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Efficient management of service level agreements which govern provision of service compositions remains a big challenge in the Web services environment. This paper reports innovative research aiming at supporting autonomous establishment of a set of interrelated service level agreements for service compositions. In this paper, an agent-based framework is proposed to exploit agent interaction and negotiation capabilities for achieving agreements on service provision. Based on this framework, this paper also discusses mechanisms for agents representing service consumers and providers to negotiate quality of service constraints for constituent services in a coordinated way, with a focus on achieving end-to-end quality of service requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses personalised cooperative mobile learning. Context, context-awareness and the application of context-awareness are considered. The development of a generic RDF context framework is presented, adaptability is considered and comparisons are drawn with related research. Context definitions are domain specific with each domain requiring specific contextual design. In this paper, the focus is the context definition for a student in the domain of higher education. A context reasoning ontology is introduced to provide support for intelligent context processing. The paper concludes that RDF/RDFS combined with OWL and Jena provides a basis for the creation of context, context reasoning with ontology enabling effective intelligent context processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-learning has been adopted by more and more educational institutions to implement their new learning and teaching strategy around the world. Students can study their courses which could be run by different universities which run different e-learning platforms. A universal data integrated e-learning platform is essential to transparentise the significant difference among disparate data sources which are used by different e-learning systems. This paper proposes an effective data integration mechanism for e-learning system. At the same time security concerns are discussed. The workflow-based data integration approach is shown in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context technology is a core component in cooperative mobile applications. Based on our research project "A Context Framework for Personalised Mobile Learning in Pedagogic Systems", this paper presents a semantic context model called "SmartContext", which includes a standardised context template, a context reasoning ontology and a context middleware to investigate a solution for supporting cooperative mobile learning. The integration of "SmartContext" with the current e-learning system in University of Central England is also included in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an approach of multidisciplinary knowledge modeling for concurrent and collaborative design. Firstly, a method to acquire the knowledge from simulation and specification is studied. The knowledge is used to constitute concurrent and collaborative design model. Secondly, a concurrent and collaborative design algorithm is presented to solve the model. Finally, the method is demonstrated by a design example of bogie. The results prove that multidisciplinary knowledge modeling from simulation data and specification is feasible, and the proposed method can be applied in concurrent and collaborative design process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the extended quality function deployment (QFD) in life cycle design (LCD) based on the traditional QFD which is often used at the requirement analysis stage. By investigating QFD in the product life cycle design, the extended QFD is proposed with the theoretical frame. The extension begins with the analysis of requirement by adding environment and cost factors, instead of only customer requirements, as the input of the 1st level house of quality (HoQ). Accordingly, multi-target values are built in. In a sequential process of the LCD, the extension carries out requirement deployment, function deployment, equipment deployment, part deployment, cost deployment and reliability deployment. Finally, this paper reveals how to apply the extended QFD in LCD and how to choose and adjust HoQ for different products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an application framework for constructing sketch-based cooperative design (especially for distributed conceptual design) tools. Three key issues are addressed: (1) how to represent and store sketch document; (2) how does the system infer the designers' intention and help them to complete the design process; (3) how to implement the communication between the client and the server. Solutions to these problems are proposed in this paper. The framework has been implemented and tested on a variety of applications, for example, cooperative UML diagram design. The primary experiments demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is difficult to manage constraint information in cooperative design due to its variety and changeability. The concept of Constraint Information Visualization (CIV) in cooperative design and CIV framework comprising the CIV methodology are put forward to control cooperative design flow efficiently, detect constraint conflicts early and negotiate the contradiction under the support of visualization. On the basis of classification and representation of constraint information, this paper discusses the importance of CIV and its formalized description for cooperative design. The procedure of visual mapping and harmony evaluation is given in details. The main step of visual mapping is divided into classification mapping, structure and harmony mapping and detailed property mapping. Visual Mapping implements mapping from constraint information to visual representation with corresponding mapping