Get the full ebook with Bonus Features for a Better Reading Experience on ebookgate.

com

Pervasive Communications Handbook 1st Edition Syed

Ijlal Ali Shah

https://ebookgate.com/product/pervasive-communications-
handbook-1st-edition-syed-ijlal-ali-shah/

OR CLICK HERE

DOWLOAD NOW

Download more ebook instantly today at https://ebookgate.com

Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) available
Download now and explore formats that suit you...

Beginning Node js 1st Edition Basarat Ali Syed (Auth.)

https://ebookgate.com/product/beginning-node-js-1st-edition-basarat-
ali-syed-auth/

ebookgate.com

Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications 1st

Edition Kruti Shah

https://ebookgate.com/product/advertising-and-integrated-marketing-
communications-1st-edition-kruti-shah/

ebookgate.com

Pervasive Computing and Communications Design and

Deployment Technologies Trends and Applications 1st
Edition Apostolos Malatras
https://ebookgate.com/product/pervasive-computing-and-communications-
design-and-deployment-technologies-trends-and-applications-1st-
edition-apostolos-malatras/
ebookgate.com

RFID Handbook Applications Technology Security and Privacy

1st Edition Syed A. Ahson

https://ebookgate.com/product/rfid-handbook-applications-technology-
security-and-privacy-1st-edition-syed-a-ahson/

ebookgate.com
Ubiquitous and Pervasive Commerce New Frontiers for
Electronic Business Computer Communications and Networks
1st Edition. Edition George Roussos (Editor)
https://ebookgate.com/product/ubiquitous-and-pervasive-commerce-new-
frontiers-for-electronic-business-computer-communications-and-
networks-1st-edition-edition-george-roussos-editor/
ebookgate.com

Idries Shah The Commanding Self 1st Edition Idries Shah

https://ebookgate.com/product/idries-shah-the-commanding-self-1st-
edition-idries-shah/

ebookgate.com

Mobile communications handbook 3rd ed Edition Gibson

https://ebookgate.com/product/mobile-communications-handbook-3rd-ed-
edition-gibson/

ebookgate.com

The ARRL image communications handbook 1st ed. Edition

Taggart

https://ebookgate.com/product/the-arrl-image-communications-
handbook-1st-ed-edition-taggart/

ebookgate.com

Handbook of Industrial Chemistry Organic Chemicals

Handbooks 1st Edition M. Ali

https://ebookgate.com/product/handbook-of-industrial-chemistry-
organic-chemicals-handbooks-1st-edition-m-ali/

ebookgate.com
 Pervasive
Communications
Handbook
 Pervasive
Communications
Handbook

Edited by
Syed Ijlal Ali Shah
Mohammad Ilyas
Hussein T. Mouftah
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742

© 2012 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

No claim to original U.S. Government works

Version Date: 20111031

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4200-5110-0 (eBook - PDF)

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts
have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume
responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers
have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to
copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has
not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.

Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmit-
ted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without written permission from the publishers.

For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.
com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood
Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and
registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC,
a separate system of payment has been arranged.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com

and the CRC Press Web site at

http://www.crcpress.com
 Contents

Preface.................................................................................................. ix
Editors.. ..................................................................................................xi
Contributors.........................................................................................xv

Section I Technology
1 Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication
in Pervasive Computing.. ............................................................1-1
Sk. Md. Mizanur Rahman and Hussein T. Mouftah
2 Challenges in Testing Context-Aware Applications................. 2-1
Rana Ejaz Ahmed
3 Medium Access Control Protocols for Wireless Sensor
Networks in a Pervasive Computing Paradigm........................ 3-1
Muhammad K. Dhodhi, Syed Ijlal Ali Shah, and Marwan Fayed
4 On the Quality of Service Routing in Mobile
Ad Hoc Networks.. ...................................................................... 4-1
Jamal N. Al-Karaki and Ibrahim Al-Oqily
5 Power-Aware Video Compression for
Mobile Environments.. ............................................................... 5-1
Ishfaq Ahmad, Victor Yongfang Liang, and Zhihai (Henry) He
6 Low-Power Design for Smart Dust Networks........................... 6-1
Zdravko Karakehayov
7 Security Improvement of Slotted ALOHA in the Presence
of Attacking Signals in Wireless Networks.. ..............................7-1
Jahangir H. Sarker and Hussein T. Mouftah

v
vi Contents

8 Analysis and Classification of Reliable Protocols for

Pervasive Wireless Sensor Networks......................................... 8-1
Ahmed Badi, Imad Mahgoub, and Michael Slavik
9 Positioning and Location Tracking in
Wireless Sensor Networks.. ........................................................ 9-1
Yu-Chee Tseng, Chi-Fu Huang, and Sheng-Po Kuo
10 Wireless Location Technology in Location-Based Services.. ... 10-1
Junhui Zhao and Xuexue Zhang
11 Next-Generation Technologies to Enable Sensor Networks.... 11-1
Joel I. Goodman, Albert I. Reuther, and David R. Martinez

Section II  Architecture

12 Interoperability in Pervasive Environments............................ 12-1
Imen Ben Lahmar, Hamid Mukhtar, and Djamel Belaïd
13 P2P-Based VOD Architecture: A Common Platform for
Provisioning of Pervasive Computing Services....................... 13-1
Sami Saleh Al-Wakeel
14 Using Universal Plug-n-Play for Device Communication
in Ad Hoc Pervasive Environments.......................................... 14-1
Hamid Mukhtar and Djamel Belaïd

Section III  Applications

15 Wireless Network Security for Health Applications.. .............. 15-1
Eduardo B. Fernandez
16 Sensor Networks in Healthcare................................................ 16-1
Arny Ambrose and Mihaela Cardei
17 Pervasive Computing for Home Automation and Telecare..... 17-1
Claire Maternaghan and Kenneth J. Turner
18 Online Social Networks and Social Network Services:
A Technical Survey.. .................................................................. 18-1
Huangmao Quan, Jie Wu, and Yuan Shi
19 Pervasive Application Development: Approaches
and Pitfalls.. ............................................................................... 19-1
Guruduth Banavar, Norman Cohen, and Danny Soroker
Contents vii

20 Wireless Personal Area Networks: Protocols

and Applications........................................................................... 20-1
Khaled A. Ali and Hussein T. Mouftah
21 Pervasive Energy Management for the Smart Grid:
Towards a Low Carbon Economy............................................. 21-1
Melike Erol-Kantarci and Hussein T. Mouftah
 Preface

The field of pervasive communication represents the next logical step in the evolution of
communication networks. It essentially means that in a pervasive communication envi-
ronment, we will all be able to communicate with others, whenever, wherever, and with
whatever communication device(s) we carry. We will be connected all the time and have
the ability to take our personal and corporate information with us wherever we go. This
ubiquitous communication ability includes one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-one
exchange of information.
This pervasive communication is being enabled by continuous advancements in mul-
tiple areas of research and development. First and foremost are developments in the
device and process technologies that are able to drastically reduce the size and power
requirements of sensing and communication devices, while doubling the processing
capacity every couple years. This reduction in size and power, while more than an equal
increase in the processing capacity, is enabling these technologies to be embedded in
every aspect of our daily lives. So much so that it is almost impossible to avoid sensors
even in our very basic mundane activities. These days sensors are embedded in the auto-
mobiles we drive, the cooking ranges we cook our food on, air conditioners, and the
communication devices we use.
Equally important are the advancements in application-level software and firmware,
and communication technology that seamlessly connect these sensors to the rest of the
world, in a manner that makes sense. These advances are making it possible for us to
develop appropriate human machine interfaces. Standardization of communication
protocols such as 802.17 (Zigbee) and 802.11n are further helping pervade the 24/7
online concept.
Examples of how the pervasive computing paradigm is changing our world are plenty;
however, we will mention only two possible examples. We all drive on highways; how-
ever, in a pervasive communication paradigm, the drivers will have a different user
experience than what they currently have. In a pervasive communications paradigm,
users will start receiving location- and need-specific information about the neighbor-
hood they are driving through. For example, information about local restaurants
(including discount coupons) could be presented to the driver if it is time for dinner.
Similarly, users may start receiving offers on hotels that are within, say, 5 miles of radius
of their location on the highway, if they are looking for hotels.

ix
x Preface

In the field of medicine, a pervasive communication environment, for example, will

enable hospitals to gather all information about a patient while they are being trans-
ported to the hospital. By the time the patient arrives at the hospital, information about
the medical history of the patient, medicines being administered, vital signs, etc. will
not only be already available to medical professionals but may also have been analyzed
and decisions made about the most likely treatment options. The pervasiveness of this
environment will enable many more applications, which will, undoubtedly, change the
way in which we conduct our daily lives.
The aim of this book is to cover all these topics, contributed by experts in this field.
The book has 21 chapters that tackle three aspects of pervasive communications: (1)
technology; (2) architecture; and (3) applications. In the technology section we have
contributions on quality of service routing in mobile networks, a survey and categoriza-
tion of MAC protocols, low power design for Smart Dust Networks, security and reli-
ability in wireless sensor networks, and more covering other aspects of the technology.
In the architecture section we have contributions on P2P-based VoD architecture, and
interoperability in a pervasive environment. And finally in the application section we
discuss how pervasive communication is helping health care providers and energy com-
panies better manage their vital assets.
The Handbook should be useful for anyone who deals with or intends to become
involved with the field of pervasive communication. The targeted audience for the
Handbook includes professionals who are designers and developers for pervasive com-
munication, researchers (faculty members and graduate students), and those who would
like to learn about this field.
Many people have contributed to this Handbook: first and foremost are the research-
ers and technical professionals who have contributed 21 chapters. These people deserve
our appreciation for taking the time out of their busy schedules to contribute to this
book. We would also like to thank Andrea Dale, Ashley Gasque, and Jessica Vakili for
their patience and hard work.
We also extend our very special thanks to our families for their unconditional love
and support throughout this project.

Syed Ijlal Ali Shah

Mohammad Ilyas
Hussein Mouftah
 Editors

Dr. Syed Ijlal Ali Shah has more than 15 years of experience in the telecommunications
and datacom industry. He has contributed to leading-edge technology through aca-
demic papers, industrial contributions (products), and patents. He was a key member of
the team that worked on ATM switches and networks when the technology was first
introduced. He was also a key member of the team that worked on a new generation of
devices called Network Processors in early 2000. Network Processors like ATMs created
a paradigm shift on reconfigurable multiprotocol processors. He has worked and con-
tributed heavily to the definition and creation of new interconnect and switching
­technology called RapidIO (RIO). RapidIO is an alternative backplane interconnect
technology to Ethernet and is the preferred interconnect technology in base stations.
Dr. Shah is currently with Freescale Semiconductor as a data path Systems Architect.
At Freescale Semiconductor, he has defined and worked on the architecture of Freescale’s
traffic management co-processor, the RapidIO Fabric, and has been a key contributor to
several other network-related projects.
Prior to Freescale/Motorola, Shah was an associate professor at the Lahore University
of Management Sciences (LUMS). And prior to LUMS, he was at Nortel as senior mem-
ber of the technical staff, where he helped define and architect packet switching prod-
ucts, and Quality of Service (QoS) and network dimensioning methodologies.
Dr. Shah holds a PhD and an MS in electrical engineering from Columbia University
and a master’s in engineering management from the University of Ottawa. He holds four
patents on call admission control algorithms for switches/routers and dynamic IP/ATM
congestion management, with several more pending. He was recently awarded the
“Engineering Award” by Freescale for his contributions. He has presented on IP/ATM
congestion control and traffic management at various conferences and invited sessions,
and has published over 35 industrial and academic papers in conferences and journals
on various aspects of QoS, network design and architecture, and all-optical networks,
wireless sensor networks, and Multicore processors.
He was the editor for the Traffic Management specification for the RapidIO Trade
Association from 2004 to 2006. He was also the Technical Committee co-chair for
Power.Org from 2007 to 2009, where he was instrumental in streamlining the technical
committee activities and aligning them with membership interests. He was the guest
editor for IEEE Communication Magazine on Fabric and Interconnect Standards and

xi
xii Editors

was the associate technical editor for the magazine from 2000 to 2002. His research
interests include sensor network design, QoS in IP networks, optical networks, wireless
networking, and pervasive communications.

Dr. Mohammad Ilyas received his BSc in electrical engineering from the University of
Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan, in 1976. From March 1977 to September
1978, he worked for the Water and Power Development Authority, Pakistan. In 1978, he
was awarded a scholarship for his graduate studies, and he completed his MS in electri-
cal and electronic engineering in June 1980 at Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. In
September 1980, he joined the doctoral program at Queen’s University in Kingston,
Ontario, Canada. He completed his PhD in 1983. His doctoral research was about
switching and flow control techniques in computer communication networks. Since
September 1983, he has been with the College of Engineering and Computer Science at
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, where he is currently associate dean for
research and industry relations. From 1994 to 2000, he was chair of the Department of
Computer Science and Engineering. From July 2004 to September 2005, he served as
Interim Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies. During the 1993–
1994 academic year, he was on his sabbatical leave with the Department of Computer
Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Ilyas has conducted successful research in various areas, including traffic man-
agement and congestion control in broadband/high-speed communication networks,
traffic characterization, wireless communication networks, performance modeling, and
simulation. He has published 1 book, 8 handbooks, and over 150 research articles. He
has supervised 10 PhD dissertations and more than 37 MS theses to completion. He has
been a consultant to several national and international organizations. Dr. Ilyas is an
active participant in several IEEE technical committees and activities.
Dr. Ilyas is a senior member of IEEE and a member of ASEE.

Hussein T. Mouftah received his BSc and MSc from Alexandria University, Egypt, in
1969 and 1972, respectively, and his PhD from Laval University, Quebec, Canada, in
1975. He joined the School of Information Technology and Engineering (SITE) of the
University of Ottawa in 2002 as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair Professor, where he
became a University Distinguished Professor in 2006. He has been with the ECE
Department at Queen’s University (1979–2002), where he was prior to his departure a
full professor and the department associate head. He has six years of industrial experi-
ence, mainly at Bell Northern Research of Ottawa (now Nortel Networks). He served as
editor-in-chief of the IEEE Communications Magazine (1995–1997) and IEEE ComSoc
director of Magazines (1998–1999), chair of the Awards Committee (2002–2003), direc-
tor of Education (2006–2007), and member of the Board of Governors (1997–1999 and
2006–2007). He has been a distinguished speaker of the IEEE Communications Society
(2000–2007). He is the author/coauthor of 7 books, 48 book chapters and more than
1000 technical papers, 12 patents, and 140 industrial reports. He is the joint holder of 12
best paper and/or outstanding paper awards. He has received numerous prestigious
awards, such as the 2007 Royal Society of Canada Thomas W. Eadie Medal, the 2007–
2008 University of Ottawa Award for Excellence in Research, the 2008 ORION
Editors xiii

Leadership Award of Merit, the 2006 IEEE Canada McNaughton Gold Medal, the 2006
EIC Julian Smith Medal, the 2004 IEEE ComSoc Edwin Howard Armstrong Achievement
Award, the 2004 George S. Glinski Award for Excellence in Research of the University of
Ottawa Faculty of Engineering, the 1989 Engineering Medal for Research and
Development of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO), and the
Ontario Distinguished Researcher Award of the Ontario Innovation Trust. Dr. Mouftah
is a fellow of the IEEE (1990), the Canadian Academy of Engineering (2003), the
Engineering Institute of Canada (2005), and the Royal Society of Canada RSC Academy
of Science (2008).
 Contributors

Ishfaq Ahmad Ahmed Badi

University of Texas Department of Computer Science and
Arlington, Texas Engineering
Florida Atlantic University
Rana Ejaz Ahmed Boca Raton, Florida
Department of Computer Science and
Engineering
Guruduth Banavar
American University of Sharjah
IBM India Research
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Laboratory
Khaled A. Ali IBM India/South Asia
Bangalore, India
Jamal N. Al-Karaki
Department of Computer Engineering
Djamel Belaïd
The Hashemite University
Insitut Telecomm
Zarka, Jordon
Paris, France
Ibrahim Al-Oqily
Department of Computer Engineering Mihaela Cardei
The Hashemite University Department of Computer Science and
Zarka, Jordon Engineering
Florida Atlantic University
Arny Ambrose Boca Raton, Florida
Department of Computer Science and
Engineering
Norman Cohen
Florida Atlantic University
Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Boca Raton, Florida
IBM
Sami Saleh Al-Wakeel Hawthorne, New York
College of Computer and Information
Sciences Muhammad K. Dhodhi
King Saud University Ross Video Limited
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

xv
xvi Contributors

Melike Erol-Kantarci Imad Mahgoub

School of Information Technology Department of Computer Science and
and Engineering Engineering
University of Ottawa Florida Atlantic University
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Boca Raton, Florida

Marwan Fayed David R. Martinez

Department of Computer Science MIT Lincoln Laboratory
and Math Lexington, Massachusetts
University of Stirling
Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom Claire Maternaghan
Computing Science and Mathematics
Eduardo B. Fernandez University of Stirling
Department of Computer Science and Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom
Engineering
Florida Atlantic University Hussein T. Mouftah
Boca Raton, Florida School of Information Technology and
Engineering (SITE)
Joel I. Goodman University of Ottawa
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Lexington, Massachusetts
Hamid Mukhtar
Zhihai (Henry) He National University of Science and
University of Missouri Technology
Columbia, Missouri Islamabad, Pakistan

