This layer defines a single metamodel which is in charge of mapping PIM models to real hardware/software infrastructure.
The metamodel belonging to this layer is known as the Deployment metamodel or the Mapping metamodel.
It defines the following set system characteristics: Programming Language, Operating System, Medium and Protocol; and a set of Devices which are connected through Connections.
While Devices are charecterized by an Operating System and a Programming Language, Connections are characterized by a Medium and a Protocol.
The Figure 21 shows the Deployment Metamodel.
Figure 21: Deployment Metamodel
A Device represents a physical device which hosts an Entity. It is deployed in at least one Device Platform. A Device Platform defines a combination of an Operating System and a Programming Language. A Device is connected to other Devices in the system environment by the means of Connections to carry out system tasks.
For Instance, suppose that we have to model a Location-Aware Museum Guide (LAMG) as a client-server application where the client (LAMGC) retrieves information from the museum cataloge server (MCS). On the one hand, the LAMGC entity runs on a Device which defines a Device Platform specifying the Android ver. 4.0 as Operating System and the Java ver. 7 as Programming Language. On the other hand, the MCS entity runs on a Device which defines a Device Platform specifying the Debian Linux ver. 12.1 as Operating System and the PHP ver. 5.2 as Programming Language.
A Connection defines a physical link transporting Information flows between two Devices. It is specified by at least one Connection Platform. A Connection Platform defines a combination of a Medium and a Protocol.
Following the LAMG sample, the connection between the LAMGC and the MCS, defines a Connection between both Devices specifying a Connection Platfom which specifies the Wireless LAN ver. G as the Medium and the REST 1.0 Protocol to communicate Devices.
You can reference this work as:
Ricardo Tesoriero, José A. Gallud, María D. Lozano and Víctor M. R. Penichet. CAUCE: Model-driven Development of Context-aware Applications for Ubiquitous Computing Environments. Journal of Universal Computer Science, Vol. 16, No. 15, pp. 2111-2138. 2010. Link: http://www.jucs.org/jucs_16_15/cauce_model_driven_development