modes. The concepts of local harmony and global harmony are also proposed for cooperation. An application of CIV verifies CIV methodology, which will direct a new way to implement complicated constraints management in cooperative design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wide availability of wireless devices has become one of the main challenges for designers of collaborative applications like collaborative graphics editing. Mobile devices are not as "standardized" as stationary computers but are much more diverse with respect to computing resources, connection bandwidth and display capabilities. In this paper, we present a semi-replicated architecture which supports multiple degrees of consistency maintenance for collaborative graphics editing systems in heterogeneous environments. To maintain consistency of the replicas on mobile embedded devices, either data consistency or semantic consistency is maintained based on the prediction of the regions of interest. The proposed on demand consistency maintenance scheme for mobile sites makes collaboration more efficiently. The scheme is realized in our prototype system of collaborative graphics editing system that can work well in heterogeneous environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to describe a framework that extends and combines two CSCW theories, Situated Action (SA) and Distributed Cognition (DC), to provide situated support for human activities in small workgroups. SA characterises teamwork as unpredictable, ill structured or emergent (often all of these) and people need creative processes to find solutions to their problems. In order to provide support, we draw on DC. We extend this concept into a framework called Cognitive Dust, which is composed of cognitive processes and anything observable in a focus domain. Cognitive Dust, which is collected through a multi modal infrastructure, allows us to measure complexity in various aspects of workspace activities and we use complexity as a marker for creativity. This allows us to identify when creativity is occurring and suggests opportunities for providing dynamic, contextually relevant, situated support for the group. This paper describes Cognitive Dust, which is the first step in a research project that will ultimately enable a computer infrastructure to provide group support without human assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright and integrity protection over product data is becoming an urgent requirement, because in a Distributed Networked Manufacturing environment, enterprises have to interact with each other to share product data. In this paper, we introduce a novel watermarking solution for product data based on the idea of fractal, which classifies product data watermarks into three tiers: fractal watermark, tree-structure watermark, and tree-node watermark. It embeds watermarks not only in value-carrying nodes but also in product structures that "glue" all the nodes together by embedding multiple structure watermarks in product data. Simulation results show that the proposed technique is robust against various forms of malicious attacks of product data, and naturally immune from structure transformation attacks and subtractive (sub-tree) attacks. Moreover, the solution can protect tree-structure data whose knowledge is mainly embodied in the tree structure efficiently. It is very easy to implement and popularize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The foundation of a traditional workflow management system is process-based management. We have proposed to integrate policy-based management in workflow management systems to improve the flexibility and the dynamic behavior. In this paper, how to implement policy-based management in a workflow system is discussed. To construct policy model, a meta modeling method with four layer structure is introduced. The main tasks in each layer of the meta modeling architecture are described. To define where and when to apply policies in a workflow, a Control Point model is introduced. A workflow process meta model supporting policy-based management is presented. The architecture of a simple prototype system to support policy based management is also presented. The new approach has better flexibility in design time and higher adaptability at run-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic policy enables the system to adjust the policies according to the changing circumstance, and makes the system more flexible and adaptive. We have proposed a dynamic model and the idea is to dynamically change the policy according to a pair of states rather than one state, which provides more information for the policy decision making, thus makes policy more accurate. The dynamic policy architecture based on this model is built in this paper, and we describe the components and steps of detecting a change, deciding the pair of current and previous states and picking up the policy according to the change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge representation is a key to the success of conceptual design where much implicit knowledge is left by different designers involved in the design. The traditional methods of knowledge representation lack explicit expressions for knowledge sharing. This paper presents a framework of functional knowledge based on ontology which can provide a good inference mechanism, in order to represent knowledge formally and explicitly in the conceptual design. The framework consists of three-level ontology constrained by semantic and syntax. In addition, a function structure meta-model (FSFM, Function-Solution-Findings-Model) is proposed for the innovative design in the conceptual design phase according to the knowledge framework. The knowledge ontology layers are defined in the meta-model and their relationship in the meta-model is discussed as well. Ontology modeling language OWL is applied to describe function ontology. Finally, an example is