Chi-Fu Huang Huangmao Quan

National Chiao-Tung University Department of Computer and
Hsincho, Taiwan Information Sciences
Temple University
Zdravko Karakehayov Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Technical University of Sofia
Sofia, Bulgaria Sk. Md. Mizanur Rahman
University of Ottawa
Sheng-Po Kuo Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
National Chiao-Tung University
Hsincho, Taiwan Albert I. Reuther
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Imen Ben Lahmar Lexington, Massachusetts
Insitut Telecomm
Paris, France Jahangir H. Sarker
School of Information Technology and
Victor Yongfang Liang Engineering (SITE)
Apple, Inc. University of Ottawa
Cupertino, California Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Contributors xvii

Syed Ijlal Ali Shah Kenneth J. Turner

Freescale Semiconductor Computing Science and Mathematics
Austin, Texas University of Stirling
Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom
Yuan Shi
Department of Computer and Jie Wu
Information Sciences Department of Computer and
Temple University Information Sciences
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Temple University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Michael Slavik
Department of Computer Science and Xuexue Zhang
Engineering Beijing Jiaotong University
Florida Atlantic University Beijing, China
Boca Raton, Florida
Junhui Zhao
Danny Soroker Beijing Jiaotong University
Thomas J. Watson Research Center Beijing, China
IBM
Hawthorne, New York

Yu-Chee Tseng
National Chiao-Tung University
Hsincho, Taiwan
 I
Technology
1 Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication
in Pervasive Computing Sk. Md. Mizanur Rahman and
Hussein T. Mouftah.................................................................................1-1
Security and Privacy Preservation for Pervasive
Communication • Privacy and Security Parameters • Anonymous
On-Demand Position-Based Secure Communication in Pervasive
Communications • User-Controllable Security and Privacy System
for Pervasive Computing • Conclusion • References
2 Challenges in Testing Context-Aware
Applications Rana Ejaz Ahmed.................................................................2-1
Introduction • Modeling Context-Aware Systems • Testing
Challenges • Recent Trends in Testing Context-Aware
Applications • Summary and Conclusions • References
3 Medium Access Control Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks
in a Pervasive Computing Paradigm Muhammad K. Dhodhi,
Syed Ijlal Ali Shah, and Marwan Fayed...................................................3-1
Introduction • MAC Protocols • Conclusions and Future
Directions • References
4 On the Quality of Service Routing in Mobile Ad Hoc
Networks Jamal N. Al-Karaki and Ibrahim Al-Oqily...............................4-1
Introduction • Challenges of QoS Support in MANETs • QoS Routing
Protocols in MANETs • QoS Routing in WMNs • Open Issues in QoS
Routing in AHNs • Conclusion • References
5 Power-Aware Video Compression for Mobile
Environments Ishfaq Ahmad, Victor Yongfang Liang,
and Zhihai (Henry) He....................................................................................5-1
Introduction • Related Research Works • Complexity Scalable Video
Coding Design • Power Rate Distortion Analysis • Power and
Distortion Optimized Video Coding • Experimental
Results • References

I-1
I-2 Pervasive Communications Handbook

6 Low-Power Design for Smart Dust

Networks Zdravko Karakehayov...........................................................6-1
Introduction • Location • Sensing • Computation • Hardware–
Software Interaction • Communication • Orientation • Conclusion •
Acknowledgment • References
7 Security Improvement of Slotted ALOHA in the Presence of
Attacking Signals in Wireless Networks Jahangir H. Sarker
and Hussein T. Mouftah..........................................................................7-1
Introduction • System Model and Assumptions • Security
Improvement Using Multiple Channels • Security Improvement by
Limiting the Number of Retransmission Trials • Security Improvement
by New Packet Rejection • Conclusions • References
8 Analysis and Classification of Reliable Protocols for Pervasive
Wireless Sensor Networks Ahmed Badi, Imad Mahgoub, and
Michael Slavik...................................................................................................8-1
Introduction • Reliability in Wireless Sensor Networks • Wireless
Sensor Networks Reliability Techniques, Challenges and Open
Issues • Conclusions • References
9 Positioning and Location Tracking in Wireless Sensor
Networks Yu-Chee Tseng, Chi-Fu Huang, and Sheng-Po Kuo.................9-1
Introduction • Fundamentals • Positioning and Location Tracking
Algorithms • Experimental Location Systems • Conclusions •
References
10 Wireless Location Technology in Location-Based
Services Junhui Zhao and Xuexue Zhang.................................................10-1
Introduction • Study on the Estimation of Position-Related Parameters
(or Data Collection) • Infrastructure of Positioning in Cellular
Network • Cellular Networks • Precision and Accuracy •
Conclusions • References
11 Next-Generation Technologies to Enable Sensor
Networks Joel I. Goodman, Albert I. Reuther, and
David R. Martinez.......................................................................................... 11-1
Introduction • Goals for Real-Time Distributed Network Computing
for Sensor Data Fusion • The Convergence of Networking and
Real-Time Computing • Middleware • Network Resource
Management • Experimental Results • Acknowledgments • References
 1
Privacy-Preserving
Anonymous Secure
Communication in
Pervasive
Computing
1.1 Security and Privacy Preservation for Pervasive
Communication......................................................1-1
1.2 Privacy and Security Parameters.........................1-2
Privacy Parameters • Security Parameters
1.3 Anonymous On-Demand Position-Based
Secure Communication in Pervasive
Communications................................................... 1-4
Fundamental Properties of the Protocol • Protocol
Description • Anonymity Achievement and Security
Analysis • Theoretical Analysis • Simulation Result
1.4 User-Controllable Security and Privacy
Sk. Md. Mizanur System for Pervasive Computing.......................1-14
Contextual Instant Messaging • People Finder
Rahman Application • Access Control to Rooms in an Office
University of Ottawa
Building
Hussein T. Mouftah 1.5 Conclusion.............................................................1-18
University of Ottawa References..........................................................................1-18

1.1 S
 ecurity and Privacy Preservation for Pervasive
Communication
When someone is asked to use his/her office, what goes through his/her mind? Is it the
probability that may be it is for an overseas call? Is it the fear that may be it is for browsing
his/her profile or confidential documents lying on the table? Or in the case of a total
stranger, how it is known about the office? Certainly, it is not easy to deal with all these
questions at once in everyday life, but somehow it should be handled if it is arisen. As the

1-1
1-2 Pervasive Communications Handbook

reality of pervasive computing becomes more and more apparent, these types of requests
become more subtle, frequent, and potentially impacting [1]. Considering recent technol-
ogy and ongoing advances, devices embedded in smart environments and worn on our
bodies will communicate seamlessly about any number of different things. In such kind
of interactions, huge amounts of information are shared and exchanged [2]. Even though
this may be the means of enjoying context-based and other enhanced services, there is an
increased risk involved in some of these interactions and collaborations, if collaborators
are about to use our private possessions [3]. This further illustrates how combined assess-
ment of the interrelationships between trust, security, privacy, and context aid in confi-
dent decision-making [4]. In everyday life we do not treat these concerns in isolation; we
actually make spontaneous decisions that are based on maintaining a “comfortable” bal-
ance. Although we do not completely understand these basic building blocks, the poten-
tial trade-offs are intuitively understood, even if technically underexplored [1].
A user who does not wish to be tracked by an application will want to use different
pseudonyms on each visit. Many applications can offer better services if they retain per-
user state, such as personal preferences; but if a set of preferences were accessed by sev-
eral different pseudonyms, the application would easily guess that these pseudonyms
map to the same user [1]. We therefore need to ensure that the user state for each pseud-
onym looks, to the application, different from that of any other pseudonym. There are
two main difficulties. First, the state for a given user (common to all that user’s pseud-
onyms) must be stored elsewhere and then supplied to the application in an anonymized
fashion. Secondly, the application must not be able to determine that two sets of prefer-
ences map to the same user, so we might have to add small, random variations. However,
insignificant variations might be recognizable to a hostile observer, whereas significant
ones could adversely affect semantics and therefore functionality [1].
In the following sections, at first we discuss privacy and security parameters for perva-
sive computing, then we discuss some existing protocols for different pervasive environ-
ments. In Section 3, we discuss a protocol on position-based privacy-preserving secure
communication for pervasive mobile ad-hoc communication. In Section 4, we discuss a
user controllable privacy-preserving secure communication in pervasive computing.

1.2 Privacy and Security Parameters

The key notions on privacy and security associated with pervasive communication are
summarized in the following sections.

1.2.1 Privacy Parameters

Identity Privacy: Identity privacy means no one knows the real identity of the
nodes in the network. We are especially interested in discussing identity pri-
vacy of entities involved in packet transmission, namely the source, intermedi-
ate nodes, and the destination [5].
Location Privacy: Requirements for location privacy are as follows: (a) no one knows
the exact location of a source or a destination, except themselves; (b) other
nodes, typically intermediate nodes in the route, have no information about
Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication 1-3

their distance, that is, the number of hops, from either the source or the destina-
tion. It is said that a protocol satisfying (a) achieves weak location privacy and a
protocol satisfying both (a) and (b) achieves strong location privacy [5].
Route Anonymity: Requirements for route anonymity are as follows: (a) adversar-
ies either in the route or out of the route cannot trace packet flow back to its
source or destination; (b) adversaries not in the route have no information on
any part of the route; (c) it is difficult for adversaries to infer the transmission
pattern and motion pattern of the source or the destination [5].

1.2.2 Security Parameters

Passive Attacks: Passive attack typically involves unauthorized “listening” to the
routing packets or silently refusing execution of the function requested. This
type of attack might be an attempt to gain routing information from which
the attacker could extrapolate data about the positions of each node in rela-
tion to the others. Such an attack is usually impossible to detect, since the
attacker does not disrupt the operation of a routing protocol but only attempts
to discover valuable information by listening to the routed traffic.
Active Attacks: Active attacks are meant to degrade or prevent message flow between
nodes. They can cause degradation or a complete halt in communications
between nodes. Normally, such attacks involve actions performed by adversar-
ies, for example, replication, modification, and deletion of exchanged data.
The traffic analysis is usually passive. After performing traffic analysis, an adver-
sary can set a target node and conduct an intensive attack against the node. We
call such an attack as “target-oriented.” Such attacks are often active. The fol-
lowing are examples of active attacks:
DoS: Multiple adversaries in co-operation or one adversary with enough power
can set a specific node as a target in order to exhaust the resource of that node.
That is to identify a node and make a target to that specific node.
Wormhole Attack: In wormhole attack, an attacker records a packet in one loca-
tion of the network and sends it to another location through a tunnel [6] made
between the attacker’s nodes. Afterwards, the packet is retransmitted to the
network under his control.
Rushing Attack: Existing on-demand routing protocols forward a request packet
that arrives first in each route-discovery. In the rushing attack, the attacker
exploits this property of route discovery operation. If the route requests for-
warded by attackers arrive at a target node earlier than other route requests,
any route discovered by this route discovery includes a hop via the attacker. In
general, an attacker can forward a route request more quickly than legitimate
nodes can, so he can enter a route. Such a route cannot be easily detected.
Since nodes in pervasive environment move dynamically, adversaries cannot con-
duct active attacks without knowing the location or name of nodes. It thus often
happens that traffic analysis is conducted passively at first and active attacks are
conducted later.
1-4 Pervasive Communications Handbook

1.3 A
 nonymous On-Demand Position-Based Secure
Communication in Pervasive Communications
Sk. Md. Mizanur Rahman et al. [5,7] proposed an on-demand position-based routing
protocol for pervasive mobile ad hoc environment, where position information of a node
was kept secret during the communication among the nodes in the network. A detailed
description is given in the following section.

1.3.1 Fundamental Properties of the Protocol

To understand the operating principle of the protocol, we need to clarify the following
properties of the protocol.

1.3.1.1 Position Management

Known position-based routing protocols [8–11] use a position/location management
scheme, called a virtual home region (VHR)-based distributed secure position service
(DISPOSER). In this scheme, each node has its own VHR, which is a geographical region
around a center specific to the node. The center is a fixed center and anyone can identify
it by taking a concatenation of two publicly known values, namely the node’s ID and posi-
tion information regarding the center of the whole network, as input to a publicly known
hash function. There are position servers (PSs) for each node in the network. PSs of a
node N exist only inside the VHR of N and manage position information of N as follows.
To report the position of N to its PSs, N executes a region-based broadcast [10] in the
VHR if N stays inside its VHR. If N stays out of its VHR, N sends a packet containing posi-
tion information of N and the center of N. The latter position information is used for
determining which node forwards the packet. Once the packet reaches a node in the
VHR, the node executes a region-based broadcast. After the region-based broadcast, the
PSs can store the latest position information of N. To retrieve position information of N,
a source sends a request packet in the direction of the center of N. When the packet
reaches a node in the VHR of N, the node executes a sequential searching method [10]
and finally the packet reaches one of the PSs. The source authenticates itself to the PS, and
then the PS provides the required position information. Using this position information,
the source can establish a path from him to the destination. PSs are determined from the
node density, the size of the VHR, the robustness of the system, and so on, and the num-
ber of the PSs is set in an appropriate value that makes the sequential search more cost-
effective than the region-based broadcast and the management cost of the position
information low enough. More details on the VHR are described in [8,10].
The PS of this scheme has an additional property: a PS provides a source with addi-
tional information to enhance the authenticity and secrecy of services provided by
the PS. Before describing this scheme, we define two notations: Position information
denotes a pair composed of position and time, and legitimate nodes denote nodes
that have registered with PS and received a common key (CK) from PS.
In contrast to ordinary PS, our PS provides a source with a CK for all legitimate nodes,
public key (PK) of the destination, position information of the destination, authentica-
tion information Auth, and a Token.
Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication 1-5

When a node joins a network, it is registered the PS and gets a CK and a pair of PK/SK
from the PS.
When a node updates its position information and sends it to the PS, it generates a
random number and sends it together with its position information to the PS. This
random number is used for generating Auth, where Auth = [H1 (Destination’s Position,
Destination’s random number)] and H1 is a global hash function. The notation
A  =  [B, C, . . ., Z] means variable A is substituted by the concatenation of B, C, . . ., Z.
Later, at the route discovery phase, Auth is used for authenticating the destination to
the source.
To obtain the position information of the destination from the PS, the source has to
send a signed position request to PS with a route-request sequence number (RRQSeqNo).
After verification of the signature, the PS responds to the source’s request with the posi-
tion information of the destination, Auth, public key PK Dest of the destination, and a
Token defined as Token = [HPS(Sender Temp ID, Receiver Temp ID), Time, RRQSeqNo],
where HPS is a local hash function defined by the PS. Position information is used for
generating the temporary ID, Temp ID. In contrast, Position is used only for routing,
and it is encrypted by CK in the route-request phase.
A sender keeps Auth received from the PS for a session of communication. At the last
phase of the route-discovery procedure, destination will reply with a route-reply mes-
sage (RRPMsg) for its authentication to the sender: RRPMsg = [SigSKDest (Auth)], where
SigSK is a digital signature function under secret key (SK) and SK Dest is the SK of the
public/secret key pair of the destination. With this RRPMsg, the sender authenticates
the destination.
A Token is sent in the last phase of data transmission to the destination. At the end of
the communication, the destination sends this Token to PS, so that PS can determine
whether the communication between the source and the destination is valid. If a node
takes the position information of the destination and does not make a data transmission,
then PS will not supply any further position information to that node.

1.3.1.2 Dynamic Handshaking

A type of handshaking, called dynamic handshaking, which is established from the
ending point to the beginning point, is defined here as shown in Figure 1.1. At first, node
A sends a signal for node D via B. B will response to A after getting a response from C.
That means A will wait for a certain time. The whole handshaking process is performed
from the ending to the beginning.

Node A Node B Node C Node D

Time

FIGURE 1.1 Dynamic handshaking.

1-6 Pervasive Communications Handbook

1.3.1.3 Control Packets of the Protocol

Three control packets are used for route discovery of AODPR: Route Request Packet
(RRQ), Route Reply Packet (RRP), and Fail Packet (Fail). These packets are described as
follows:
CK is used for encryption and decryption by all legitimate nodes. ECK : means encryp-
tion with CK.

