[dcchairs2016] Review of UbiComp/ISWC 2016 Doctoral School submission 112

[dcchairs2016 at ubicomp.org]

Paper  112 - Enabling Context-Aware Application Function Virtualization in Wearable Personal Area Networks
Reviewer 1 - Max Muhlhauser

Overall rating:  2  (scale is 1..6; 6 is best)

Pre-PC discussion (hidden from author)

   No potential to revise & resubmit (should not be discussed at PC meeting) 

Confidence

   Very confident - I am knowledgeable in the area 

Contribution to UbiComp

   The paper addresses function allocation in personal area networks of
   UbiComp devices. No Hardware issues. OKish for the UbiComp DC from this
   perspective, but not "at the very core".
 

Overall Rating

   2  (Probably reject: I would argue for rejecting this paper.)

R&R Suitability (hidden from author)

   Reject without offering revise/resubmit - 5 weeks is too short to improve submission sufficiently 

The Review

   The paper addresses PANs (personal area Networks) with "Tier 1 devices"
   (think of Smartphone) that provide PAN-wide allocation of functions to
   devices (while "Tier 2 devices" -think of Smartwatch, Fitband etc. - are
   further candidates for such allocations).

   The idea is good, but the proposed approach is not well presented and -
   what is much more critical - is not convincing at all.

   A formal model for the function placement is presented, basically
   revolving around the different execution costs (called "implementation
   cost") and communication costs for the execution of each function on each
   possible device. Placement is then defined as a MinCost optimization
   problem (function allocation problem) that can be mapped onto a known
   similar problem (uncapacitated facility location). 

   In the context of Ubicomp, it is not sufficient to defined ANY model that
   provides a nice mathematical or algorithmic challenge, it is important to
   define a practically useful model. In this respect, the model presented
   does not address (or is not sufficiently described by the author w.r.t.)
   - resource competition! (several functions executed on same cpu, with
   same remaining battery capacity, or communicated over the same channel,
   etc.)
   - scheduling over time
   - the fact that function calls arrive over time: it is just illusionary
   to think of a system where at time T0 all function requests are known and
   until their completion, no other function requests will arrive; this fact
   seems to be reflected in that iterative execution of the mapping
   algorithm can be performed, but consequences for required re-mapping are
   not properly considered at all
   - Utility functions for conflicting goals
   ... and many more subtle issues known from the Placement and scheduling
   literature.

   Given the highly interesting topic addressed in the PhD research, it is
   suggested to review the model and the general field of research from
   which to "import" approaches, and to resubmit the work. 
 

Confidential Comments (Optional) (hidden from author)

 


To see the review, go to https://precisionconference.com/~ubicomp?goto=ubicomp16c