proposed to illustrate the process of the solving model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient scheduling methods are essential for time and cost reduction in grid workflow applications, depicted by directed acyclic graphs (DAG). Few of the proposed algorithms consider users' demands when allocating tasks to heterogeneous resources with different capabilities and costs. In this paper, a dynamic time and cost tradeoff heuristic is presented to optimize the cost and time of the whole workflow. The algorithm identifies the time-critical activities and cost-critical activities in each ready list generated during the workflow execution. Appropriate services are allocated to time-critical and cost-critical activities based on different QoS criteria. Experimental results show that the algorithm can achieve a better tradeoff between workflow completion time and execution cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wide-area protection system (WPS) is a trend of the future power system control. It monitors the contingency of a power system from the system-wide view and takes an instant action to restore the power system to its stable point. Because of the special characteristics, the WPS scheme is difficult to be simulated and tested under a conventional development environment. A Web services-based architecture for WPS design and simulation is proposed in this paper. This novel architecture wraps the legacy energy management system (EMS) functions into standard Web service interfaces, and provides standard remote computing and security evaluation services from EMS to WPS. Under this architecture, WPS scheme can be simulated and tested efficiently and the gap between simulation and running environment will be filled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional non-cooperative game theory is neither Pareto optimal nor fair. It will lead to the loss of efficiency among the homogeneous network services. In this paper, a cooperative game theory based network resource negotiation model carried on by agents is presented. Compared with previous research, the current work focuses on efficiency and fairness. Its chief aim is to utilize cooperation and aggregated of the homogeneous services. The model is based on the idea of the asymmetric NBS (Nash Bargaining Solution) and coalitional game from cooperative game theory. Then a two-stage negotiation algorithm is presented. The homogeneous network services coalition reaches agreement by multi-lateral negotiation using the algorithm. Finally the comparison analysis results demonstrate the advantages of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to construct dynamic, flexible virtual organizations becomes one of the most desired features of a distributed application system. This paper proposes an agent-mediated service framework for constructing virtual organizations at the business level. Through dynamic matching between business services and Web services, and the negotiation between virtual organization agent and partners' agents, virtual organizations can be constructed dynamically by choosing partners on-the-fly. The framework has been implemented and tested in a real setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the multi-actors interaction during collaborative design, conflicts can be revealed from disagreements between designers about proposed designs. A critical element of collaborative design would be conflict resolution. This paper proposes a methodology to support designers during the process of conflict management; focusing mainly on identifying the conflict resolution team and evaluating the selected solution impact issues. The methodology is based on product data dependencies network which is composed of the handled data and the dependency links between them. Qualification concepts are introduced to manage these dependencies. In order to identify this network, a traceability model to track the design process is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative software development is called for to meet the requirement of the increasingly expanding software scale. A more advanced software development environment is needed to support the collaborative software development activity. The contribution of this paper is an architecture of process-centered context-aware software development environment, called CASDE, which effectively supports the collaborative development activity. We first discuss the software development activity using activity theory, and highlight its collaborative features. We then present the architecture of CASDE with a brief introduction to its key elements. The focus of the architecture lies in its support to the three levels of collaboration, i.e., co-ordinated level, co-operative level, and co-constructive level. Due to its supportive and integrated nature, the architecture can support collaboration effectively. CASDE is believed to be able to play a positive role in supporting the collaborative software development activity and improving the quality of software systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid distributed manufacturing execution system (HDMES) can be widely considered as a typical case of complicated application system. In this paper, the management characteristics of a multi-location special steel enterprises are analyzed; the flat-style management pattern system architecture for Special Steel Enterprises Information System (SSEIS) is constructed and the hardcore functional structures of HDMES—planning and scheduling system and material flow tracking system are brought about. This paper proposes the usage of applied information models to support the distributed product manufacturing process. On the basis of the corresponding relation between production number and contract number, the contract-tracking model is proposed. Based on the grouping of products with similar attributes, the material balance model is put forward. This system