware communications in smart spaces

A location-aware communication approach in smart spaces is presented. It is constructed on a symbolic location model to represent the containment relationships between physical objects, computing devices, and places. It enables people and devices to discover and connect with their communication partners according to their co-locations. It also provides everyday objects, including non-computing devices and places, with virtual counterpart objects, which are not only their representations but also executable software, to communicate with their targets and the virtual counterparts of other physical objects. This paper presents the design for this approach and describes its implementation and applications.