1.3.1.3.1 Route Request Packet

Sender Temp ID ECK (RRQSeqNo) ECK (PD) ECK (NH ) ECK (TempNH ) ECK (EM )

For construction purposes, when senders or forwarders forward any packet, they gen-
erate a large bit random number and make parts of that random bit corresponding to the
number of fields of the packet. And they specify all the fields with a specific bit number.
They then encrypt these fields by padding with random bits. When a packet reaches a
node, the node first decrypts and extracts the random bits from the fields and pads their
own random bits. As all the fields of a packet are changed, when a packet moves from
node to node, it appears new to the network. This procedure is applicable to all the
encrypted fields of all the packets. Encryption/decryption is performed as necessary
when a packet moves from node to node.
Sender Temp ID: For every session of communication, a source generates its tempo-
rary ID Temp ID, computed as Temp ID = [H (Position, Time, PK)], where H is
a global hash function known to all legitimate nodes in the network, Position is
the position of the source, Time is the present time, and PK is a public key of the
source. Temp ID uniquely identifies the source in each session of communica-
tion and is dynamically changed from session to session and from hop to hop.
When nodes staying within the sender’s radio range receive the RRQ packet,
they will become new senders or forwarders and update the Temp ID into their
own Temp ID, which is generated in a similar way as mentioned above.
For successful identification, the Temp ID should be unique for each session of
communication. To this end, H should be collision resistant. Theoretically
proven collision-resistant hash functions are slow; thus, in practice, hash func-
tions that are expected to be collision-resistant, such as Message Digest algo-
rithm 5 (MD5) [12] and Secure Hash Algorithm 1(SHA-1) [13], are used instead.
The probability of finding a collision for MD5 with respect to 128-bit output and
that for SHA-1 with respect to 160-bit output have been estimated as, on aver-
age, 264 and 280, respectively. As long as these probabilities hold, it is difficult to
find the same Temp ID for different nodes in each session of communication.
RRQSeqNo: It is generated by the source uniquely, for the uniqueness of a session.
Position of Destination (PD): The geographical position (XT, YT) of the destination,
taken from PS and encrypted by CK.
Number of Hops (NH): NH is the minimum number of hops that an RRQ packet
travels to find a route from the source to the destination. NH is estimated by
the source. It is changed by the source when the source tries to find a route with
a new estimation. It is also encrypted by CK.
Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication 1-7

Temporary Number of Hops (Temp NH): At the beginning of route discovery,

Temp NH is initiated as NH by the source, Temp NH = NH and it is encrypted
with CK by the source. After receiving the RRQ packet by legitimate nodes, it is
updated. Update means decrementing by one, that is, Temp NH = Temp
NH − 1. When the RRQ packet travels from node to node it is updated each
time by each node. Moreover, the nodes perform encryption/decryption oper-
ations and vice-versa by CK.
Ensure Message (EM): This examines the genuineness of the destination. The
source generates an EM when it receives the destination’s position. EM = [H2
(position of destination, time)], where H2 is the global hash function.

1.3.1.3.2 Route Reply Packet

ECK (RRQSeqNo) Sender Temp ID Receiver Temp ID RRPMsg

Receiver Temp ID: For every session of communication, an intermediate node or

the destination generates its Temp ID in the same procedure as the sender Temp
ID. Temp ID is the only identification of a node in one session of communica-
tion. It is dynamically changeable from session to session. When packets are
forwarded, this field is updated by nodes according to their own Temp ID.

1.3.1.3.3 Fail Packet (Fail)

ECK (RRQSeqNo) Sender Temp ID Receiver Temp ID ECK (NH )

1.3.2 Protocol Description

1.3.2.1 Parameters of the Protocol
In certain environments, such as stadiums, classrooms, disaster areas, and battle fields,
node placements and their corresponding density can be defined as follows.

1) Temp NH = Temp NH – 1
Dr (A)
2) Check <= n – 1
NH = n Temp NH = n – 1 R
3) If yes, then forward
Node A
NH = n Temp NH = n Dr (A)
S D T
Dr (B)
Node B
NH = n Temp NH = n – 1 1) Temp NH = Temp NH – 1
Dr (B)
2) Check <= n – 1
R
3) If no, then discard

: Discard region : Forward region S : Source

FIGURE 1.2 Quad-placement-connected network.

1-8 Pervasive Communications Handbook

Quadratic placement means that a node is connected in its radio range with its neigh-
bors in all four compass directions from its center (Figure 1.2): thus, their corresponding
densities are approximated as μ quad ≈ n /[{π + ( 3 / 2) + 1} × R2 ], where n is the number
of nodes to make the connection and R is the radius of the maximum radio-range cover-
age of each node of the ad-hoc network. When any node sends a packet within its radio
range, the other nodes within its radio range can receive the packets. Line placement
means that a node can be connected to any node in a line via intermediate nodes. Least
placement means that a node can reach another node with just one connection to its
neighbor (Figure 1.3).
At first, we describe the estimation of NH by the source for different placements of the
nodes in the network. The source estimates NH on the basis of the density of the nodes
in the network, and NH is the highest when node density is the lowest and vice-versa.
NH is thus proportional to 1/μ, where μ is the density of the nodes.
For line placement, NH  =  D/R, where R is the radius of the maximum radio-range
coverage of each node of the ad-hoc network, D is the distance from the source to the
destination, D = ( XT − X S )2 + (YT − YS )2 , where (XS , YS) and (XT , YT) are the source’s
and destination’s positions, respectively. In this placement, NH is the minimum number
of hops, from the source to the destination, estimated by the source.
For μqaud it is assumed that NH  =  f(L,B)/R, where f is a linear function in L and B,
where length L is the horizontal distance from the source to destination and breadth B
is the vertical distance from the source to destination.
For least placement, it is assumed that NH  =  (k  ×  g(C))/R, where k is a constant and
a function of L/R or B/R; and g is an exponential function in circumference C of the area
of the network. In this placement, NH is the maximum number of hops, from the source
to the destination.

1.3.2.2 Overview of the Protocol

The protocol is described in detail with respect to the functionalities of the nodes.
Source: The source sends a request to the PS for the position information of the desti-
nation when it wants to communicate with the destination. AODPR is thus an on-
demand protocol. The source generates its own Temp ID, RRQSeqNo, and estimates NH
and the maximum number of hops.

(a) (b) (c)

Temp A Temp B Temp C

FIGURE 1.3 Least-placement-connected network.

Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication 1-9

After receiving the destination’s position, the source estimates NH and assigns this
NH to Temp NH. It then source sends an RRQ packet within its radio range and waits to
receive a response, which is either RRP or Fail during time 2  ×  TTL, where TTL denotes
time to leave and is estimated by the source from TTL = (traveling time for one
hop) × (number of hop).

• If the source receives RRP, by decrypting RRPMsg of RRP, it tries to find a match
with Auth. If a match is found, it stores the corresponding RRQSeqNo, NH,
receiver’s Temp ID, and status (i.e., “yes”) in its routing table. It then sends data
encrypted by the destination’s PK. Lastly, sender sends Token to the destination so
that destination can inform the PS of this communication.
• If it receives a Fail packet, it stores the corresponding RRQSeqNo, NH, and status
(“no”) to its routing table, and again tries with a new estimated NH.
• If it does not receive any response and TTL is exceeded, it stores RRQSeqNo, NH,
and status (“no”) in its routing table, and again tries with a new estimated NH.

As a result of this procedure, if the source fails to find the destination with an esti-
mated NH, it tries with the next estimated NH until it finds the route. In this way, it can
try with the minimum to the maximum estimated NH. Moreover, the maximum num-
ber of hops can be varied for different placements.
Intermediate Nodes or Forwarders: If a node receives a packet RRQ, but it is not the
destination, it is a forwarder and becomes a new sender. Forwarder F generates its own
Temp ID and calculates distance Dr(F) between F and its destination T by
Dr (F ) = ( XT − X F )2 + (YT − YF )2 from the forwarder’s position (XF, YF) and destina-
tion’s position (XT, YT). F then updates Temp NH by Temp NH  =  Temp NH  −  1. It
compares this updated Temp NH with Dr(F)/R and makes the following decision, as
shown schematically in Figure 1.4.

• If Dr(F)/R ≤ Updated Temp NH, forwarder F forwards the packet to its radio
region and keeps the route information.
• If Dr(F)/R > Updated Temp NH, forwarder F discards the packets.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n

o p q r s t u v w x y z 0 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

FIGURE 1.4 Packet forwarding or discarding in intermediate nodes.

1-10 Pervasive Communications Handbook

After forwarding a packet, the forwarder waits to receive a response for time 2 × TTL1,
where TTL1 is computed from TTL1 = (traveling time for one hop) × (updated number of
hops).
• If the forwarder receives RRP, it just forwards it on the reverse path and keeps the
route information.
• If the forwarder receives Fail, it also forwards it on the same reverse path and
keeps the route information.
• If it does not receive any response and its waiting time exceeds TTL1, it generates
Fail and forwards it on the reverse path.
Destination: The destination checks EM of RRQ to confirm the destination of RRQ.
Finally, it replies by RRP and keeps the route information.

1.3.2.3 Working Principle

Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) [14] is used as the
channel-access mechanism for control messages. A sender (a source or a forwarder) of
an RRQ transmits the RRQ after sensing the channel and finding idle time for a distrib-
uted inter frame space (DIFS). When there is a collision, the sender retransmits the RRQ
after a short inter frame space (SIFS). The same procedure is applicable for any node for
the RRP as well as Fail.
Initial Procedure: A source makes a signed position request to the PS, and receives
required information CK, destination’s position information, Auth, Token, and
PK of the destination from the PS.
Source’s Working Procedure: The source generates an RRQ and sends it to its radio
region and waits to receive a response for time 2 × TTL.
If it receives the following response:
• If source receives RRP, then it compares Auth with RRPMsg by decrypting it.
• If it matches, then source sends data in the path and at last sends the
Token.
• If it does not match, then source discards this RRP and estimates a new
NH and again tries this procedure until it receives a valid RRP.
• If source receives a Fail packet within time 2 × TTL, it estimates a new NH and
again tries this procedure until it receives an RRP that does not exceed the maxi-
mum number of hops for that environment.
If the source does not receive any response and the waiting time exceeds 2  ×  TTL,
the source estimates a new NH and again tries the above procedure until it receives an
RRP. The source repeats this procedure as long as the NH of its packet is smaller than the
maximum number of hops for that environment.
Forwarder’s or Destination’s Working Procedure: On receiving an RRQ, a forwarder
checks whether it is the destination or not.
If it is the destination, then it generates an RRP and sends this RRP on the reverse
path.
If it is not the destination, then it forwards the RRQ and waits for time 2  ×  TTL1.
Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication 1-11

• If the forwarder receives an RRP, it keeps the route information and sends it on
the reverse path.
• If the forwarder receives Fail, then it keeps the route information and sends it on
the reverse path.

If the waiting time for the forwarder exceeds 2  ×  TTL1 time, then the forwarder gen-
erates Fail and sends it on the reverse path.

1.3.3 Anonymity Achievement and Security Analysis

When senders or forwarders forward any packets, they generate a large bit random num-
ber and use parts of that random bit sequence corresponding to the number of encrypted
fields of the packet, that is, RRQ and RRP. The packets are described in the Appendix.
They also specify all the fields with a specific bit number. They then pad the fields with
random bits and encrypt these fields. When a packet reaches a node, the node first decrypts
it, extracts the random bits from the fields, and pads these fields with its own random bits.
All the fields of a packet are thus changed. As a result, when the packet moves from node
to node, it appears new to the network. This procedure is applicable to all the encrypted
fields of all the packets. Encryption and decryption are performed as necessary when a
packet moves from node to node.
In an ad-hoc security routing protocol, the most expensive operation is the PK opera-
tion [15]. To guarantee the anonymity in the AODPR, every node generates its Temp ID,
which is a hash computation, and a random bit corresponding to the fields of the pack-
ets, and it finally performs symmetric encryption/decryption of the fields. These compu-
tations are not more computationally complex than those of some other ad-hoc security
routing protocol [16].

Identity Privacy: In AODPR, the identities Temp ID of the nodes are changing in
each hop as a packet is forwarded. Location of destination is encrypted and
padded with random bits. Also the Temp ID is changed in each session of com-
munication. The Temp ID depends on not only the position of the node and the
PK but also on time, so it is changeable within a hop range. So, AODPR ensures
identity privacy.
Location Privacy: The general concept of the current attacks on the location pri-
vacy is to observe the route request and route response packets and to estimate
the distance between the source and the destination from the traveling infor-
mation added to the packet, that is, how many hops it travels. In contrast to
existing anonymous ad-hoc routing protocols, there is no extra traveling infor-
mation added to the packets in our scheme, and estimating the distance
between the source and the destination is not possible in a straightforward
way. No node knows anything about the location and identity of the other
nodes, including the source, and it does not know from where a packet starts to
travel in the network. Even though all legitimate nodes can determine the dis-
tance from themselves to the destination and also know the Temp ID of other
nodes in the neighboring region, no one except the source can determine the
1-12 Pervasive Communications Handbook

a b c d e f g h i j k l m

z y x w v u t s r q p o 0

FIGURE 1.5 Route anonymity model.

distance from the source to the destination by using this information. Location
privacy is thus achieved.
Route Anonymity: Current attacks on route anonymity are based on traffic analy-
sis [17]. The general theory behind these kinds of attacks is to trace or to find
the path in which the packets are moving. For this purpose, a malicious node
mainly looks for unchangeable information, that is, common information in
a packet, so that it can trace the movement of control packets. As a result, the
adversaries can find or estimate the route from the source to the destination.
In AODPR, all the control packets appear new (Figure 1.5) in the network
when packets move from node to node. So, no one can trace the path of the
route. Route anonymity is thus achieved. A detailed description is given in the
Appendix.
DoS: Multiple adversaries cooperatively or one adversary with enough power can
exhaust the resource of a specific target node. To this end, adversaries need to
identify a node and set that specific node as a target. In AODPR, identity pri-
vacy is achieved as discussed above and DoS can be protected.
Wormhole Attacks: In wormhole attack, there could be a long distance for a packet
to travel for finding the route from the source to the destination. In AODPR,
the source and the forwarders wait for a limited time, TTL or TTL1, for getting
a response based on the estimated NH. If an attacker’s response exceeds a lim-
ited time, it cannot be a forwarder within a routing path. If the attacker is a
forwarder within a path limit and does not reply properly, this path no longer
remains valid. The sender will try another path. A wormhole attack is therefore
not effective in the case of AODPR.
Rushing Attack: Many existing on-demand routing protocols forward only the
request that arrives first from each route discovery. In a rushing attack, the
attacker exploits this property of the operation of route discovery and estab-
lishes a rushing attack. A more powerful rushing attacker may employ a worm-
hole to rush packets. By using the tunnel of a wormhole attack, the attacker can
introduce a rushing attack. As shown above, AODPR can prevent a wormhole
attack. It is thus also robust against a rushing attack.
Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication 1-13

1.3.4 Theoretical Analysis

In the case of AODPR, the source can determine the direct distance from him to any
node connected in the network. Let the distance from the source to a node be D, so the
number of hop given by h = D/R, where R is the radio-range coverage around a node.
For route discovery, when a control packet travels from hop to hop, h is decremented
by one. When a packet is forwarded to a specific node, the values of h will thus con-
verge to a smaller value than its previous value. Let t be the time a packet needs to
travel h number of hops, within time 2 × t, the source will receive a response. If the
source does not receive any response, it will estimate new hop h1 and will wait for a
corresponding traveling time 2 × t1. Thus, by consecutive estimation of new hops, the
source reaches to the goal, as long as there is at least one path to reach the goal. If the
density of the network is more than the quadratic-placement density μquad (Figure 1.2),
it can reach the goal directly. If there is a shield on the path, it is also informed to the
source by sending a fail packet after a certain amount of time. The source therefore
estimates a new hop number by increasing its value more than in the previous attempts.
If the source fails again, it will try as previously with a new estimate. If there is at least
one path from the source to a node, then it can be found out, and successful commu-
nication is accomplished.
If the nodes in the network are at least-connected as shown in Figure 1.3, the maximum
hop count to reach the goal is n  −  1, where n denotes the number of nodes in a network. Let
us consider a path from node a to z, as an example path. At first a will calculate Dr(a) from
node a to z and also estimates NH, so that the packet travels according to the protocol for
this NH. If the relation Dr(F)/R > Updated Temp NH holds for a node in the path, that node
discards the packet. After that, node a sends the packet with a new estimated NH, which is
a value greater than the old NH. Either with current estimated NH or a new estimated NH
on the consecutive estimation of NH, the relation Dr(F)/R > Updated Temp NH does not
hold for that node anymore and the node finally forwards the packet. As long as the NH of
a packet from a is smaller than the maximum hop count, this procedure will continue. By
taking an appropriate value for the maximum hop count, the packet can reach from node a
to node z. The simulation results of least-connected nodes in a network are given in the next
section with a different estimation of NH.

1.3.5 Simulation Result

The reach ability in a network with least placement was simulated by varying the num-
ber of nodes, as shown in Figure 1.6, under a C++ programming environment. The
graph shows the number of trials with respect to the number of nodes, in different esti-
mation. For all the estimation methods, the source at first initializes NH = D/R. With
this initial value, the source tries to reach the destination. If the source fails, it estimates
a new NH value and tries to reach to the goal with this value. Each time the source tries
to reach the goal, the trial number is counted. For estimating the NH value, we experi-
mented with seven estimation functions. For all the estimation functions, the estimation
value is initialized by NH = D/R. These functions are mainly defined in two ways such
as (i) linear and (ii) exponential, which are described as follows.
1-14 Pervasive Communications Handbook

60

50
Estimation by linear 1
Estimation by linear 2
Estimation by linear 3
40 Estimation by linear 4
Estimation by linear 5
Number of trials

Estimation by exponential 1
Estimation by exponential 2
30

20

10

0
5 11 15 21 25 31 35 41 45 51
Number of nodes

FIGURE 1.6 Number of trials for different estimation methods to find a route for different num-
bers of nodes in a least-placement-connected network.