is developed based on J2EE and its interrelated modules work dynamically and systematically in Web environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Co-assembler is a customer-oriented collaborative product configuration system, which guides and advises customers to configure their products according to their needs. The system aims to capture customers' needs and convert them into technical specifications, helping facilitate e-commerce for enterprises. In this paper, we focus on discussing the subsystems that apply expert design knowledge and artificial intelligence to assist customers in choosing suitable forms, sizes, styles, colors and product configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the development of a design supporting system for press die of automobile panels. The proposed system supports the design process of press die efficiently and systematically by utilizing standard data, and reflecting knowledge of press die design collected and accumulated through the interviews with design specialists working in a Korean motor company. This paper illustrates a methodology for systematic press die design, automatic checking of dimensions and implementation.In addition the rule-based design system is developed based on the product data. All components of the press die are regarded as product data and the components are regarded as the unit of press die. Parametric design using knowledge base and standard database is introduced to make it easier to deal with the complicated design knowledge easily. For implementation, the rule-based design system is programmed with C++ and Motif and the system can be linked with CATIA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have shown that collaboration is still badly supported in Software Development Environments (SDEs). This is why we try to take benefits from a theory developed in Social and Human Sciences, the Activity Theory, to better understand the cooperative human activities in which SD is realized. This paper particularly focuses on the experience crystallization principle to propose new solutions while enhancing the support for collaboration in the widely used Eclipse IDE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been difficult to handle unexpected exceptions in collaborative design. The expert system based method is extensively used, but it seems mission impossible not to loss some information when storing the expert experience in structured format, and to interact friendly in natural language. Aiming at these, we proposed a knowledge acquisition based approach for unexpected exceptions handling in collaborative design, which enable design engineer to define an exception using natural language, and make expert experience stored in natural language which is zero information loss. In this paper, two methods for mining similar records are proposed, and the performance comparison is shown that our approach is more efficient, extendable and precise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important aspect in GSM/GPRS network optimizing, frequency optimizing is theoretically reduced to the channel assignment problem (CAP). This paper puts forward HFA, an engineering-oriented heuristic CAP algorithm that takes the assignment difficulty coefficient (ADC) and the call priority as heuristics for channel allocation. We introduce the concept of hotspot cells, which has higher priority in channel assignment, and elaborate the rules for calculating channel separations on the basis of radio propagation models and geographical information. HFA is verified by the 21-cell benchmark and has been used to optimize the GSM/GPRS networks in several cities of Liaoning Province. Suggestions are also presented on heuristic assignment of PN offsets in CDMA2000 systems and of scrambling codes in WCDMA systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed and real time collaborative applications are developing at a trememdous speed. People now can effortlessly collaborate with each other in a relatively small scale and location. But there are still numerous challenges to extend the application to a large scale, for example, tens of thousands of users distribute all over the world. Effective and efficient data and object location is one of the most critical issues. In this paper, we presented a Resilient Mechanism for Data and object Location and routing (RDLM), a self-organizing, scalable, robust wide-area infrastructure that efficiently routes requests to content in the presence of heavy load and network faults. Simulation experiments show that RDLM has a satisfying performance especially under heavy network traffic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sharing information between team members and the need to collaborate on design work to ensure that all elements of the design are compatible is essential. The type of information to be shared in a design project takes many different forms which can be stored digitally and processed electronically using all types of digital devices. Peer-to-Peer computing has opened up the possibility for information to be transferred directly between digital devices so that mobile phones, PDA's, networked computers, and other communicable devices could be used to pass information between team members. The use of XML allows information to be held in data structures and these structures can be processed in a peer-to-peer environment using software tools. This paper shows through the creation of a simple prototype and a tool called JXTA from the SUN Corporation how the sharing of data structures using Peer-to-Peer computing can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application self-reconfiguration is essential in order to complement the flexibility and adaptability for sensor networks in the environment monitoring domain. In this paper, we mainly focus on the issue of application self-reconfiguration from the point of cooperation. Based on our previous