环境信息可表达的信息服务描述模型研究

An Extended Information Service Description Model for Supporting Environment Context——General Technology Report

信息服务的可表达性是该项目关键科学问题之一。它是准确设计和表达服务流程与内容,提供动态、精准、可伸缩的信息服务,以满足用户不确定和多样性服务需求的关键。该报告面向异构融合网络环境,提出了环境信息可表达的信息服务描述模型,并基于此模型实现了支持环境描述的OWL-CS服务描述语言。具体工作有,首先分析影响信息服务调用、组合、协同的环境因素,将环境分为自然环境和社会环境两大类,其中服务的自然环境是服务部署和运行所依托宿主的软硬件环境,而社会环境是服务生态系统中体现的服务和服务之间的关系,以及服务和用户之间的关系。其次,给出环境上下文参数及度量方法,自然环境上下文是指用于刻画服务自然环境中的实体的任何信息,而社会环境上下文是指服务在相互作用过程中所表现出来的和社会属性相关的任何信息。再次,建立服务环境上下文元模型,设计实现了支持环境描述的OWL-CS服务描述模型。目前,语义Web服务的标准本体模型OWL-S的Service类包括了Service Profile、Service Model和Service Grounding三个类。该报告在此基础上在Service类中增加一个上下文类Service Context,该类用于描述服务的环境上下文信息。这种扩展方法,也使得OWL-CS和OWL-S兼容。通过Protégé4.3软件,可以展示OWL-CS的本体结构,并编辑生成具有环境描述的基于OWL-CS的服务描述文件。最后,该报告给出一个智慧校园中的实例,进一步说明环境上下文在服务选择中的作用。为了实现不同服务之间的信息交互和协作,需要提供一种统一的方法来描述服务的功能,以进行服务的理解、发现和协同。在环境敏感的场景下,更是需要统一描述服务环境的方法。国际上已有研究人员关注到服务上下文信息,提出上下文化服务(Contextual Service)的概念。本报告在国际上较早开展此类工作,特别是在服务环境建模、服务社会环境上下文的研究上具有自己的特色。

Expressibility of information services is one of the key scientific issues of the project. It is a key foundation of accurately designing and describing service process and content, providing dynamic, accurate and scalable information services to meet diverse and uncertain needs of users. This technical report suggests an information service description model for supporting environmental information description, and based on this model, a service description language OWL-CS is suggested. First, this report analyzes environmental factors that impacts information service invocation, composition and collaboration, and divides the environment into natural and social environment. Service’s natural environment is the service deployment and operation environment relying on the host computer’s hardware and software, and the social environment is the relationship between services, as well as services and users in service ecosystem. Secondly, the parameters of environmental context and their measurement methods are suggested. The natural environment context refers to any information used to describe the service entities in the natural environment, and the social context refers to any information associated with social attributes showed in services interaction. Again, the context meta model of service environment is established and a service description model OWL-CS is designed and implemented to support the environment description. Currently, OWL-S Service class includes three classes： ServiceProfile, ServiceModel and ServiceGrounding. On this basis, the report adds a new context class ServiceContext. This method also makes OWL-CS and OWL-S compatible. By Prot＆#233;g＆#233; 4.3 software, anyone can show the structure of OWL-CS, as well as edit and generate an OWL-CS service description file. Finally, the report gives an example of a smart campus to further illustrate the role of the environment context in service selection operation. Recently, researchers have been studied the service context, and suggested the concept of contextual services. We carry out such work earlier in the world wide. Especially in the study of service environment modeling and services social environment context, our work has own distinguishing features.