Estimation by linear I (I = 1–5): After initializing the estimation value, it is incre-

mented by I, so estimation value = estimation value + I. Detailed results for various I
(I = 1–5) are shown in Figure 1.6.
Estimation by exponential I (I = 1, 2): After initializing the estimation value, it is
incremented as a power, so estimation value = (estimation value)I+1. When I = 1, the
source tries four times for 21 numbers of nodes to reach the goal and for 51 numbers of
nodes, it tries four times, but the trial value for 5–15 numbers of nodes differs from the
previous value and it is 3. When I = 2, the source tries three times to reach the goal for
21 numbers of nodes, and for 51 numbers of nodes, it also tries three times and it remains
constant from any number of nodes from 5 to 51. Exponential 2 is thus the best estima-
tion for a least-placement-connected network.

1.4 U
 ser-Controllable Security and Privacy System
for Pervasive Computing
Jason et al. proposed an user-controllable security and privacy system in [18], where they
developed and evaluated three different applications, that are (1) a contextual instant
Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication 1-15

­ essenger, (2) a people finder application, and (3) a phone-based application for access con-
m
trol. In this work, the authors describe their work with respect to three pervasive-computing
scenarios and then drew out themes for the applications. The applications are as follows:
I. Contextual Instant Messaging: Users can inquire about each other’s context (e.g.,
interruptability, location, and current task) through an instant messaging
service.
II. People Finder Application: Users are equipped with location-aware smart phones.
They interact with their devices to inquire about the locations of others subject to
privacy policies.
III. Access Control to Resources: Smart phones are used to access both physical and
digital resources. Users can use their smart phones to create and manage their
security policies, and to give others credentials to access different resources.

1.4.1 Contextual Instant Messaging

Privacy controls and feedback mechanisms for imbuddy411 have been iteratively
designed, which is a contextual Instant Messenger (IM) service that lets any AOL Instant
Messenger (AIM) users query for three types of information: interruptibility, location,
and current task (abstractly represented as the name of the current window being
viewed). Currently, AIM users can only query information of AIM users who are run-
ning client software, which collects and reports their contextual information.
To configure the contextual IM privacy settings, a group-based approach is used
which is based on the works of Patil and Lai [19]. Users can modify their privacy control
setting via a web browser. All buddies are first classified under a “default” privacy group
that denies all disclosures. Users can create as many groups as they want and move bud-
dies from the default group to any other group. Other AIM users who request informa-
tion from imbuddy411, but are not part of the user’s buddy list are dynamically added to
the default group.
Three feedback mechanisms are developed: (a) a notification letting users know when
their information is being seen, (b) a grounding and social translucency mechanism that
facilitates conversation by letting users know what others know about them, and (c) a
history letting users know what information has been disclosed to others.
Imbuddy411 is implemented as an AIM robot that could answer queries, such as
“HowBusyIs alice” and “WhereIs Bob,” and a Trillian plug-in that can sense contextual
information such as interruptibility (using the SUBTLE toolkit [20]), location (using
PlaceLab [21]), and current task. To introduce imbuddy411 to the participants’ buddies,
a short blurb was included in each participant’s profile. Trillian plug-in also advertised
the imbuddy411 service whenever a conversation starts between a user and their
buddies.
To evaluate their research, a two-week study was conducted with 10 IM users. There
were 193 queries not counting users querying themselves, including 54 interruptibility
requests, 77 location requests, and 62 active window requests. Also, 63 queries were hits
to the database (i.e., when users were not online). There were 46 distinct users who que-
ried imbuddy411 and 9 of those were repeat users and all the participants agreed that the
1-16 Pervasive Communications Handbook

three information types being disclosed were all potentially sensitive interruptibility:
3.6, location: 4.1, active window: 4.9, all out of 5). Participants informed that they were
comfortable with their privacy settings (4.1/5). The result is particularly interesting,
since as the part of the experiment. However, most of the participants’ settings were set
up not to reveal anything by default, and so they were unconcerned and did not mention
this issue at a debriefing at the end of the study.

1.4.2 People Finder Application

The emergence of cell-phone-based location-tracking opens the door to a number of new
applications, including recommendations, navigation, safety, enterprise applications,
and social applications. Experiments conducted with some of these applications in the
context of MyCampus show that adoption of these services often depends on whether
users feel they can adequately control when their location is shared [22]. To better under-
stand the privacy preferences users have in the context of these applications, as well as
what it takes to capture these preferences, a series of experiments were conducted involv-
ing a cell phone-based people finder that lets users inquire about the location of their
friends, family members, and colleagues.
In the first set of experiments of the research, 19 participants were presented with
situations simulating queries from others. The queries were customized to capture ele-
ments of their daily activities involving friends, family, and colleagues. Each participant
was asked to specify rules indicating the conditions under which she would be willing to
share her location information with others (e.g., “My colleagues can only see my location
on weekdays and only between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.”). The experiments involved presenting
each participant with a total of 30 individualized scenarios (45 scenarios for each of the
last 4 participants). Each individualized scenario included asking the participant
whether she felt comfortable disclosing her location, showing her what her current poli-
cies would do, and offering her a chance to refine her policies.
Experiments show that users often have fairly sophisticated privacy preferences,
requiring over 5 minutes just to specify their initial rules and nearly 8 minutes if one
adds time spent revising these rules as they get confronted with new situations. Several
users ended up with eight or more rules by the end of the experiments. More surpris-
ingly, despite the time and effort spent specifying and refining their policies, partici-
pants were generally unable to achieve high levels of accuracy. Rules specified at the
beginning of the experiments only captured their policies 59% of the time. When given
a chance to revise their rules over time, that percentage only went up to 65%. Even when
using the rules that users ended up with at the end of the experiments and re-running
these rules on all 30 (or 45) scenarios, decisions were only correct 70% of the time.
The results with case-based reasoning (CBR) suggest that it is possible to train a sys-
tem to learn a user’s policies that can be more accurate than those specified by users—
82% accuracy using CBR. While additional experiments are required to validate
statistical significance, these preliminary findings suggest that requiring users to fully
specify their policies may be unrealistic. Instead, learning as well as dialog and explana-
tion technologies seem to have the potential of offering solutions that better capture user
policies while also reducing user burden.
Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication 1-17

1.4.3 Access Control to Rooms in an Office Building

A distributed, smartphone-based access-control system called Grey is deployed in a build-
ing on Carnegie Mellon University campus [23,24]. Grey can be used to control access to
physical resources such as office doors, as well as electronic resources such as computer
accounts or electronic files. Grey-enabled resources allow access when an individual’s
smartphone presents a proof that access is permitted. Proofs are assembled from a set of
credentials that express authority. The credentials are created and managed by end-users
on their Grey phones. Instead of relying on a central access-control list, in Grey end-users
are empowered to create flexible access-control policies for the resources they manage.
Grey users can delegate their authority proactively by manually creating credentials
that let a user or a group of users access a specified resource during a specified time
period. Grey users can also create credentials reactively, when another user asks for
access. In this case, the user who may have the needed credentials is prompted to help
the user who is trying to gain access. If she decides to help, Grey will forward the rel-
evant credentials from her phone to the user trying to gain access or, if such creden-
tials do not yet exist, intelligently prompt her to first create such credentials, for
example, by adding the requestor to a group that already has access to the resource.
Over three dozen doors were outfitted in the building with Grey-enabled Bluetooth
door locks and given smartphones with Grey software to 19 users. Grey is also used by
nine members of the Grey project team. Grey usage is monitored by collecting log files
from phones and doors and by interviewing Grey users every four to eight weeks over
a period of several months.
Office building includes a shared workspace with open cubicles, as well as conference
rooms, labs, storage closets, and offices. Locked perimeter doors secure the entire work-
space in the evening and on weekends. Conference rooms, labs, storage closets, and
offices can be individually locked. All Grey users were given credentials to unlock the
perimeter doors, and users with offices were given credentials to unlock their own office
doors. Some Grey users were also given additional credentials, for example, to unlock a
lab or a storage closet. A user accesses a resource (e.g., a door or a computer login) by
selecting its name from the phone’s menu, after which the phone and the resource com-
municate via Bluetooth. The resource grants access (e.g., the door unlocks) when it has
verified the credentials and proof submitted by the phone. If a user does not have creden-
tials to access the resource, her phone prompts her to ask another Grey user to delegate
the necessary authority.
Among the following lessons of the initial deployment of Grey, many of which may be
broadly applicable to other mobile-device applications and access-control technologies.

• A variety of obstacles were found to acceptance of Grey, including user perception

that Grey was slow (even when it was not) and system failures that caused users to
get locked out. While security usually focuses on keeping unauthorized users out,
the users were more concerned with how easy it was for them to get in, and in
interviews never mentioned security concerns.
• It was being hopped to observe frequent delegation, but since Grey relies on net-
work effects, the small number of users and resources limited opportunities for
1-18 Pervasive Communications Handbook

delegation was being investigated in better ways to bootstrap so that Grey will be
more useful, even for a small population.
• One of the objectives of this trial deployment was to study the types of access-
control policies users would create when no longer constrained by the limitations
imposed by difficult-to-obtain physical keys. It is observed that the users creating
policies that did not mirror the policies they had with physical keys, and it is found
that the low overhead for creating and changing policies with Grey encourages
policy change and the creation of policies that better fit the users’ needs.
• Finally, it is surprised for some of the unanticipated uses that the users made of
the Grey system. For example, some of the users routinely use Grey to unlock
doors without having to get out of their chairs. It would not have probably discov-
ered without a field study.

1.5 Conclusion
In this chapter, we have discussed the state of the art of privacy and security for perva-
sive communication. To determine the security and privacy for pervasive communica-
tion, related parameters are determined. Finally, two different existing solutions are
discussed targeting different pervasive environments.

References
1. SPPC: Workshop on Security and Privacy in Pervasive Computing, 2004.
2. http://www.atp.nist.gov/iteo/pervasive.htm.
3. http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/MPRV.2007.86.
4. http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1335023.
5. Rahman, Sk. Md. M., Inomata, A., Mambo, M., and Okamoto, E., Anonymous
On-Demand Position-based Routing in Mobile Ad-hoc Networks, IPSJ (Information
Processing Society of Japan) Journal, 2006; 47(8): 2396–2408.
6. Hu, Y. C., Perrig, A., Johnson, D. B., Packet leashes, “A defense against wormhole
attacks in wireless ad hoc networks,” in Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Joint
Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies (INFOCOM 2003),
San Francisco, March 30–April 3, 2003.
7. Rahman, Sk. Md. M., Mambo, M., Inomata, A., and Okamoto, E., An anonymous
on-demand position-based routing in mobile ad hoc networks, in Proceedings of The
2006 Symposium on Applications & the Internet (SAINT-2006), Mesa/Phoenix, AZ,
IEEE Computer Society Order Number P2508, Library of Congress Number
2005937742, ISBN 0-7695-2508-3, pp. 300–306, January 23–27, 2006.
8. Wu, X, DISPOSER: distributed secure position service in mobile ad hoc networks.
Technical Report CSD TR #04-027, Dept. Computer Sciences, 2004.
9. Xue, Y., Li, B., and Nahrstedt, K., A scalable location management scheme in mobile
ad-hoc networks, in Proceedings of the 26th IEEE Annual Conference on Local
Computer Networks (LCN 2001), Tampa, FL, November 2001, pp. 102–111.
Privacy-Preserving Anonymous Secure Communication 1-19

10. Wu, X., VDPS: virtual home region based distributed position service in mobile ad
hoc networks, in Proceedings of ICDCS, Columbus, OH, 2005.
11. Wu, X. and Bhargava B., AO2P: ad hoc on-demand position-based private routing
protocol. IEEE Trans Mobile Comput 2005; 4(4): 335–348.
12. R. L. Rivest: The MD5 Message Digest Algorithm, Internet RFC 1321, April 1992.
13. NIST: FIPS 180-1, Secure hash standard, US Department of Commerce, Washington,
D.C., April, 1995.
14. Technical Report on the IEEE 802.11 Protocol.
15. Zhang, Y., Security in mobile Ad-hoc networks. Ad hoc Networks Technologies and
Protocols, edited by Mohapatra, P., and Krishnamurthy, S., Springer, ISBN 0-387-
22689-3, Springer Science+Business Media, Inc, Boston, pp. 249–268, 2005.
16. Carter, S. and Yasinasc, A., Secure position aided ad hoc routing protocol, in
Proceedings of the IASTED International Conference on Communications and
Computer Networks (CCN02), November 4–6, 2002, 329–334.
17. Raymond, J-F., Traffic analysis: protocols, attacks, design issues and open problems,
in Proceedings of PET 01, Vol. 2009, LNCS, Springer, 2001, pp. 10–29.
18. Cornwell, J., Fette, I., Hsieh, G., Prabaker, M., Rao, J., Tang, K., Vaniea, K. et al.,
User-controllable security and privacy for pervasive computing, in 8th IEEE
Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, Tucson, AZ, February
26–27, 2007.
19. Patil, S., and Lai, J., Who gets to know what when: configuring privacy permissions
in an awareness application, in Proceedings of CHI 2005, pp. 101–110, Portland, OR,
April 02–07, 2005.
20. Fogarty, J. and Hudson, S. E. Toolkit support for developing and deploying sensor-
based statistical models of human situations, in Proceedings of CHI 2007, San Jose,
CA, April 28–May 3, 2007.
21. LaMarca, A. et al., Place lab: device positioning using radio beacons in the wild, in
Proceedings of Pervasive 2005, Munich, Germany, May 8–13, 2005.
22. Sadeh, N., Gandon, F., and Kwon, O. B., Ambient intelligence: the MyCampus expe-
rience. Ambient Intelligence, Wireless Network and Ubiquitous Computing, edited by
Vasilakos T. and Pedrycz W., ArTech House, Inc, Norwood, MA, 2006.
23. Bauer, L., Cranor, L. F., Reiter, M. K., and Vaniea, K., Lessons learned from the deploy-
ment of a smartphone-based access-control system, Technical Report
CMUCyLab-06-016, CyLab, Carnegie Mellon University, October 2006.
24. Bauer, L., Garriss, S., McCune, J. M., Reiter, M. K., Rouse, J., and Rutenbar, P., Device-
enabled authorization in the Grey system, in Proceedings of the 8th Information
Security Conference, Singapore, September 2005.
 2
Challenges in
Testing Context-
Aware Applications
2.1 Introduction............................................................2-1
Overview of Software Testing for Context-Aware
Applications
2.2 Modeling Context-Aware Systems...................... 2-4
2.3 Testing Challenges................................................. 2-6
Example Application • Issues in Test Planning
2.4 Recent Trends in Testing Context-Aware
Rana Ejaz Ahmed Applications............................................................ 2-9
American University 2.5 Summary and Conclusions.................................2-11
of Sharjah References..........................................................................2-11

2.1 Introduction
Recent advances in sensors, wireless, and mobile communications technologies and
ever-growing popularity of mobile devices have given a new dimension to pervasive
computing. The mobile devices are now capable of sensing the surrounding environ-
ment in order to offer users a wide selection of services. Context-aware computing is one
of the important enabling technologies for pervasive computing. Computing entities in
a software application are context-aware if they can sense and adapt their behavior in
response to changes in their surrounding physical and logical environment attributes
(also known as contexts). Context-awareness allows computing entities to intelligently
choose resources and provide customized services to the end-users. For example, a
context-aware application running on a mobile phone senses that it is the meeting time
for the user, the user has entered the meeting room, and the meeting has started. The
application can then conclude that the user is busy in the meeting and it rejects all
incoming calls while the meeting is in progress. Context-awareness is increasingly
­featured in several application domains such as e-commerce, e-learning, e-healthcare,
and so on. Some common factors related to categories of context are: time, location,

2-1
2-2 Pervasive Communications Handbook

identity, surrounding infrastructure (including network, IT), and activity of the user.
Location-based (LB) context aware systems that deal with the location information of
the mobile devices are widespread and, perhaps, well-studied systems. Other context-
aware applications such as smart homes, context-aware healthcare systems, and smart
sensor networks are also becoming more common now.
Context sensing is typically accomplished via some sort of sensor. Earlier, these sen-
sors were usually infrared (IR) or ultrasonic badges for indoor location detection, or
global positioning system (GPS) receivers and cellular phones for outdoor location-
aware services. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States
has mandated that the telecom operators must be able to locate the position of a mobile
phone making an emergency (911) call within an accuracy of 125 m. This mandate
requires that each mobile phone in the United States should have the ability to be loca-
tion-aware. The technologies in mobile computing are now extended to address more
types of context information rather than just the location. Today, the concept of context
may denote a wide scope of information ranging from physical environments to com-
puting resources and social situations. In principle, context may refer to any environ-
mental attribute that the applications are aware of and behave in response to the attribute
accordingly. Non-physical sensors capture contexts about user profiles and activities
and collect more abstract contexts obtained from the aggregation of lower level or raw
context data [1].
Traditionally, a non-context-aware application only uses explicit user inputs to pro-
vide the output (or services), while a context-aware application uses additional sensed
context information gathered from the user’s physical environment or derived from the
user’s logical environment (e.g., IT infrastructure). A general structure of a context-
aware application is shown in Figure 2.1.

