Using Proximity Relations for the
Adaptation of Mobile Field Services
Heinz-Josef Eikerling,
Matthias Benesch,
Frank Berger
Siemens AG
Siemens IT Solutions &
Services C-LAB
Copyright © Siemens AG 2007. All rights reserved.
Background: Challenges in Field Services
Mobile maintenance & repair
Challenges w.r.t. the maintenance of
complex devices and appliances:
 Different editions of goods 
lots of documents
 Information retrieval  partly during
execution of procedure
 Tracking of workflows  electronic check
lists
 Smooth fading between processes 
e.g., switching from maintenance to repair
processes
 Hands-free operation in special
situations  services supporting multimodality
Copyright © Siemens AG 2007. All rights reserved.
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April-07
Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Scenario:
Nomadic Field Services
Annotation
Management
...
Mobile / nomadic worker
using different services.
Document
Access
Backoffice
Communication
Adaptation
Management
Author of
information
Information
Retrieval
Multimodal
I/O
Expert /
Coach (extern)
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Solution platform
 NoFis#:
 Nomadic Field Services Platform (#)
#
NoFiS
 Intended to support
 different types (maintenance, repair,
assembly, …) of field operations
 different sectors (aeronautics, engineering,…)
 Wrapping of essential and advanced functions through services
 No strict conceptual alignment to SOA (i.e., WSA of W3C)
 Instead: REST for certain services featured (e.g., for speech I/O)
 Platform can be set up for specific purposes by composition and
configuration of services
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Solution:
Mobile Worker Application
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Context-awareness as platform extension
 Introducing context-awareness:
 Used to trigger (inter-)actions
 Context types:
 user (presence,…)
 system (network / device capabilities)
 physical (location,…)
 Combinations: spatio-temporal = location + time
 Targeted impact:
 Acceleration of procedure execution  reduced effort / time
 Reduction of error rates  improved result
…
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April-07
Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Scenario: Context-aware
Nomadic Field Services
Annotation
Management
...
Document
Access
Backoffice
Communication
Adaptation
Management
Information
Retrieval
Multimodal
I/O
Copyright © Siemens AG 2007. All rights reserved.
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April-07
Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Context-sensing as pre-requisite
 Nomadic worker is equipped with a mobile device:
 e.g., PDA or tablet PC
 could be other wearable hardware also
 tagging: assets or users are tagged
 Context-sensing (tracking) systems:
 Active Badge System
 RFID
 WLAN
 … (combinations)
 Ability to integrate different types of tracking technologies:
 Lateration / triangulation
 Scene analysis
 Proximity
 Reason: the use of certain tracking technology might be impossible
(due to interference, shielding, unavailability ….)
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Tracking technologies in the field
Technologies for user / asset tracking:
Technique
Accuracy
Tracking
GPS
Triangulation (via radio 10 – 30 m (GPS)
time-of-flight lateration)
1 – 3 m (Differential GPS)
U
Active Badge
Proximity (diffuse
infrared cellular)
Room size resolution
U
RFID
Proximity (radio
cellular)
Depending on the used
A
transponders down to 20 cm
Bluetooth
Proximity (cellular) and
triangulation (signal
strength)
Room size; could be
optimized to approximately
10% of room size
U/A
WLAN
Proximity (cellular) and
triangulation (signal
strength)
1-5m
U/A
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Scenario: Context-aware
Nomadic Field Services
 Proximity deals with the relative positioning of objects
 Use case for proximity: e.g.,
 Configuration of a detailed maintenance procedure of an aircraft
(part) is done by analyzing the proximity of the user and the
aircraft (part).
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Proximity for Services Adaptation
High
proximity
Low
proximity
Annotation
Management
Document
Access
partID
Adaptation
Management
partID
device
objectID
device
Multimodal
I/O
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Information
Retrieval
 Proximity (P): relation
between objects (O) to
be a reflexive,
symmetric, nontransitive relation
between objects,
i.e. P ⊆ O x O
 Context-Attributes:
 Location
 Time
 Confidence / fidelity
 used to establish P
Copyright © Siemens AG 2007. All rights reserved.
Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Rule-based approach to Context-awareness
Introducing the Context Engine:

Analysis of spatio-temporal relationships through rule engine:
 Context attributes = facts
 Actions / events = triggered by firing rules
Rule-based transformation of lower level context information
RCO
-timestamp
SymbolicLocation
-mobileId
-stationaryId
1
1
RCO = Root Context
Object.
BCO = Branch
Context Object.
CoordinateLocation
BCO
-XCoord
-YCoord
1
*
Location
-metaDescription
Coordinate3D
-ZCoord
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Rules in Context Engine
 Types of rules:
 Provider rules:
 describing the casting of context data (branch context object)
into specific format (root context object) before caching
 provider rules are entered during registration of context provider
 Consumer rules: consumers subscribe for context data to be
delivered in a specific format (required context syntax)
 System rules:
 E.g., policies for storing and removing data from cache
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Context Engine
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Integration of Context Engine
RCS = Required
Context Syntax.
Context provider
interfaces.
RCO = Root Context
Object.
BCO = Branch
Context Object.
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Results of applying solution
 Field trials for certain aspects have
been conducted
 Results:
 approx. 10% of the overall time
spending for procedure execution
can be saved (due context-aware
selection of procedure retrieval)
 no statistics concerning the errorrate exists
 location context acquisition
currently only through explicit
tagging
 potentially scene analysis
techniques will have to be featured
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Nomadic Field Services:
Conclusions
NoFiS# as a platform is supposed to be used in other sectors / domain:
 Sectors:
 Automotive
 Large appliances / high complexity goods
 Distribution networks & grids (energy, power,
…
 Aerospace
 Domains:
 Maintenance
 Repair
 Production
…
 Manufacturing
 In principal not limited to
 B2E (& B2B): ‘Advanced mobile communications paradox’ as major reason
for current focus  cost / benefit ratio has to be matched
 Nomadic: seamless mobility can be also supported
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Future / Open Research Questions
Questions related to work presented:
 Concept for registering context providers through use of ontologies?
 Best way to present proximity relations (extensive configuration,
resolution of conflicts, context fusion …)?
Questions to community:
 How to transparently enrich service requests by context information
w/o changing service interfaces?
 How can the propagation of context information be controlled w/o
deteriorating performance?
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB
Thank you for your attention!
For internal use only / Copyright © Siemens IT Solutions and Services
Copyright
GmbH
© Siemens
& Co. OHG
AG 2007. All rights reserved.
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Heinz-Josef Eikerling Siemens IT Solutions and Services / D / SBS GSR D PRO SI C-LAB