computer science

Webinos

Webinos is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Webinos rather than just read about it. In short: webinos (Secure WebOS Application Environment) is a computing platform for the development of software components that are independent of the utilized computer hardware or operating system. At the same time, webinos is the name of the EU-funded project aiming to deliver this platform.

Key takeaways

Webinos belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Webinos to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Webinos from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

webinos (Secure WebOS Application Environment) is a computing platform for the development of software components that are independent of the utilized computer hardware or operating system. At the same time, webinos is the name of the EU-funded project aiming to deliver this platform. The webinos platform is based on open-source software. Its objective is to enable web applications and services to be used and shared consistently and securely over a broad spectrum of converged and connected devices (cross-platform and cross-domain), including mobile, PC, home media (TV) and in-car units. More than 5,400 developers have already downloaded the webinos operating system.

Technology

Central concepts The webinos technology has been built on HTML5, widget and device API standards. Thus common web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome can run webinos-enabled apps. To handle the cross device challenges, three central concepts have been followed: First, a method of binding devices to individuals, and for the individuals to declare their identities is the concept of “Personal Zones”. It is built up from internet agents (Personal Zone Hub) and device agents (Personal Zone Proxy) that communicate and identify each other and ensure that transmitted data is safeguarded. Furthermore, the “Remoting and Discovery” approach enables devices to broadcast their services as well as applications to discover these services and a protocol for invoking these services. Finally, a virtualized network overlays the physical networks, allowing devices to communicate optimally. This “Overlay network” runs over the internet or over local Bluetooth.

Architecture The core webinos architecture is based on widget and web runtimes, which consist of rendering components, policy and permission frameworks, packaging components and extended APIs. To realize the cross device communication, webinos has split the packaging, policy and API extensions from the renderer. By loosely coupling these hitherto monolithic components, it is far easier to expose the application centric components to other devices.

Security The addressed challenges comprise: how to provision and adapt security across a range of devices, services, networks as well as how individuals can gain control over the privacy aspects of their web presence regardless of the service that is being used.

Project and consortium The project receives 10 million Euros co-funding, under the EU FP7 ICT Programme, No 257103, and has a total budget of 14 million Euros. Webinos has been initiated by a research consortium with the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems, Fraunhofer FOKUS, at the helm and will run for three years starting in September 2010. More than 30 partners are represented within the consortium:

Agora Media (UK), AmbieSense Ltd (UK), Antenna Software (UK), BMW Forschung und Technik GmbH (DE), Cloud Friends (B), Data Driven Standardization Consulting (AU), Deutsche Telekom (DE), DOCOMO Communications Laboratories Europe (GmbH), Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. (DE), futuretext (UK), IBBT (B), Impleo (UK), KT (KR), Istituto Superiore Mario Boella (I), National Technical University of Athens (GR), Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NL), Nitobi (CA), Politecnico di Torino (I), Present Technologies (PT), Samsung Electronics (UK) Ltd, Silver Probe Consulting Ltd (UK), Sony Mobile Communications AB (S), Technical University of Munich (DE), Telecom Italia S.p.A. (I), Telecom Paristech (FR), Telefónica (ES), Università degli Studi di Catania (I), University of Oxford (UK), VisionMobile Ltd. (UK), W3C (F).

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Webinos

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Webinos claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Webinos before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Webinos ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Webinos

In research: Webinos appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Webinos in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Webinos is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computing platforms, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Webinos outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Webinos in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Webinos means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Webinos out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Webinos in simple terms?

Why does Webinos matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Webinos?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Webinos.