User inputs

Context-aware Outputs
software application

Context Context Context

Sensor Sensor Sensor

FIGURE 2.1 General structure of a context-aware software application.

Challenges in Testing Context-Aware Applications 2-3

Several context-aware systems have recently been developed for pervasive computing.
Example systems include Cabot, Gaia, Carisma, RCSM [1], and so on. Loke [2] and
Poslad [3] provide good introduction to several types of context-aware systems.
Context-aware systems can be designed and implemented in several ways. The
approach depends on the requirements and conditions, such as the locations of sensors,
number of users, resources on mobile devices, and so on. The method of context-data
acquisition is very crucial because it predefines the architectural style of the system.
Developing context-aware applications requires an architecture that can evolve in the
presence of a large number of platforms, increasing number of sensors, and frequent
network and drivers updates. Such requirements usually lead to the use of a layered
architecture. Some of these layers are often aggregated into a context-aware middleware,
which processes the context values on behalf of the application and triggers adaptive
behavior in the application. A context-aware middleware collects the context informa-
tion from the sensing devices and applications, processes them, and delivers to the appli-
cation. With the aid of context-aware middleware, context-aware applications only need
to subscribe the contexts of their interests from the middleware, and adapt their behav-
iors based on these contexts and the triggering rules. Most existing systems incorporate
a middleware-based software architecture [4–6].
Figure 2.2 shows a layered architecture of context-aware application that incorporates
a context-aware middleware to support the processing of context data. The middleware
typically consists of two parts: Context Manager and Adaptation Manager. The Context
Manager collects and maintains low-level context information, whereas the rule-based
Adaptation Manager queries and processes the current context values on behalf of the
application and triggers the adaptive behavior by the application. Adaptation rules define,
in parts, the application behavior and are typically specified in terms of predicates over the
variables representing the context readings [5].

2.1.1 O
 verview of Software Testing for Context-Aware
Applications
Software testing is the well-known approach for assuring high-quality software products,
with the aim of detecting as many faults as possible before shipping the product to the

Context-aware application Presumed context

Adaptation manager Inferred context

Context manager Sensed context

External (physical) environment Physical context

FIGURE 2.2 Architecture of context-aware software applications The corresponding context cate-
gory is shown on the right. (Adapted from Sama, M. et al., Multi-layer faults in the architecture of
mobile, context-aware adaptive applications: a position paper, in Proceeding of 1st International
Workshop on Software Architectures and Mobility (SAM’08), May 10, Leipzig, Germany, 2008.)
2-4 Pervasive Communications Handbook

customers. The software testing process involves generating test cases that are applied to
the software implementation under test to obtain the test results, and evaluating the test
results against the known specifications. A discrepancy between the test result and the
corresponding specification points to a software fault. Test case selection (also known as,
test adequacy problem) and test result evaluation (also known as test oracle problem) are
the two most important problems in software testing. Test adequacy refers to methods of
how to select test cases from a very large input domain for the software unit under test. The
evaluation of test results is done by comparing the test execution results with the related
specifications or supposedly correct version of the implementation when the same test case
is applied. The testing techniques that use some sort of coverage criteria are referred to as
coverage-based testing. A coverage criterion serves both as a stopping rule of the test case
selection process and as measurement for the effectiveness of a test suite. This coverage is
calculated by applying all the selected test cases and computing the proportion of the test
requirements that has been exercised. The test case selection process stops when the cover-
age of the test requirement meets some pre-defined satisfactory level. Coverage-based test-
ing can be further classified into structural testing and functional testing. Structural testing
(also known as white-box testing or code-based testing) refers to the class of criteria on the
coverage of different types of program elements when the implementation (i.e., the source
code) is available to the testers. The basic structural criteria include statement coverage,
branch coverage, and path coverage. Functional testing (also known as black-box testing or
specification-based testing) refers to the testing approaches where the functional specifica-
tions are used to guide the test case selection. Different functional testing strategies
depending upon the nature of the specification are used.
Software testing for context-aware applications suffers from both the test adequacy
problem and the test oracle problem in pervasive environment. We need to test context-
aware applications for several types of mobile devices, different platforms, over different
types of carrier networks under different contexts changes. Unlike conventional pro-
gramming paradigms with standardized formats and features, context-aware applica-
tions do not have any uniform architecture model so far. There are several challenges to
the testing of context-aware applications. Context-aware applications may not only
evolve with the changes in features, but may also evolve with environmental changes
such as addition, removal, and modification of contexts. When the applications evolve,
a major challenge is how to efficiently perform testing (especially, regression testing) on
the new evolved system. Furthermore, unlike traditional software applications, software
failures in context-aware applications may emerge not only due to program faults but
also from unreliable and/or inconsistent context sources. These factors make the debug-
ging process more difficult [1].
This chapter presents the challenges in testing context-aware applications, and sur-
veys the recently reported testing techniques for such applications. A discussion is also
be made on the available tools and support for testing context-aware applications.

2.2 Modeling Context-Aware Systems

Models for context-aware systems define and describe the contexts, and how contexts are
created and used for adaptation in an application. The models basically define how to
Challenges in Testing Context-Aware Applications 2-5

represent contexts in a computation form [3]. Several ways to classify contexts have been
proposed in the literature. One popular view refers to external and internal types of con-
text which are similar to the physical and user contexts, respectively. A classical classifica-
tion, proposed by Schilit et al. [7], divides contexts into three categories: where you are
(location context), who you are with (social context), and what computing and networking
resources are nearby (IT Infrastructure context). Some researcher proposed the ideas of
passive and active contexts. A passive (or static) context describes the aspects of pervasive
system, that is, invariant (with respect to time and space, for example), such as a person’s
identity and date of birth. An active (or dynamic) context refers to a user or environment,
and the context can be highly variable over space and time (e.g., temperature).
New contexts can be created in real-time using, for example, temperature sensors.
Lower level raw contexts output from sensors may often need processing into high-level
contexts that are relevant to the users and applications. The raw sensed context values
may need to be scaled and/or changed into different value ranges, or formats. Some con-
texts, such as location and time, can act as sources of contextual information from which
the other contexts, known as derived contexts or context reuse, can be derived. In many
scenarios, combining several individual context values may generate a more accurate
understanding of the current situation than taking into account any individual context.
Similarly, a low-level context can be derived from a higher level one. For example, a GPS
position can be determined from annotated positions, such as street names and land-
marks, and so on. Context-aware systems need to support all the book-keeping and
maintenance activities, including the creation, modification, deletion, and interlinking
heterogeneous contexts [3].
Context representation can be done in many ways. These are classified by the scheme
of data structures which are used to exchange contextual information in the system
[1,3,8]. The Key-value model is the most simple data structure for modeling contextual
information. The data structure is in the form of an ordered pair (c, v), where c is the
context variable representing the environment and v is the context value captured from
the environment. For example, the pair (user, “John”) represents the context that the
user is currently “John.” Other example could be for the context variable temperature,
and the value taken by the variable could be, for example, from the set {“Very Hot,”
“Hot,” “Moderate,” “Cold,” “Very Cold”}. Several early location-aware applications rep-
resented the location using key-value model. Problems in using key-value model include
the usage of exact matches, lack of expressive structuring, and the lack of efficient con-
text retrieval algorithms.
The Markup scheme model uses a hierarchical data structures (e.g., XML) consisting
of user-defined markup tags with attributes that can be arbitrarily nested. It enables
hierarchical structuring of context information with persistent and serialized represen-
tation as well as lightweight storage, and it favors the usage in context-aware middleware
systems. Some example systems that use markup scheme models include CSCP,
CARMEN, MobiPADS, Solar, Cabot [1].
The Graphical model uses graph data structures and richer data types, such as Unified
Modeling Language (UML) and Entity Relationship (ER) diagrams. This model is more
expressive than key-value and hierarchical models. Other context representation models
include Object-oriented (OO), Logic-based, and Strong Ontology models.
2-6 Pervasive Communications Handbook

Some of the key challenges in modeling context are summarized as follows [3,8]:
1. User (internal) contexts may be incorrectly, incompletely, imprecisely deter-
mined, or predicted. This may be due to the fact that the user may have provided
faulty information when explicitly asked, or the user contexts are modeled from
too ­little data over too small time period.
2. Environmental (external) contexts may also be incorrectly, incompletely, impre-
cisely determined, or predicted. This could be due to delays that can occur in
exchanging dynamic information, or path between external context producer and
the consumer is disconnected temporarily or permanently.
3. Some contexts may exhibit a range of spatial and/or temporal characteristics; that
is, the information generated may change quickly over time and distance.
4. Some contexts may be using different format and may have alternative
representations.
5. Some contexts may be distributed and composed of multiple parts that are highly
interrelated. They may be related by rules that make a context dependent on other
context. These composite contexts may need to be partially validated as all their
parts cannot be always accessed.
6. In general, context-awareness generates a huge volume of data due to large state-
space of environment to be studied, and many sensors are used.
7. Context use can reduce the security and privacy of users.
8. The awareness, availability, and change of context signals may overload users and
distract them from performing their on-going interaction with the application.
A robust context-aware application must ensure that there are reasonable solutions to
above-mentioned problems. For example, in order to solve a huge-volume data-genera-
tion problem (as mentioned in item 6), we can filter raw context information before
storing data. Moreover, some data mining schemes can be used to analyze and filter the
raw data.

2.3 Testing Challenges

Context-aware pervasive systems raise several software testing challenges. The middle-
ware architecture of context-aware application, as shown in Figure 2.2, gives rise to four
different views of the context: physical, sensed, inferred, and presumed context [5]. It is
quite possible that all four views may differ from each other at any given point in time
during the execution of application. It is possible that faults may exist in either context
sensors, context manager, the adaptation rule, or in the application logic. However, com-
plex faults may arise due to inconsistencies among various views of the context.
Testing context-aware applications, especially testing for adaptation faults in the
applications, are quite challenging due to factors mentioned in the previous section
about context modeling and the followings [5,9]:
1. There are several representations of contexts along with different formats used.
2. The context variables are updated asynchronously at different rates by the middle-
ware, causing transient inconsistencies between external physical context value and
Challenges in Testing Context-Aware Applications 2-7

its internal representation within the application. A context variable can contain
static information about local configuration of the mobile device (such as language
preference) or dynamic information (such as GPS latitude and longitude). The
dynamic context variables need to be refreshed (periodically or asynchronously) at
different rates, which leads to synchronization problems when the adaptation man-
ager tries to relate several context variables for rule triggering.
3. The user may configure its own behavior and, hence, some of the context vari-
ables. This may lead to context inconsistencies and/or failure due to buggy user-
defined configuration.
4. The space of rules for adaptive actions become very complex to analyze due to
several shared context variables, concurrent triggering of rules, and so on. Multiple
rule predicates may be satisfied simultaneously and some predicates may be satis-
fied transiently.
5. It is very difficult to define precise test oracle as the execution differs under vari-
ous vectors of context input.
6. The real environment to run application may not be available. There may not be,
for example, enough sensors, or different types of networks available at the time
of testing.
7. As context may include sensitive information about people and their activities,
some applications give opportunity to the user to protect their security and pri-
vacy. For example, the Context Toolkit [6] introduces the concept of context own-
ership. Under such case, it becomes even more difficult to test such context-aware
application.

2.3.1 Example Application

An example application, adapted from [5,9], is now presented to outline some of the
challenges mentioned above. The example context-aware application, PhoneAdapter,
adapts a mobile phone’s profile according to context variable information. Phone
profiles are a set of parameters that determine the behaviors of a phone, such as ring
tone volume, screen display intensity, and vibration. The application uses a set of
adaptation rules to trigger automatic selection of a profile. The selected profile exists
in the system until a more suitable one is chosen through triggering of some other
rules. The rule predicates are expressed using context readings from Bluetooth and
GPS sensors on the mobile phone, and the phone’s internal clock and appointments
calendar. Some of the PhoneAdapter’s profiles used are: General, Home, Office,
Meeting. The General profile is applied by default when the phone sensors are unable
to detect any activity related to one of the other profiles. The Home profile increases
the ring tone volume and removes the vibration; the Office profile mutes the ring
tone and activates vibration; while the Meeting profile mutes the ring tone and dis-
ables the vibration. One can consider a scenario when the application uses GPS to
infer that the user is at home, and it uses Bluetooth to discover the user’s office laptop
PC, from which it infers that the user is at work. In this scenario, the true physical
context of the user is his home location, but the context manager senses both home
and office locations. This leads the adaptation manager to infer simultaneously the
2-8 Pervasive Communications Handbook

existence of two different (and inconsistent) contexts. Another example of context

inconsistency arises when the user’s mobile device internal calendar and time indi-
cate that the user is in a meeting in the office; while the GPS indicates that the user
has not yet reached the office (perhaps, stuck in a traffic jam!). In this example, the
internal (or user) and external (or physical) views of the context are different for the
application. Such faults are very difficult to be detected by the conventional software
testing approaches.
The timing of context updates may affect the triggering of rules. As context updates
asynchronously, the internal view of context can become inconsistent temporarily. This
can cause selection of rules to produce incorrect results. The faults can propagate mul-
tiple layers in the application architecture, leading to complex inconsistencies in the
different views of the context present in the architecture.

2.3.2 Issues in Test Planning

The following issues need to be considered while planning testing for a context-aware
application: Functionality, Performance, Usability, Interoperability, and Security and
Privacy. Appropriate test cases to address those issues must be part of any test suite
designed to test the application.
Functionality testing verifies whether the application meets the intended specifica-
tions and functional requirements. The functionality testing for context-aware applica-
tions becomes more difficult due to the above-mentioned itemized factors. Test cases
should take into account several different network/device technologies, and operational
environment along with the contexts to verify the functionality.
Performance testing determines quantitatively how different components of the con-
text-aware application perform under various well-defined workloads. This type of test-
ing verifies whether the application meets the well-established performance criteria.
Performance is one of the critical elements for testing context-aware applications, and it
is affected by several sources, including wireless network, sensors, and the middleware.
One can also use volume and stress testing to find out the bottlenecks and the level of
robustness offered by the application.
Usability testing checks whether the user interfaces (e.g., GUI) are easy to use, navi-
gate, and understand. This type of testing is needed for context-aware applications as
those applications mainly run on mobile devices that usually have poor and tedious user
interfaces.
Interoperability testing checks whether two (software) entities following same stan-
dards and specifications can work together. More specifically, interoperability testing in
a context-aware application checks whether the two distributed systems can exchange
data and commands in real-time to provide services to the end-users. As there are sev-
eral entities involved in providing services in a context-aware application, this type of
testing verifies high degree of integration capabilities of services offered by different
systems.
Security and Privacy testing verifies that the user’s personal and sensitive information
and the activities log are protected from the accesses from unauthorized entities.
Challenges in Testing Context-Aware Applications 2-9

