Network-Based Distributed Systems Middleware

Middleware is a growing, multidisciplinary area that merges knowledge from diverse areas such as distributed systems, networks and, more recently, embedded systems. This paper presents the results of an extensive review of middleware related literature, and presents an overview of critical features that must be considered during middleware development. These features include: network independence, plug and play operation, quality of service provisioning, service locating and data routing, providing appropriate transactions, scheduling transactions, providing mechanisms for system recovery, and interoperability among multiple languages and middleware systems. We also present a brief overview of our own middleware system, and describe how the above features have influenced its development.