PALO ALTO RESEARCH CENTER(PARC) eases communications between devices

Researchers at the pioneering PARC labs have developed software that they
say allows all consumer electronics devices to communicate with one
another, making networked home devices easier to use.

The Palo Alto Research Center, a subsidiary of Xerox, on Tuesday announced
Obje, a software architecture meant to establish a common language to
tackle one of the biggest hurdles that content and device makers face as
they try to make playback of digital media easy on all devices:
compatibility.

Industry groups, such as the Digital Home Working Group and the UPnP Forum,
have been formed and new standards developed so consumers will be able to
more easily use various media, regardless of format on any type of device.
Insiders say that when consumers find it easier to use digital media, they
will be more likely to purchase devices that can play it back.

It also means instant access to resources on a wired or wireless network,
said Hermann Calabria, principal of business development at PARC.

"We're not trying to say you can just play audio and video on one device,"
Calabria said. "You'll be able to do that on any device (connected to a
network) in a room, whenever you want."

Obje essentially allows devices to teach each other how to communicate with
one another. Code is sent to the devices over a connection, either a
network or a direct connection. Establishing the language is nearly
instantaneous but depends on what is being transferred, Calabria said.

The software is meant to be device-, OS- and network-agnostic but does need
some sort of virtual machine. So far, PARC researchers have gotten Obje to
work on a Hewlett-Packard iPaq device with 32MB of memory. Obje is also
compatible with other networking technologies and does not need to be
loaded on every device in the network to work.

PARC is focusing on the consumer electronics market where manufacturers
have said that ease of use and interoperability is essential to customer
use. PARC has spoken with several companies about turning the technology
into a commercial project but would not disclose names. Deliverable
software is not yet available, but the concepts are mature, Calabria said.
PARC is looking to license the technology.

PARC researchers also announced a wireless networking technology meant to
make it easier to establish secure connections. The technology calls for
client devices, such as notebook PCs, to request a key clearing the client
to use the network. One example researchers discussed was requiring a
notebook owner to have a key transmitted over an infrared connection from a
wireless network access point. Once the key is accepted, the notebook could
access the wireless network.

The technology, which has not yet been named, addresses one of the major
issues of wireless networking, easy implementation of security standards.

"User studies show that one of the biggest problems with security is that
people misconfigure settings or they don't bother with it at all because
it's too hard," said Dirk Balfanz, a researcher at PARC. "This is a way to
enable it easily."

Balfanz's project is also looking for licensees.

Related News
Tech companies push home networking  June 24, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1035-1020605.html

Making connections for a digital home  September 16, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-957974.html

Get this story's "Big Picture"
http://news.com.com/2104-1041-5167923.html

BINNEH S MINTEH
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

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