A pervasive system architecture that supports adaptation using agents and ontologies

In the context of the EU funded R&D project ATRACO we are developing a conceptual framework and a system architecture that will support the realization of adaptive and trusted ambient intelligent systems. Our approach is based on a number of well established engineering principles, such as the distribution of control and the separation of service interfaces from the service implementation, adopting a SOA model combined with intelligent agents and ontologies. Agents support adaptive task realization and enhanced humanmachine interaction while ontologies provide knowledge representation, management of heterogeneity, semantically rich resource discovery and adaptation. ATRACO systems are dynamic compositions of distributed, loosely-coupled and highly cohesive components that operate in dynamic environments. © 2009 IEEE.