2.4 R
 ecent Trends in Testing Context-Aware
Applications
The fundamental aspect for the validation of context-aware applications is that changes in
context can occur and affect the application behavior at any time during its execution.
Although this may happen with other types of inputs, it is particularly prevalent with
contextual inputs since they are the continuously streaming drivers of the applications.
Test engineers must identify not only what context values to provide, but also when the
stream of variations in context values can impact the behavior of the application. This is
an essential difference from the testing of conventional software systems, where the selec-
tion of input values can mostly be performed a priori [10].
Compared to the research work done in the design and development of context-aware
pervasive applications, little work has been done on the testing aspects of such applica-
tions. Considering different settings underlying mobile devices, some work has been
done on testing platforms and tools for testing pervasive applications [1].
Developing context sources remains a major challenge, as testing context-aware
applications with physical context sources in a controllable and reproducible manner is
quite difficult. In Broens and Haltesen [11], the SimuContext framework is presented
where the simulated context sources emulate the real-life context sources.
Satoh [12] developed a software testing framework that can emulate the physical
mobility of devices by logical mobility of applications designed to run on them. A mobile
agent-based emulator was designed for mobile device and the emulator could perform
an application-level emulation of its target devices.
In Delamaro et al. [13], proposed a method for the coverage testing of applications on
target mobile devices and device emulators. Bo et al. [14] presented a tool that conducts
black-box testing for mobile applications. Calegari et al. [15] proposed performance test-
ing strategies for mobile applications running on ad hoc mobile networks.
The usability testing for context-aware services with simulated context data on the
top of a game engine was proposed by Bylund and Espinoza [16]. They proposed a tool
(called QuakeSim) that interactively simulates context information in real-time.
Regehr [17] proposed a technique for testing interrupt-driven software applications
that are widely used in the implementation of embedded systems and wireless sensor
networks. The technique uses the random criterion for test cases selection.
Sama et al. [9] proposed a new model of adaptive behavior, called an Adaptation Finite-
State Machine (A-FSM) that enables the detection of faults caused by both erroneous
adaptation logic and asynchronous updating of context information. They evaluated their
approach on a set of synthetically generated context-aware adaptive applications and on
a simple application in which the cell phone’s configuration profile changes automatically
as a result of changes in the user’s location, speed, and surrounding environment.
In Wang et al. [10], an approach that improves the context-awareness of an existing test
suite is presented. The technique first identifies key program points where context infor-
mation can effectively affect the application’s behavior. It generates potential ­variants for
each existing test case that explore the execution of different context sequences, and it
then attempts to dynamically direct the application execution toward the ­generated
2-10 Pervasive Communications Handbook

c­ ontext sequences. The supporting infrastructure for their approach consists of the
­following components:
• Context-Aware Program Point Identifier: This component identifies program
points where context changes may affect the application’s behavior.
• Context Driver Generator: Once context-aware program points have been identi-
fied, one would like to explore the context scenarios that are likely to generate
different program behaviors. This component forms potential context interleav-
ing that may be of value to fulfill a context-coverage criterion.
• Program Instrumentor: This component incorporates a scheduler and context-
aware program point identifier controllers into the application to enable direct
context manipulation.
• Context Manipulator: This component attempts to expose the application to the
enumerated context interleavings through the manipulation of the scheduler.
Lu et al. [18] proposed a set of three-test criteria using data flow testing. The control
flow graph of the source code is first built and then the life-cycle of data variables (their
definitions and the usages) is tracked. The approach leads to test cases that focus on
improper use of data due to coding errors. Their approach uses these criteria to create
test cases that detect faults in the context-aware interface that are otherwise difficult to
be discovered through conventional testing methods.
Taranu and Tiemann [19] proposed a testing approach by applying and extending the
classical approach of testing communication systems. In their approach, they isolated
the core of a context-aware system, which is the control or algorithmic part for adapting
the system to the current scenario and requested service. Their approach uses a context
management system that takes internal and external information into account for local
decisions. The isolated part (i.e., the decision algorithm or control part) is directly stim-
ulated with context information via the context management. The appropriate context is
directly generated, and the context represents the environment or situation of the System
under Test (SUT). Their work is a unique effort where both foreground and background
testers are explicitly considered. The testers represent one or more instances in the com-
munication and contain an implementation of protocol. A foreground tester interacts
with the SUT, that is, the generated traffic is also influenced by the SUT. A background
tester is an implementation without feedback from the tested system, and it is used to
generate the background load efficiently. The context or situation is generated by context
generators, categorized as foreground and background generators. The situation genera-
tor is implemented in Java programming language and it generates different situations
in radio network. The situations refer not only to traffic and load generation, but also to
contain information generated out of location, interference, or mobility models.
Another issue relevant to testing context-aware application is the context inconsis-
tency, which is becoming increasingly important in the presence of more and smarter
sensors. Some researchers have recently proposed inconsistency detection in the appli-
cations where patterns identify conflicts among context inputs at run-time before the
contexts are fed into an application [20–22]. The patterns are designed beforehand based
on the understanding of relevant physical and mathematical laws under which the appli-
cation is supposed to run. In Lu et al. [23], a framework is proposed where the ­middleware
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
one tittle the declarations of this British driveller, who, by the way, hadn’t
acquired a single sentence of Spanish in five years! He pictured Buenos Ayres
as the future hub of the world’s civilisation, this purely agricultural country of
the Argentine (featureless and ill adapted for any purpose other than the
growing of luxurious crops and the rearing of vast herds of cattle), as a
teeming land of wondrous industries, before which such things as England,
America, France, and Germany have achieved would have to pale their
ineffectual fires. No argument of sanity that could be advanced disturbed the
calm serenity with which this self-constituted trumpeter of the Argentine
reiterated stupidities that would have put the most perfervid patriot to the
blush.
I have described Mr. Q—— at some little length, because, bore though he
is, he is typical of a certain class of Englishman whom one encounters in the
Argentine, and for whom Argentine and average Englishman alike have a
wholesome contempt. He is one of those aggressive, self-assertive “Anglo-
Argentines” who go home occasionally and blow about this new land of
promise, to the ultimate disillusionment of such as give ear.
The other Englishman I have in mind, who also typifies a certain class, is
less offensively anti-British than Mr. Q——, and his observations being based
upon a little knowledge and a large inexperience, he is more amenable to
reason than the Mr. Q’s, who are mere windbags, that seek to cloak their lack
of success at home by magnifying their changed condition in the new land.
Mr. F——, as I shall call the other, had a little knack from time to time of
dropping such sage remarks as, “Where in the whole of London will you find
such evidence of wealth as you do in a walk along the Avenida
Alvear?”—“Where in London will you see so many beautiful dresses, such
wealth in millinery, as at Palermo on a Sunday afternoon?”—“Talk about the
business of London, what is it in comparison with the business of Buenos
Ayres?”—“Were you not astounded at the magnificent buildings when you
came to Buenos Ayres, all so bright and clean looking, after London?”—and so
on ad nauseam.
We dubbed Mr. F—— “the silly ass observer.” For each of these examples of
his acumen in the art of comparative observation breathes of ignorance and
thoughtlessness. They are, indeed, almost too stupid to call for notice, but as
Mr. F—— was personally a pleasant and amiable young Englishman, I was
often at pains to explain matters to him, and always found that at the root of
his odious comparisons lay the simple fact that he had lived in London with
his eyes shut and his mind untouched by the grandeur that surrounded him.
How many hundreds of thousands of young men are like Mr. F——! They look
on the old familiar things of home with unseeing eyes, and when, perchance,
in some new land they begin to take notice, they lack standards of
comparison to guide them. When I explained to poor Mr. F——, who was
honestly overwhelmed by the glory that is Buenos Ayres, that Threadneedle
Street or Lombard Street in ye antique city of London, though they look as
nothing to the eye that cannot see beyond their drab and smoky walls, might
comfortably purchase the entire Argentine and all that in it is, from the torrid
north to the foggy south, and have something over to be going on with; when
I impressed him with the undoubted fact that most of the wealth which he
saw around him had come into being thanks to British money, and that a very
substantial portion of the profits being derived from the exploitation of the
country went every year into London pockets, he began to see things in a
new light. To compare the Avenida Alvear with Park Lane, merely shows that
one has not observed Park Lane, or that he is not aware that the Avenida
Alvear and the few streets thereabout which represent the Mayfair, Belgravia,
and West End of London, are as an inch to an ell. Mr. F—— is very
representative of the “cable boy” standard of intelligence, but in other
respects a fine, clean English type, that one would value all the more as an
element in the British Colony were it given to a little reflection before it aired
its opinions on Argentine and the world in general, of which its experience has
been notably slight.
Hardly at all does the emigrant class enter into the British Colony. British
workpeople there are occasionally to be met throughout the Argentine, but
the country as a whole is ill adapted for them. Any person who by word of
mouth or writing spreads abroad the idea that artisans or those of the
labouring class of Great Britain will find the Argentine an attractive field, may
be doing a very mischievous thing. The conditions of life in which the Italian
emigrants, the Spaniards, Poles, Russians, Syrians, and all the rest of them
herd together in the cities or make shift to exist in rough shanties in the Camp
are impossible to even the commonest class of English or Scots workpeople, if
the language difficulty did not exist to make matters still worse for them.
But many British workpeople are there under conditions very different from
those of the other emigrants. They are chiefly railway engineers, employed as
foremen or as expert workers in the great workshops of the different railway
companies, or as locomotive drivers. Their conditions of life, although I fail to
see wherein they are greatly superior to those obtaining in their native land
among their class, having regard to the different purchasing value of the
wages earned, are at least made agreeable by association with fellow-workers
of their own race, and the possibility of saving more money than they would
be likely to do at home. For example, where a working man in England might
be able to save £20 ($100) per year, he can at least contrive to save the same
relative proportion from his wages in the Argentine, and as his wages will not
be less than double, and perhaps two and a half times what they would have
been in England, by the same ratio may his savings be increased. These
workmen have also security of employment, and, in fine, must not be
confounded with the emigrant class. They find grievances, none the less, and
even went on strike in the year 1911.

A Modern “Estancia” Homestead built of Concrete.

Owing to the little communities in which they live being almost entirely
British, they do not assimilate with the natives, and few of them, even after
many years in the country, have picked up more than some odd words of the
language. A friend of mine, who was rather shaky in his Spanish, was waylaid
at a railway station in the interior and wished to have a train stopped at a
point along the line where there was no station, to enable him to reach a
certain estancia. He managed to explain this in Spanish to the station-master,
but the latter was unable to interpret it to the engine-driver, who turned out
to be English and did not know a word of what he called “their blooming
lingo!” These sturdy and skilled artisans naturally do not count in the British
Colony of Buenos Ayres, and most of them live in the railway centres of the
provinces, and come only occasionally to the capital for a trip.
What must strike the British visitor in Buenos Ayres with a curious air of
home is the railway bookstall at Retiro, Once, or at Constitución. The former
looks as familiar as a London suburban bookstall, with all sorts of English
periodicals, from the Strand Magazine to Comic Cuts, bundles of “sixpenny”
and “sevenpenny” novels, The Times, weekly edition, Lloyds’ News, and many
another familiar title, though the prices charged are naturally two or three
times those printed on the periodicals. These are evidence of the large English
community residing in the various suburbs served from the stations named.
The English bookshops in the heart of the city are also well-known centres,
being entirely patronised by the “colony,” but the English grocers drive a large
business with the native population, and employ many assistants who only
speak Spanish. Still, British housewives have no need to acquire the language,
as they may transact all their business in their native tongue, and it is no rare
thing to meet a lady who in twenty years of Buenos Ayres has not even got to
know the Spanish names of the common objects of the dinner table. In the
provinces, however, most foreign lady residents have to acquire at least a
smattering of the native lingo.
A further element in the “colony” may be described as the floating
population of British visitors who make periodical journeys to the Argentine in
pursuit of business. The stay-at-home has no faint notion of the extraordinary
trafficking of his race in foreign parts. Veritable battalions of commercial
travellers representing British houses visit the Argentine each year, staying
from two to six months at a time, and the hotels are always sheltering
Englishmen who seem to have nothing to do beyond taking their meals and
playing billiards for weeks on end, but who are really waiting the signing-up of
contracts. One gentleman I knew had put in nearly nine months of this
strenuous work, and eventually left in despair. The contract for which he had
been waiting so long was fixed up about three weeks afterwards, and went to
a German firm whose representative had perhaps been more patient in
waiting, or more liberal (or more discreet) in his bestowal of backsheesh.
Those visitors whose stays are short do not fare badly in the Argentine
capital, and as a rule retain rather pleasant memories of the place, although
not a few with whom I conversed really dreaded the necessity of having to
return, as they found time hang so heavily on their hands. Then there comes
occasionally one of the scribbling fraternity, who fixes a little round of
engagements, hurries to see the sights of the place, and flits away again to
entertain a public quite as well-informed as he or she may be by the little that
he or she has seen in the few days’ stay. I spent some time with an American
correspondent, who did not know a word either of French or Spanish, and yet
had the fortitude to contribute a series of articles to one of the local papers,
giving his valuable impressions of a country and a people into whose mind he
was not able even to peep. His articles, of course, were written in English and
translated into Spanish, and were published with great fanfarronada, although
his literary reputation was unknown even to me, whose business it has been
for many years to keep in touch with literary reputations on both sides of the
Atlantic.
The regulation course for the “globe-trotter” who flits through the Argentine
for a week or so, to write a book thereon, is to motor round the various public
buildings, interview a few of the official heads, endeavouring, if possible, to
have a talk with the President,—a comparatively easy matter in all South
American Republics, the President being sort of ex-officio Chief of Publicity,—
engineer an invitation to a model estancia to stay overnight, and an interview
with a reporter from the Standard to announce the gestation of the great
work that will later see the light in London or New York. The usual practice of
the more or less distinguished visitor is to deliver himself of the most fulsome
flattery of all that he has seen, and to lay on the butter with a trowel. To this
rule there are occasional exceptions, and I gather that the Princess of Pless,
who paid Buenos Ayres a visit in August of 1913, when I was staying in Chili,
was one of these exceptions. The Buenos Ayres correspondent of La Union of
Santiago sent to his paper an amusing little article on the Princess, which I
think worthy of translating, as it will make an acceptable tailpiece to this
chapter. He wrote:

She has gone! A wandering star, seeking a constellation

wherein she may shine with due refulgence and without
suffering eclipse from other stars of greater brilliance. She had
a glimpse of the Argentine in her dreams as the ideal land of
aristocracy by having read in the “British Cyclopædia” (sic)
that in this country there are no titles of nobility other than
those of the wash-tub.
Yesterday she stated in one of her farewell confidences: “I
go away horribly disappointed! Not a sauvage (sic), not a
tiger, not a Paraguayan crocodile!”
What a useless voyage! To confront the dangers of three
thousand leagues of sea and twenty days of poor food and
worse sleep to come to see savages, when these can be found
in thousands within twenty-four hours of London! In this poor
America there remain no other savages than those Europeans
who exploit the miserable natives of Putumayo. The veritable
Indians of the tales of Fenimore Cooper and of Gustave
Aimard, the scalp hunters, the throat cutters, the mutilators of
children, are to be found in the very heart of Europe, in the
countries of “The Merry Widow.” There the Princess ought to
have gone a-hunting for those sanguinary curiosities and to
satisfy her appetite for exotics.
She came here nervously afraid of the prospect of being
carried off by Calufucurá, and even resisted the temptation to
visit the estancia of Pereyra, fearing lest the Cacique Catriel
should force her to prepare the pipe of counsel surrounded by
his tribe, and she goes away disenchanted by not having seen
an Indian even in the distance, and disgusted at having had to
suffer the sugary gallantries of some of our dandies of the old
school, little fortunate in the conquest of princesses.
But, above all, what mortified her most and most
precipitated her departure, rendering her ill at ease during her
stay in Buenos Ayres, is the fact that she did not rank here in
the front file of beauty, nor shine above the rest in fashion,
nor find herself in any sort a protagonist. She was no more
than one among the mass of our women, and less than many
of our distinguished ladies. Thus she has gone as she came,
after having attempted to discover some labyrinthine forest
never visited by man, without encountering more than
cultivated soil and agricultural machines where she had hoped
to see Indians discharging their poisoned arrows and
brandishing their formidable tomahawks. And thus it is that
she says in her despite “America has lost all her virginities,
even the celebrated virginity of her forests!”
Yesterday the Princess embarked, and on seeing her aboard
the Arayaguaya, using her walking-stick like a crutch, to
disguise her mincing gait,—alone, with not even the
companionship of a “snob,” who might have attempted to win
her good-will, not even a lady of honour dazzled by her noble
title,—there came to our mind, though altered by the
circumstances, the lines of that farewell elegy on the remains
of Sir John Moore:
 “Not a drum was heard, not a triumphal note—As she
arrived at the Dársena Norte—Not a soldier discharged his
farwell schot—When the steamer left the Argentine shore!”

The intrinsic merits of this little sketch and the charm of the concluding
effort in English, surely justify its reproduction! What on earth the Princess of
Pless may have said to lead to this display of journalistic courtesy, I do not
know, but I suspect that she must have ventured some words of frank
criticism, and that is precisely what the common, untramelled Argentine does
not want. He asks for butter, and he wants it thick, and if you can add a layer
of sugar,—for he has a sweet tooth—so much the better. Most of the British
Colony know this, and also know on which side their bread is buttered. Thus
the English visitor who is indiscreet enough publicly to express a frank and
honest opinion of anything that does not meet with his approval in Buenos
Ayres or the Argentine, will scarcely expect to be grappled to its bosom by
hooks of steel. I am persuaded, however, that the better-class of native
Argentine opinion is quite capable of sustaining honest criticism and profiting
thereby.
 CHAPTER XV
THE EMIGRANT IN LIGHT AND SHADE