works, we conclude the features of cooperation in sensor networks, and propose a hierarchical cooperation model to describe the cooperative manners. Finally, we utilize the layered cooperation model to realize application self-recon-figuration in sensor networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context awareness, context sharing and context processing are key requirements for the future CSCW, HCI and Ubiquitous computing systems. However, research issues of collaborative context have not been completely addressed till now. While arguing that a generic context model is very important for building context-aware collaborative applications, this paper proposes a new semantic rich context modeling approach, Ontology for Contextual Collaborative Applications (OCCA), for collaborative environments. Based on OCCA, mechanisms for context query, context matching and collaboration awareness control are devised using semantic query and reasoning technology to support the three perspectives of a context model, i.e., information space, interaction space and collaboration control. We present an evaluation study on the features and performance of OCCA and context query services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In groupware development, one of the most important work-group support issues is providing information about the context under which a group interacts. Research has been done in order to clarify the relationship between context and group work. The goal of this paper is to describe an experiment aimed at evaluating Interaction Context relevance on the collaboration level in group interactions supported by groupware and to establish a way to specify context aspects in groupware design. A case study was set up and carried out with this purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As collaborative editing systems are becoming more and more prevalent, new requirements on collaboration are raised by users. This paper presents a novel editing system based on natural language processing, which has been used in Chinese language teaching. The proposed approach has addressed a number of problems existed in textbook editing, e.g., in order to improve the speed and accuracy of automatic phonetic notation, a method of Chinese text segmentation has been proposed; corpus retrieval is applied in the system for selection of suitable sample sentences for new words; also, in order to control the amount and recurrence rate of new words, a method of cross-text search and computing is adopted. The feedback of users has indicated that the system indeed reduces the time spent in editing collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of e-Service market, a large number of e-Services, for example, stock trading, real-time traffic report, or travel planning, are already available on the Web. In order to achieve the complex business requirement using e-Services, there has been a growing interest in e-Services composition and cooperation. In order to make effective utilization of Internet resources, it is a trend to enable the e-Services to be dynamically deployed and executed for composition and cooperation. This paper will focus on security issues in dynamic composition and cooperation of e-Services. With the extended WSDL description and through the replication technique, the replica of an e-Service can be dynamically deployed and executed on the optimum server, which is selected from the registered servers in the enhanced UDDI center. And, a security mechanism of trusted right delegation is introduced to ensure the safely and dynamically sharing of the resources among the e-Services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product design specification (PDS) is a key step regarding the whole total design process. It is crucial for people who are involved in the product design process to efficiently share and reuse the PDS and related information. With the support of state-of-the-art technologies, in particular, Web Services and Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), a distributed environment has been established which made future engagements in information utilizing for PDS simpler, faster and more efficient. In this paper, a brief review of the importance of PDS in the entire total design process is given first, followed by the presentation of the technologies involved in this PDS environment. This distributed environment will help manufacturers accelerate product to market and minimize potential design errors in the early product stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the support for legacy application, which is one of the important advantages of Grid computing, is presented. The ability to reuse existing codes/applications in combination with other Web/Internet technologies, such as Java, makes Grid computing a good choice for developers to wrap existing applications behind Intranet or the Internet. The approach developed can be used for migrating legacy applications into Grid Services, which speeds up the popularization of Grid technology. The approach is illustrated using a case study with detailed description of its implementation step by step. Globus Toolkit is utilized to develop the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

