Context-aware Policy Matching in Event-driven Architecture

Applications for supporting pervasive computing and agility are the current trend in software development. The serviceoriented architecture (SOA) enables connection between consumers and service providers in a loosely-coupled way to improve flexibility and extensibility. This architecture is static, which utilizes predefined sequences of actions and fixed policies. Ongoing processes cannot adapt to dynamic changes in the environmental conditions or context. Imagine the situation where a real estate broker shows her client a house for sale, matching the preference profile provided by the potential buyer. While the buyer likes the general location of the house, he considers it unacceptable due to the unexpected traffic noise from a nearby street. Instead of proceeding with the original plan to show another house on the same street, an experienced broker should adjust the plan in light of this additional constraint. The broker connects to the multiple listing service with her mobile device and downloads a newly listed house within minutes of the current location that better satisfies the client’s requirements. Such a scenario can facilitate the introduction of events into SOA (He 2003). Real-time changes are modeled as events, which in turn trigger changes of states for the workflow to meet the business needs. In this scenario, events can be ”shows client a house”, ”add client’s requirements”, etc.