The Mobi.Ubiq framework consists of client software running on a mobile device; the Service Directory where the services and locations belonging to tags are registered; and a Service Bus connecting the services and providing orchestrations.

Mobile Device

A mobile user can access mobile services that are registered in the Service Directory. Based on the ID of the tag, additional information provided by the tag and or the location of the mobile device, the Service Directory provides information of several services that are available. The user can directly open the default service or view and search for other registered services. When the mobile user selects a service, a direct connection to that service is provided. Client software on the mobile device has the ability to install plug-ins. Depending on the functionality offered it may be necessary to install a plug-in to access the service or to further enhance the functionality of that service.

Service Directory

The Service Directory can register services connected to a tag-ID, tag type, meta data that is sent by the tag or product information (EPC/EAN). The Service Directory also stores locations of tags when the tag is read and the location information if available. It does not store personal information like phone numbers. This information is purged after a certain amount of time, depending on the tag type. The locations of consumer goods are only kept for a short period of time but the location of location-dependent tags, such as a cyber sticker, are kept longer. The Service Directory has a web interface for registering tags and tag types and there is an installable Window client for configuring RFID tags to NDEF with a RFID writer and directly registering them in the Service Directory.

Service Bus

Mobile services can be connected to the Service Bus. This is an open standard connection to which other public non-mobile services can be connected as well, such as timetables, news archives, weather information, etc. These services can then be used to create new services (composite services). The Service Bus provides a way to standardize the connection between services and offers policy and orchestration functionality. By doing so it greatly improves the ease of combining services and reduces the complexity and development time for composite services. The Service Bus gives mash-up functionality, comparable to for example the Facebook API. But here it is on a service level and could be event-driven.