There is a popular story in Buenos Ayres of a Spanish emigrant who had

just arrived with wife and children, and as the group was crossing the Paseo
de Julio, the wife espied a silver coin in the gutter. She called to her husband
to pick it up, but he disdainfully answered, “I have no concern with mere
silver money, when I have come here to gather gold!” The story usually ends
here, but I suspect the frugal wife of picking up that coin herself and thereby
making money more easily than her husband would be like to do for some
time to come. For certain it is that the Argentine is no “land of gold,” such as
our world has had to marvel at in California, Australia, South Africa, and
Alaska. No,—it is something better than any merely auriferous land! So rich is
its soil, it returns to those who work it such wondrous increase of harvest that
it is truly an inexhaustible gold mine. But the first and final essential to the
winning of its gold is Labour. This, as we know, Italy has given to the
Argentine in abundant measure, and those who only know the Italian by such
specimens of his race as grind organs and sell ice-cream in England, have no
least, small notion of what a splendid fellow he is, his many vices
notwithstanding.
Before we take a look at the different classes of emigrants which the
Argentine attracts and their influence on the development of the country, a
word or two on the land system may be in place. The time will come, I doubt
not, when some revolutionary change will be forced upon the country, as the
land is too closely held by the landed aristocracy—the multitudes of small lots
sold by speculative dealers notwithstanding. In this young country, with its
Republican Government and its progressive ideas, we encounter the anomaly
of a mere handful of fabulously wealthy proprietors owning the greatest part
of a vast country—nearly eight times larger than the British Isles. Meanwhile,
these prodigious tracts of territory being so tightly held by a few private
owners, have the effect of increasing the values of the negotiable land, of
which there is evidently still sufficient to meet the demands of the moment.
Double the population, however, and such a change will pass over the scene
that legislation to force the hands of private owners and loosen their grip on
the lion’s share of the Republic’s soil will be inevitable.
 The system on which the land is worked is also charged with danger to the
social development of the community, and some day it, too, must give place
to a better adjustment as between the owner and the worker. I have made
frequent reference in previous chapters to the estancias, without entering into
any detail as to the working of these great agricultural estates, which,
curiously enough, are known by the Spanish word for a dwelling-house or a
sitting-room (estancia in South America means either a farm, a country
house, or the whole area of landed property under one ownership). Here,
however, I must explain something of the peculiar methods of working these
estates.
The owner himself will cultivate at his own cost a certain portion with
alfalfa, wheat, maize, or linseed, as the case may be, and will maintain
immense herds of cattle, sheep, and horses, according as he specialises in
agriculture or in live-stock. But the estancias are usually much too large for
their owners to develop to their full extent, and thus have grown up two
methods of co-operation, neither of which has in it the germ of permanency,
both being based on one man’s need and another’s opportunity. The one
system is worked by the medieros, the other by the colonos. The mediero is a
man who has come out from Spain or Italy with some tiny capital in his
pocket that enables him to purchase certain agricultural implements, seeds,
and probably to knock up a shanty of corrugated iron,—wood for building
purposes being a highly priced commodity. But he cannot afford to purchase
agricultural land in any locality where his crop would be of adequate value to
him once he had raised it, for wherever the land is within reachable distance
of a railway line, it is impossible to purchase it at anything like its actual
market value, the method of the Argentine land-seller being invariably to
demand the price which the land may be worth in ten or fifteen years. The
land-vender takes “long views,” he is big with the future, so confident of it
that he values his possessions of to-day at the dream prices of a somewhat
distant morrow. Now, the mediero cannot come to grips with such as he, and
cap in hand he approaches the estanciero, offering in return for the right to
work so many acres of his land, to “go halves” with him in expenses and in
profits—hence mediero, or “halver.”
The colono (colonist) is a genuine knight of the empty purse, with nothing
to offer save his labour and that of his wife and children; but that is a great
thing, and he is received with open arms throughout the length and breadth
of the Argentine. The estanciero not only grants him as many acres of land as
he may be able to work with his wife and family, but lends him cows for milk,
horses for the plough, and through his almacén supplies to him on credit the
necessary implements, seeds, and food, as well as corrugated iron and planks
of wood for the building of his rancho. It should be explained that the
almacén on every estancia is an important institution, a sort of universal
provider for the hundreds of medieros and colonos who have taken up land
on the estate, selling to them all sorts of commodities at a substantial profit to
the estanciero. The “colonist” is now expected to labour incessantly on the
land allotted to him, so that he may repay to the almacén the pretty heavy
debt he has contracted there, while an agreed percentage of his crops will go
to the owner of the estate.
These medieros and colonos include all nationalities, but are chiefly drawn
from the Italian emigrants, the Spaniards being more commonly tradesmen.
Everything looks couleur de rose to the poor toilers; they set about their task
with high hope, a new feeling of freedom, little recking that they have tied
themselves to a new serfdom by the bond of that initial debt with which they
start. The mediero has a better chance than the colono of “turning the
corner” soon, and it too often happens that the latter, after two or three years
of incessant labour, has no more than cleared his feet, when comes a bad
harvest, and he is back where he was at the beginning. Withered are his
roses, poor fellow. Disgusted at the result, and hoping that a change to some
other part of the country may turn out for the better, he disposes of the few
things he owns, quits his “camp,” and shifts to some other quarter, perhaps
only to repeat this chapter of his history.
Meanwhile, it will be seen the estanciero has had another corner of his
estate brought into cultivation, its value considerably increased thereby, and
the poor Italians have spent their strength for a bare subsistence. That many
of them do succeed in earning some profit, especially those of the mediero
class, and starting in some other business, is undeniable; but the roll of those
who have turned over the soil of the Argentine and brought it into bearing to
the great benefit of its owners, and their own non-success is, I am told,
beyond reckoning. This, then, I submit, is no system that can endure. It
carries its own seeds of decay. So long as the stream of immigration flows as
steadily as of recent years, the system will doubtless continue, but a time will
come when disappear it must, and some method of employment based on a
fairer distribution of profits, or on adequate wages, take its place.
Apart from the ethics of the Argentine land system, which are clearly open
to criticism, one can have nothing but praise for the manner in which
emigration is officially encouraged, and the way in which the emigrants are
handled on arrival at the River Plate. There is a fine saying reported of
President Sáenz Peña when he represented his country at the Pan-American
Congress in Washington on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the
discovery of America. In the course of a speech he was making, some fervid
Pan-American thought it a fit occasion to interject the watchword, “America
for the Americans”! Quick as a flash Dr. Sáenz Peña retorted, “Yes, but Latin
America for humanity!”
This certainly is the spirit that informs the policy of Argentine immigration.
A hearty welcome is given to people of all races, whose only right of entry
into this new land of promise is the possession of brawny muscles and the will
to work. Every week they are arriving in ship-loads, and the manner in which
these cargoes of humanity are received at the docks in Buenos Ayres and
speedily transhipped by rail to different parts of the interior, according to the
demand for brazos, is one of the most businesslike things the visitor will have
an opportunity of noting in the public administration. Ship-load after ship-load
of Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, and other nationalities arrives and melts
away, absorbed into the thirsty country like water into sandy soil.

A “Rodeo,” or Round-up of Cattle in the Argentine Pampa.

During our stay, a splendidly equipped hostel, or shelter, was opened for
the emigrants. Erected by the riverside close to the scene of their
disembarkation, this building is capable of sheltering a large number of
newcomers. Sleeping-rooms fitted with wire mattresses upon which the
emigrants may place their own bedding (always the most precious of their
personal possessions) are provided for the men, and similar accommodation
for the women and children. There is no excuse for any of them to go
unbathed, lavatories specially fitted with showers being provided for those
who care to use them (the superintendent told me it was seldom that an
emigrant ventured on such an experiment), while in the great common
dining-room they may take their meals in comparative comfort and can secure
eatables at a low rate. The accommodation, if I remember correctly, is free,
and the whole place is so admirably clean that it must come with something
like a shock to most of the emigrants who pass through it, habituated as they
have been, almost without exception, to dirty ways of life in their native lands.
Many of the emigrants never see Buenos Ayres at all, as the trains that take
them into the Camp pick them up at a short distance from the vessels which
have borne them oversea, and at the very doors of the shelter where they
may have passed the night of arrival.
Laughter and tears mingle a good deal in the landing of these poor people
from the Old World. Huddled almost like cattle in the steerage of the
steamers, their condition at sea presents what seems an unbridgable abyss
between their lives and those of the saloon passengers. Day after day I have
watched them sitting aimlessly on deck in their dirty, faded clothes, the
effluvia from the mass of them, even tempered by the sea breeze, suggesting
conditions of horror when they “turned in” at night, that might recall the Black
Hole of Calcutta. The captain assured me it was not so very bad, but I never
had the stomach to prove it for myself. Yet, on the morning of arrival at
Buenos Ayres, what a transformation! Girls who have seemed the dirtiest of
sluts throughout the voyage step down the gangway quite neatly attired. The
married women, tricked out with little bits of finery, the men mostly in suits of
black, with sombre soft hats, and every Spaniard armed with an ample
umbrella, are difficult to recognise as the slovenly creatures one has seen for
weeks feeding out of tins and using fingers, for lack of knives and forks. But
even among the emigrants there are many grades, and not all are able to
make this sudden transformation, many having no more than the soiled and
shabby garments in which they have made their voyage, a little handkerchief
tied at the corners being a pathetic index of their worldly gear. But even from
among these, there will be some that one day shall bridge that awful gulf
between the steerage and saloon, and make a voyage home as cabin
passengers to advertise the magic Argentine!
Hope is the prevailing note in the demeanour of every new batch of
fortune-seekers. It shines brightest, perhaps, in the eyes of the alert and wiry
little Italians; the Spaniards, also, step ashore with a firm and confident tread,
but mostly among the Poles, the Bulgars, and the Russians do we see the dull
look of something very like despair. In discussing the character of the
emigrants with M. Huret, Señor Alsina, a former Director of the Emigration
Service, remarked:

What surprises one most in the careful observation of these

people from the four extremes of Europe is the rapidity of
their transformation, Spaniards from Galicia, brutish and
wretched, sordid Jews from Russia, lift up their heads
(levantan la cabeza) at the end of a few months. I have seen
them arrive bent and downcast, with all the timidity of a dog
that has been badly treated, so dejected and timorous,
indeed, that I thought it necessary to engage some Russian
students to lecture them on the dignity of humanity in
general, and the conditions of liberty which they could enjoy
in the Argentine. A few months afterwards, seeing many of
them again, I could observe that they had so entirely changed
that they had become argumentative, noisy, and given to
discussion.
The case of the Armenians is in this respect entirely typical.
Some eighteen years ago they arrived here for the first time.
Becoming pedlars, they travelled all over the Pampa, some
with “bundles” on their backs, others pushing before them
their wares. Little by little they made money, even growing
rich. Many of them went in for politics, and to-day occupy
positions of influence in the public life. Very active in business,
they are in a fair way to surpass the Italians in the retail trade.
Proud of their title as free citizens, they refuse to sell their
vote, which is the common practice among the populace, and
their prosperity is so real, so positive, that the Armenian
Colony is offering to the Argentine a monument which will cost
them 120,000 francs.

I am afraid that appearances are very much inclined to be deceptive in

studying the faces of emigrants. Surely there are none who can look more
dejected than the Armenians and the Poles, who closely resemble each other
in facial appearance, yet the money-making potentialities of these sad-faced
emigrants are relatively much higher than those of the merry, little, guitar-
strumming Italians and Spaniards.
On the arrival of every new contingent, there is always a considerable
group of friends awaiting the vessel, and fortunate are they who have come
out on the initiative of some relative that has gone before and prepared the
way. These emigrants of yesterday, who have already come to grips with
fortune and won the first bout, form one of the pleasantest features of the
disembarkations, as they stand on the quayside in their “Sunday best,” with
their watch chains, tie pins, finger rings, and highly polished boots to
announce to all the world that they are “getting on.” This friendly co-operation
is of immense service to the Emigration Bureau, and is really a sounder sort of
propaganda than the familiar widecast publishing of alluring pictures of the
riches of the country and the ease with which fortunes may be made. The
emigrant who comes because a brother or a friend has already substantially
changed his condition, and will have the advice of that friend to help him in
securing employment, is at least on sure ground, and where labour is in such
demand he cannot well make a mistake, provided he is willing to work.
In this way have grown up the distinctive “colonies” throughout the country,
the majority of the Russians making direct for the neighbourhood of Bahía
Blanca, where their services as agricultural labourers and as craftsmen are in
high demand; the Turks and Syrians concentrating in a district of Buenos
Ayres, where they seem to engage in every variety of occupation in which
there is a minimum of creative work and the possibility of profiting as middle-
men by the labour of others. A great many French find their way to Mendoza,
the centre of the wine-growing, in which business not a few have become
masters of millions. The German emigration is of more recent origin, and
embraces, like the French, a superior class of people, as well as supplying a
modicum to the toiling community. Although all the emigrants, save the
Spanish, are at first conditioned in their occupations and their localities by
their ignorance of the native language, so that they must needs go where
they find their fellow-countrymen and more or less follow the pursuits in
which these are engaged, they speedily pick up the language, and once
acclimatised and furnished with the means of universal intercourse, they
begin to look around, weigh up the possibilities of the country, and strike out
their independent courses. In this movement, the British have practically no
part whatever, and with the exceptions of the scanty Irish emigration of past
years and the Welsh colony settled, with very equivocal success, on the River
Chubut some twenty years ago, the annals of the British in the Argentine
present no parallel whatever to those of the other European nations.
 When we talk of Argentine emigration, we refer chiefly to the Italian and
the Spanish, though the Basque provinces of France and Spain have probably
supplied the very finest element of foreign blood in the Argentine nation to-
day. Italy is sending from eighty to a hundred thousand of her sturdy sons to
swell the Argentine population every year. The newcomers from Italy each
year number about 200,000, but in these later years there has been a very
considerable movement towards repatriation among the Italians and also
among the Spaniards, so that there is an offset of at least 50 per cent. for re-
emigration. The Italian who does not determine to make his home in the
Argentine is quickly satisfied with a comparatively small amount of savings.
Once he has netted from $1000 to $2500, he considers himself a man of
independent means, and is apt to return to his native village with his tiny
fortune, which will enable him there to live far more comfortably than he has
been existing in the Argentine, and to enjoy a life of comparative leisure. The
call of the Homeland is always very strong to the Italian, and if he acquires his
little fortune quickly, before his family have become thoroughly Argentine in
character and sentiment, he will almost surely go back. The hundreds of
thousands of his race who are fixed and rooted in the Republic are they who,
either through superior fortune have come to hold such a stake in the land, or
from longer delay in “turning the corner” and the influence of their children,
have become habituated to their new environment.
The quickest fortunes, the easiest gained wealth, assuredly do not come to
those who take up the life of the colono or the mediero, as above described,
for there are innumerable other ways in which money can be made more
readily, and those who engage in shopkeeping—always a superior class to the
tillers of the soil, as they require some little capital for a start—as well as the
many Spaniards who enter the already established business houses, are in
more immediate touch with money-making possibilities than the braceros. It is
always thus, that they who are of least use in the economical development of
the country should be most speedily rewarded.
I heard of an Italian waiter, who arrived in Buenos Ayres some time in
November of 1911 and immediately went on to Mar del Plata, the fashionable
seaside resort, where he readily secured a situation in one of the hotels. In
one month he netted a thousand pesos in “tips,” and with this vast sum
($420) he incontinently returned to his native country in order to purchase a
piece of land and set up as a small farmer! A coachman, also an Italian,
whose services I occasionally employed during our stay in Buenos Ayres,
informed me that he was making a clear profit of 600 pesos (or $252) per
month. The coach, a very handsome one, and the horse, a splendid animal,
were his own property, and so careful was he of his coach that he did not care
to bring it out on very sunny days, lest the upholstery might fade, while he
disliked driving on very wet days, so that he suited his own convenience as to
the hours and days of work! Withal, he was speedily acquiring a competence.
He assured me he drank as good wine as he got at home, and if he did not
eat so well, it was because nobody did in the Argentine, owing to the difficulty
of getting good food at reasonable prices. He also had been a waiter, but
evidently had his eye on a higher mark than his compatriot who hastened
back from Mar del Plata with his first month’s gratuities.
I do not doubt that if one had gone about, notebook in hand, collecting
experiences from all sorts and conditions of people who had emigrated to the
country, no end of “human interest” stories could have been obtained. Such
as I came by, however, were the fruit of casual conversations, and the
absence of the British and North Americans from the emigration movement
was probably the reason why I did not study it in more than its broadest
aspects. To follow it here in detail would involve so much in the way of
comparative statistics, that I make no apology for touching the subject in the
most sketchy, but I hope not unsuggestive, manner. I did receive, after
leaving Buenos Ayres, some copies of the Herald containing a long and
interesting correspondence, originated by an Englishman in Buenos Ayres,
entitled “Is Argentina as Bright as it is Painted?” Some excellent letters were
written by Britishers while the correspondence continued, and although the
Mr. Q’s and Mr. F’s could not allow the occasion to pass without casting a
stone at the unworthy land of their birth, the whole weight of opinion was in
tune with what I have written. If anything, most of the writers went further,
and some even piously called upon the Almighty to protect the wretched
English workman whose lot it was to live in such places as Bahía Blanca and
Rosario. Personally, I must confess that I have seen worse places to live in
than Rosario, and even considerably worse than Bahía Blanca. I have been in
Antofagasta!
But enough of the British in this connection, for they certainly do not
amount to anything of real consequence in the sum total of Argentine
immigration, the Americans to still less.[2] What is to be noticed, however, is a
very distinct forward movement among the Germans. The German has come
rather late in the day to discover the Britisher very thoroughly established in
all branches of commerce throughout the Republic. But, undismayed, the
German has set himself to the task of undermining British supremacy, laying
his plans to capture a large share of future business. There is, of course, no
comparison in sheer bulk between the German and the Italian immigration, as
the number of Germans arriving in the Argentine in 1912 was only 4,337, (to
which we might add 6,545 Austrians) against 165,662 Italians. But in the
smaller Teutonic group lay greater money-making possibilities than in the
Latin horde.
These Germans represent all classes of the community; there are quite a
few titled Teutons engaged in business in Buenos Ayres to-day. They are
developing their banking connection throughout the Republic with great
energy; German manufacturers are establishing branches everywhere;
German clerks are flooding into all sorts of businesses, their superior working
qualities to the Spaniard, their readiness to accept the lowest wages that will
support an existence, and their ability to acquire speedily the language of the
country, being all sound reasons for the ready demand for their services. The
competition of these German clerks will soon change the complexion of the
office staffs of the railways, for they are even supplanting the British
employees, and, if the cold truth must be told, they are really better
employees. One seldom meets a German who cannot at least contrive to
make himself understood in English, and who, although seldom speaking the
Spanish language with grace or correct pronunciation, will not in a few
months be able to converse in it with a fair degree of fluency.
In addition to those different classes of Teutonic invaders come the hand-
workers—engineers, carpenters, builders, agricultural labourers. In
considerable numbers these work people, who share the ability of their
compatriots in the acquiring of languages, are filtering all over the Argentine
and in certain districts of the southwest, especially around the celebrated Lake
Nahuel Huapi, some thirteen hundred miles distant from the capital, there are
entire settlements of German farmers, with their native school-teachers and
Protestant missionaries. In fine, the Germanising of the Argentine has begun,
and if it is still far from attaining the dimensions it has already assumed in
Chili, I do not doubt that a day is coming when the German will have ousted
the British, the French, and the Italian from their present supremacy in their
respective fields, although never likely to compete with Britain or France in
the matter of invested capital. At the time of writing, it is evident that there is
a further movement to encourage German enterprise in the Argentine. I read
in the London Times this morning that the Kaiser’s brother, Prince Henry of
Prussia, accompanied by his Princess and suite, are sailing on an official visit
to the Republic in one of the fine new passenger steamers with which the
Germans are successfully competing against the British lines for South Atlantic
trade.
 It is not to be supposed, although I have emphasised the fact that the
Italian immigration is essentially a movement of unskilled labour, that it is
exclusively so. For the Argentine offers to the observer a very remarkable
lesson in the industrial progress of Italy, which may entirely escape him in his
travels in Italy itself. To encounter at every step, as one does wherever one
goes throughout the Argentine, the most persistent evidences of Italian
enterprise in every branch of commerce, is to discover the Italian in an
entirely new light. Most of us are in the habit of going to Italy to look at old
things, to revel in the glories of her past, and are apt to come away from
Rome, or Florence, or Venice, and especially from Naples, with an impression
of bygone grandeur and lingering poverty. It is true that we must set against
this the evidence of her prosperity and modern activity, which we find in Milan
and in Turin; but, on the whole, our popular notion of Italy is that of a country
living mainly on its past.
The Italian in the Argentine will speedily dispel this. Not only does he
supply the strong arms that are tilling the soil of countless leagues, but he
maintains many of the great importing establishments in Buenos Ayres and
the principal towns. Italian engineering agencies and workshops abound. A
large proportion of the splendid motor cars that crowd the streets of the
capital hail from Italy. Some of the finest chemists’ establishments are Italian.
Not only are Italian workmen vastly in the majority on all building operations,
but very often Italian brains are directing the whole undertaking; Italian
contractors are paving the streets. In short, Italy stands forth in the life of the
Argentine to-day as a magnificent industrial and commercial force, supported
by the wide-spreading base of Italian emigrant labour.
There is also a very large traffic between the two countries in casual labour,
ship-loads of Italians coming out each year for the harvest season—during
which wages jump up from 40 to 50 pesos a month to 5 or 6 pesos a day—
and return home immediately on its conclusion. The Italian steamers (the
fastest that ply between Europe and South America, some of them doing the
journey from Buenos Ayres to Genoa in twelve days, whereas the average of
the English mail steamer from the River Plate to London or Liverpool takes
nineteen to twenty-one days) provide special facilities for the shipment of
these labourers at a very low head rate. To the remarkable return movement
among Italian emigrants, on which I have already touched, this large element
of casual labour has contributed not a little.
As regards the Spanish emigrant, I had many discussions with Spaniards
settled in the Argentine, from which I gained a good deal more information
than I had ever been able to acquire from any printed source. One of these
gentlemen in particular had studied the question in five or six of the republics,
and was engaged upon a book for circulation among his countrymen at home,
putting the matter in a new light. In his estimation, the Argentine conditions
represent an improvement for only the lowest class of Spaniard. This class of
Spaniard I remember being very fully described in a leading article in La
Prensa. His notions of thrift were there illustrated by his habit, when in his
native country, of journeying about the countryside bare-footed, with his
boots and stockings hung around his neck. When he approaches a village, he
pauses by the roadside to put on his stockings and boots, and so shod
traverses the village; but as soon as he has emerged on the highway again,
he removes them and continues his journey with them around his neck once
more! Such a custom touches the zero of social comfort and those habituated
to it could scarcely fail to do better in almost any other country in the world.
According to my Spanish friend, such of his countrymen immediately
become enthusiasts for the new land, and not only being able to go about
permanently with their boots and stockings, but perhaps to buy a white collar
for themselves and even a pair of silk stockings for their wives, feel they have
suddenly made a magical transition into the very lap of luxury. But for the
craftsmen, the village carpenter, the blacksmith, the modest tradesmen, he
assured me the change was not always for the better. Spaniards of these
classes can, thanks to the cheapness of commodities in their native country,
and despite the lowness of wages, secure infinitely better household
accommodation, and will eat better food, drink better wine, and altogether
live a less strenuous and more satisfactory existence, than the majority, at
least, will be doomed to maintain in the Argentine. As to all this, I can speak
with no exact knowledge, and I do no more than report the opinion of a
Spanish gentleman, confirmed to me, I may add, by several others of his race
who ought to have been in positions to judge.
The gentleman in question was probably somewhat prejudiced, as he was a
patriotic Spaniard, fond of elaborating his theory that Spain to-day had lost
her head over the Argentine and was hastening her decay by orienting her
literature and her journalism towards the lucrative market of South America
instead of towards purely Spanish ideals. Looking to South America as a land
of employment for her children, as in the past her kings had looked to it to fill
their coffers, she was guilty of a crowning folly. If the energy she is pouring
into South America were properly utilised at home, it would return far greater
profit to the nation and the individual. Such, at least, was his line of
reasoning, and I more than half suspect it was well based in fact.
 And withal, from what I could gather, in the annals of Argentine
immigration, the most interesting chapter that might be written would
describe the activities and achievements of the Basques. This splendid race of
people who seem to unite the finest qualities of the French and the Spanish,
have distinguished themselves above all others in the making of modern
Argentine. The geographical position of their homeland, enabling them to
acquire, in addition to their own most difficult language—which polyglot
Borrow found his hardest nut to crack—both French and Spanish, are
peculiarly adapted for making their way in Latin America. But apart from the
language question, their personal characteristics, in which industry joins with
intelligence and imagination, would inevitably carry them to success. They
stand to South American colonisation as the Scot to British Empire-making,
and the peculiar custom of their country, whereby the eldest son inherits all
the family goods and remains at home to maintain the family succession,
while the younger sons have to fare forth into the world to seek their
fortunes, marks them out for colonists.
 Familiar Scenes on an “Estancia.”

