Personal Proxy Design

The Personal Proxy performs a number of key functions in the MPA system: it keeps track of the mobile person's whereabouts; accepts incoming communications on the person's behalf; converts or filters communication data; and delivers communications to the correct Application-Specific Address.

Figure 4: The Personal Proxy Design. Various communication types are shown entering the Personal Proxy through the top. Arrows indicate possible routes through the Dispatcher and the Application Drivers to the mobile person's applications.

The general design of the Personal Proxy is shown in Figure 4. The Tracking Agent keeps track of the mobile person's whereabouts. Meanwhile, communications arrive through a variety of application-specific protocols, shown at the top of the diagram. The Dispatcher uses the Filtering Routing Rules (derived from the person's preferences) and his current location (obtained from the Tracking Agent) to determine which Application Drivers should be invoked to convert or filter the communication. The Dispatcher then sends the communication to the correct application.

In the following sections we discuss the components of the Personal Proxy in more detail.