QoS (quality of service) has become a hot topic of research in service-oriented grid environment. The key question of embedding multi-dimensional QoS into task scheduling and RMS (resource management system) evaluation is to find a scheme to integrate multiple QoS metrics. In this paper, measurement model of grid QoS is proposed to integrate multiple QoS metrics. By using this model, multi-dimensional QoS scheduling heuristics is put forward. Finally, two simulation experiments are conducted: one is to make a comparison between traditional Min-Min and multi-dimensional QoS guided Min-Min; another is to apply measurement model to evaluate the performance of grid RMS. It is indicated that the measurement model can integrate multiple QoS metrics effectively and multi-dimensional QoS scheduling can enhance the performance of grid environments remarkably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce a peer-to-peer system that provides versioning function on the content. The proposed system is build on top of the distributed hash tables, which provide the elementary data storing-retrieving function to the proposed system. So the data stored in our system are scattered over the network but not on a dedicated server. First, the proposed system is different from the traditional version system in that it is a peer-to-peer system rather than a client/server system that requires a central server. Second, the proposed system is different from the other peer-to-peer system in that it provides version information about the data it stored. These two features enable the reliability and robustness of the proposed system. The version management function of the system can be used in constructing team collaboration system and used as the replacement of the concurrent version managemeont system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software design processes are complex, highly collaborative and usually performed under time pressure. Knowledge is volatile due to constant turn over in software organizations and continuous advances in design technology. Software engineers usually depend on tacit knowledge shared among them in order to perform their tasks. Communicating this type of knowledge can only be facilitated by creating a shared context among actors. The aim of this paper is to present a proposal for modeling and use of shared contexts for improving software organization's knowledge management, collaboration and learning. We propose a strategy for organizing, capturing and retrieving knowledge into/from organizational memory including contextual information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pi-calculus is a model of concurrent computation, which can express communication between correlation processes. It provides a way of constructing systems in a bottom-up manner by composing subsystems, and it also has strict formal semantics. Therefore, pi-calculus is very suitable for designing business processes which are presently becoming more and more complicated. The paper proposes a composition-oriented approach to business process design based on pi-calculus theory and gives the formal definition of business process. It also illustrates the design method by simulating an example of order processing. By this method, a complicated business process can be divided into several independent simple sub-modules, which can greatly reduce the complexity of business process design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a system for identifying persons who have proper skills to form a specialized team capable to execute self-managed projects of research and development. Such identification is based on techniques of textual information retrieval applied on a document base of résumés. The system has been evaluated with data from real projects and the results observed have shown that the system can automatically identify persons to collaborate in research projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bounded Model Checking (BMC) based on SAT is a complementary technique to BDD-based Symbolic Model Checking, and it is useful for finding counterexamples of minimum length. However, for model checking of large real world systems, BMC is still limited by the state explosion problem, thus abstraction is essential. In this paper, BMC is implemented on a higher abstraction level - Register Transfer Level (RTL) within an abstraction framework of symbolic trajectory evaluation and hybrid three-valued SAT solving. An efficient SAT solver for RTL circuits is presented, and it is modified into a three-valued solver for the cooperative BMC application. The experimental results comparing with the ordinary BMC without abstraction show the efficiency of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we suggest and describe an approach to the design of extended CSCW architecture, based on the embedded KSL (Korean Sign Language) recognizer. Our approach is important for deaf person's decision-making and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in the CSCW domain. Accordingly, we implement the WPS (Wearable Personal Station)-based embedded KSL (Korean Sign Language) recognizer, that can support clear communication between the hearing-impaired and hearing persons, and then describe and estimate the applicability with 3 items (interaction, visualization and coordination), as basic functional criteria and requirements for a CSCW system. The suggested CSCW architecture provides a wider range of personalized and differentiated information more effectively in brainstorming sessions, and the user need not be constrained by the limitations of a particular interaction mode at any given moment because of the WPS can guarantee the mobility of the embedded KSL recognizer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bill of Material (BOM) is of a great importance in the dynamic allied enterprises during the product life cycle. A unified BOM method was proposed in the paper in order to bridge the gap between the different forms of BOM. After analyzing the information flow from engineering BOM to manufacturing BOM, the system framework was established based on STEP and XML standards which can secure the product data's uniformity in a collaboration environment; and the implementing method and platform are also introduced. A case study has been conducted and shown that it is reasonable and feasible to tackle the multi-view issue of BOM and provide the integrity, conformability and instantaneity of product data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, as the requirements of e-business are evolving, and the domain complexity is increasing, the