In the upper picture, a “Bebedero,” or drinking-place for

the cattle; in the lower, a flock of sheep brought in for
shearing. The windmill pumps seen in both illustrations are
the commonest objects of Argentine landscape.

My acquaintance with the Basques was limited to one family only—a

wonderful family; they are French Basques, and some fifteen or sixteen
brothers and cousins are united in a great business, which has important
warehouses and distributing centres in every large town along the Atlantic
and Pacific Coasts of South America, as well as in many of the business
centres of the interior. But for a typical story of the Basques, I turn to the
pages of M. Huret and translate what is one of the most interesting little
romances of Argentine emigration:

I wish to relate in some detail the story of one of these

French Basques (perhaps the most celebrated of them all), as
I heard it from one of his sons. I admire and sympathise with
the pride of this intelligent plebeian in a country where so
many people think of little more than how to make others
believe in the aristocracy of their blood, as if the most
beautiful and the noblest qualities of “aristocratic” blood did
not potentially exist in the blood of the people!
Pedro Luro was born in 1820 in the little town of Gamarthe,
and in 1837 he arrived at Buenos Ayres with a few francs in
his pocket. Entering as a labourer in a saladero (beef salting
establishment), he contrived to save enough to contemplate
matrimony, but suffered the loss of his little savings by
robbery. He applied himself with new energy to work;
purchasing a horse and a tilt cart, he converted the latter into
an omnibus, and with himself as driver plied between the
Plaza Montserrat and the suburb of Barracas.
He then married a countrywoman, Señorita Pradere, a
relative of his own, and with one of her brothers founded an
almacén (general store) at Dolores, some three hundred
kilometres to the south. But soon this store did not suffice for
his activity, and leaving his wife and her brother in charge of
it, he scoured the Pampa for cattle, wool and hides. Later on,
he made a proposal to a neighbouring estanciero whom he
saw planting trees on his ground, and effected a contract with
him, the conditions of which are famous still in the Argentine.
Luro was to plant as many trees as he liked on two hundred
hectáreas of land, which the estanciero was to place at his
disposal, and was to be paid for the work at the rate of four
centimes for each common tree and twenty-five for each fruit
tree of which the fruit contained stones.
Calling to his aid a number of his fellow Basques, at the end
of five years, Pedro Luro had planted so many trees on these
two hundred hectáreas that the proprietor owed him a sum
not only superior to the value of the ground planted, but of
the whole five thousand hectáreas composing his estancia
(land was sold at that time in this district at 5,000 francs per
league). The estanciero did not care to pay Luro, with the
result that the astute Basque started an action at law and
converted himself into the proprietor of the 5,000 hectáreas.
About the year 1840, the southern part of the province of
Buenos Ayres was still almost desert, the land of small value.
These were the times of the Rosas tyranny, and incessant
revolutions. All around the abandoned estancias dogs had
returned to a state of savagery, and cattle wandered free in
innumerable herds across these immense spaces. It happened
that Luro was assisting at a batida (battue) of these animals,
rendered mad by being entangled in the lassos and pricked
with knives in the hocks. Pondering over the value of all that
flesh and fat wasted, for it was then the custom merely to
secure the skin of the animal and leave its body to decay, the
idea occurred to buy from the landowner all the animals of the
class that were thus to be hunted and killed, at the rate of ten
pesos of the old Argentine money, equivalent to little more
than one peso of the present currency. The proprietor was
highly amused at the suggestion. “I quite believe I will
accept,” he exclaimed, laughing, “but do you really think it
would be good business?”
It was with the only system of capture known to the
gauchos, that is to say the lasso and the bolas (three balls
attached by long leather thongs, which, thrown with great
dexterity at the legs of an animal, entangle these and bring it
to the ground), necessitating months and an enormous
number of men, that he would be able to bring some
thousands of cattle—and in what sad state—to the salting
factory.
All the same, Luro insisted with perfect coolness, and the
contract was signed.
Now the tactics conceived by the intelligent Basque were as
follow: He began by prohibiting the gauchos from scouring the
country in cavalcades. During three months, only two men on
horseback, going slowly, were allowed to wander about the
pasture ground of these wild cattle. Little by little the animals
became accustomed to the sight of them and did not fly away
when they approached. When some hundreds of cattle had
thus been domesticated, they were taken farther away, where
others were still in a wild state, and these in turn were easily
reduced to the tameness of the first.
In batches of five hundred to a thousand, Luro was soon
able to herd the cattle direct to the salting factories, where he
sold them at 15, 20, 25, even 30 francs each. At the end of a
year, he had thus secured no fewer than 35,000 head of
cattle. He had made himself rich, and the proprietor of the
estancia had received from him at one stroke 70,000 francs,
which he had never expected, remaining enchanted with his
transaction.
In 1862, Pedro Luro went still further afield, beyond Bahía
Blanca, whose fort at that time constituted the frontier against
the Indians. He was delayed for some time on the banks of
the River Colorado, owing to the Indians having robbed him of
his horses. Meanwhile, exploring the valley of the river, he
quickly grasped the potentialities of the district. Returning to
Buenos Ayres, he secured an interview with General Mitre, to
whom he proposed to buy from the State 100 square leagues
of land (250,000 hectáreas) at the rate of 1,000 francs per
league, with a view to founding a colony of three hundred
Basques in that region.
His scheme apparently approved by the President, he then
set sail for Navarra Baja in Spain, where he recruited some
fifty families, with whom he returned to the Argentine. But the
Government, while agreeing to the sale of land, would not, for
some unknown reason, permit the founding of the colony, so
the Basques were spread over the land of their compatriot.
Many of them, or their descendants, are to-day millionaires,
while the land bought at the 1,000 francs the league is valued
now at 200 francs the hectárea, or say 500,000 francs per
league.
Meanwhile, Pedro Luro continued his active commerce in
skins and wool. Ere long he had constructed the largest curing
factory in all the basin of the River Plate, expending millions of
francs on it. Then he set himself to the exploitation of the
bathing station of Mar del Plata, which had been founded by
Señor Peralta Ramos, one of the most fortunate of
 speculations, from which his heirs, continuing his work there,
have benefited immensely. At his death he left to his fourteen
children 375,000 hectáreas of land, 300,000 sheep, and
150,000 cattle, then valued at 40,000,000 francs.
Pedro Luro was a Frenchman who did honour to his country
by his exceptional qualities, his spirited initiative, valour,
endurance, and business intelligence. He took to the Argentine
more than 2,000 of his fellow Basques, whom he employed in
his many agricultural and industrial establishments, providing
them with cattle, letting land to them cheaply, lending them
money. Almost all of these have made their fortunes. With
Luro disappeared one of those types that are almost
legendary, and without doubt the most famous colonist of the
epic period of Argentine immigration.

Here, then, is as fascinating a story as we shall find in the annals of

colonisation, and so eminent in the life of the Argentine are the descendants
of Pedro Luro to-day that the story of their origin and the achievements of
their progenitor would form a splendid subject for some native writer, were
not the Argentine authors too busy imitating European models to lend
themselves to the simple narration of such splendid life-histories as the
making of the Argentine presents. For the passage I have quoted from M.
Huret is no more than the prelude to a romance which is likely yet to see its
final issue in the founding of a great and prosperous town at the mouth of the
River Colorado in the Bay of San Blas, southward of Bahía Blanca. The Luros
are the lords of all the land in that region, and I recall the interest with which
I read a series of somewhat highly coloured articles by Mr. A. G. Hales, the
Anglo-Australian journalist, then attached to the staff of the Buenos Ayres
Standard, who, in the latter part of 1912, made a journey on horseback
through that district. He pictured the coming of a day when ships would sail
from the city of San Blas laden with wines for the tables of European epicures,
and no end of other wonders that would come to pass in the valley of the
River Colorado, which fifty years ago the shrewd Pedro Luro had secured for
his descendants at so small an outlay. At the present moment, there is no
railway within 150 miles of San Blas, and I suppose there is no more than a
paper plan of the future city, lying somewhere in the estate office of the
Luros, and no ships cast anchor in its bay, but there was a time when Buenos
Ayres itself, and not so many years ago Bahía Blanca, meant no more to the
world than a name on a map, and who shall say what dreams may not come
true?
 CHAPTER XVI
LIFE IN THE “CAMP” AND THE PROVINCIAL TOWNS

To the European imagination, the Argentine gaucho typifies the rural life of
the country. And a fine figure he cuts in his showy poncho (a shawl with a slit
in the centre to thrust the head through), the graceful folds of it, with fringed
edges and embroidery, falling as low as his top-boots with their jingling spurs.
On his head he wears any variety of soft felt hat, but never the “Panama hat”
of popular imagination. He is more inclined to cultivate a beard and fierce
moustache than to shave, and above his poncho, which covers a complete
suit of “store” clothes, he usually wears a black or white silk handkerchief tied
loosely around his neck. On horseback, an admirable figure, the poncho
serves also as partial covering for his steed, which he rides with unrivalled
grace and confidence.
He has a soul for music, too, this rough and somewhat villainous-looking
knight of the Pampa. The guitar is his favourite instrument, and he is no
gaucho who cannot strum a tune thereon, or improvise some lines of verse,
the old Spanish custom of singing a couplet to the accompaniment of the
guitar still retaining high favour in the Argentine Camp, to such an extent,
indeed, that a weekly paper, La Pampa Argentina, exists for no other purpose
than to collect and circulate the latest efforts of the coplistas and reprint
famous couplets of the past. His sports, too, are rendered picturesque by the
part which his horse, almost inseparable from himself, performs in them.
An agreeable sense of old-fashioned courtesy still clings to him, and while I
fear his morals will not bear too close an inspection, nor are his habits of life
quite as cleanly as domestic legislation has contrived to make those of most
European and North American people, the gaucho is by no means unlikable,
although I never felt quite so kindly towards him in the flesh as I have done
imaginatively through the pages of Mr. Cunninghame-Graham and Mr. W. H.
Hudson. For all his courtesies, his nature retains much of the old Spanish
cruelty. To see him bury his spurs in the flanks of his horse with a vicious dig,
and pull the animal up on his haunches by throwing his whole weight
backwards on the reins, that are fixed to a long and brutal curb bit, is not a
sight that makes you long to go up and take him by the hand as a man and a
brother.
Welcome to Our Bookstore - The Ultimate Destination for Book Lovers
Are you passionate about books and eager to explore new worlds of
knowledge? At our website, we offer a vast collection of books that
cater to every interest and age group. From classic literature to
specialized publications, self-help books, and children’s stories, we
have it all! Each book is a gateway to new adventures, helping you
expand your knowledge and nourish your soul
Experience Convenient and Enjoyable Book Shopping Our website is more
than just an online bookstore—it’s a bridge connecting readers to the
timeless values of culture and wisdom. With a sleek and user-friendly
interface and a smart search system, you can find your favorite books
quickly and easily. Enjoy special promotions, fast home delivery, and
a seamless shopping experience that saves you time and enhances your
love for reading.
Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and
personal growth!

ebookgate.com