The ECO framework

Researcher: Thomas Heider, Martin Giersich, Christiane Reisse, Christoph Burghardt

Runtime: since 2005

In our smart appliance lab, we have implemented a middleware called  ECO. ECO allows the devices in our laboratory (e.g. projectors, canvasses, lamps, sunblinds) to communicate over two channels: the context channel and the action channel. Devices can be plugged in or removed anytime; they announce this on the context channel. When devices sign on, they furthermore send a description of their relevant properties onto the context channel. This enables devices to build up a world model of other devices surrounding them. The action channel is for sending instructions to devices, like "turn on projector" or "lower canvas". Thus, any device can control any other device via the ECO middleware. To this purpose, every device is associated a service that can listen and speak to the context and action channel. The design of the ECO middlemare thus allows for decentral room control.