practical use of component is growing in the e-business applications. By enhancing flexibility and maintainability, the component management framework can potentially be used to reduce system development costs, assemble systems rapidly, and relieve the spiraling maintenance burden for supporting the evolution of e-business. In this paper, we propose a component-driven development framework named EbizCom. The EbizCom provides a plug-and-play component-oriented development environment for e-business systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an evolutionary approach to dynamic enterprise process modeling and its supporting development environment. A dynamic enterprise process collaborative modeling framework is proposed for enterprise process evolution. Zero-time enterprise modeling using components assembly technologies and layered complex enterprise processes modeling approaches are discussed. Based on an autonomous agent development environment, an agent-based enterprise collaborative modeling environment was implemented which had integrated some of software resource agents wrapped from the main function modules of EPMS (enterprise process modeling system) to validate the proposed evolutionary approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multi-client technique framework is an essential mechanism of the Distributed Virtual Reality (DVR) driving simulator, which supports remote network real-time interaction and cooperation. As one of the excellent Virtual Reality software Development tools, Virtools is remarkable for its strong capability of interaction. Through an in-depth study on Virtools, the authors have developed a distributed driving simulator system based on the 3D engine, and studied the distributed network system with a real case. At the same time, some key issues for Distributed Virtual Reality of the Virtools-based platform, such as real-time prediction and dead reckoning, have been discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In decentralized projects, several organizations come together to work on a joint project. Increased networking and distribution have facilitated their implementation. Common practices, such as subcontracting and consulting, sometimes lead to the creation of more flexible, less hierarchical structures. Partners are often considered as peers and the group has the flexibility to restructure itself according to its needs. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework for supporting decentralized groups using agent technology. This framework was developed based on a study of a decentralized group involved in a software research, design and development project. In our observation, a great amount of time is spent with articulation and maintaining partners up-to-date, which suggests that appropriate awareness support might facilitate the group's activities. We define the necessary modules and a specific agent architecture to support these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative product design is a typical complex problem-solving process where designers' knowledge and expertise are always tactic and implicit. This paper depicts the concept of design scenario and the scenario-based design knowledge acquiring in a cognitive approach. Through a cognitive experiment based on protocol analysis and sketch analysis in terms of scenario-based collaborative product design, a model of scenario-based knowledge acquiring in product design is proposed. The model includes two types of spontaneous design knowledge acquiring method - concept-driven knowledge acquiring and data-driven knowledge acquiring, which indicates that design knowledge acquiring is a process of scenario moving. On the basis of the model, a scenario-based computer aided product design system CBID is developed to improve the ability and quality of collaborative product design of seven Chinese corporations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many initiatives in the scientific community to produce knowledge management and CSCW systems. However, it is difficult to promote the easy information share among learners. In this paper we present Olympus, a multi-agent system to help learners share not only what the information content is, where the information is, and who have the information needed by the learner, but also how to use the available knowledge. Olympus uses agent technologies, ontologies and data mining to create knowledge chains in a semi-automatic way, which is a job that usually would take a lot of effort. The agent monitors the learner's web navigation activities. From there, another agent classifies its content using an ontology, creates and recommends a knowledge chain to the learner. As a sub-product of this work we establish a knowledge base with classified web pages contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing the issues of Quality of Service (QoS) from user perspective is gaining increasing importance in ubiquitous collaborating systems. However, it is difficult to perform an effective and rigorous analysis of QoS user requirements using traditional methods of investigation. To acknowledge this fact, researchers need to move literally as well as metaphorically from the laboratory to the field. In this respect, applying ethnographic methods of investigation can unfold the social aspects of work practices in the "real world". In this paper, we address the issues of QoS in terms of user requirements. We also present an approach based on ethnography and multi-agent systems to address these issues in an effective way by mapping a user mental model onto intelligent agents. We apply an ethnographic approach in order to understand and elucidate the semantics, functionality and detail QoS requirements for a collaborative system in an academic domain. Secondly, we employ agent technology for modelling a collaborative system based on user profiles and preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]