Scaling real-time telematics applications using programmable middleboxes: a case study in traffic prediction

Floating car data (FCD), i.e. traffic and in-car data collected and transmitted by moving cars, is an emerging telematics application providing a range of networked services to road users. FCD is an example of a large sensor network, whose complexity increases with the number of session participants. Our work examines how deploying application-specific functions in the network can help in scaling such systems. We have chosen to configure these functions on a dedicated device that is commonly called a middlebox. These middleboxes use programmable network processors in order to attain the required processing and forwarding speeds, while communicating with each other and a back-end server using standard middleware components. We present our experience in using such a programmable middlebox in the scaling of a large telematics service, explaining how the middlebox fits into the end-to-end application.