Abstract
Jini has made considerable inroads as an enterprise computing platform, but it hasn't fulfilled its promise as a computing platform for thin-clients. A roadblock has been that participation in a Jini community requires devices to support a fully capable Java virtual machine, something that is a challenge for mobile devices (e.g., cellphones). The Jini Surrogate specification provides a service gateway that enables limited devices to hook into a Jini network, eliminating the need for Jini on the device. This paper describes the Jini Surrogate Architecture, its benefits in enabling wireless access to Jini services, and the implementation and performance issues uncovered in implementing surrogate-based services. The paper discusses application architectures that can leverage the surrogate approach. These include exporting enterprise services from the wired to the wireless internet, and enabling a thin-client mobile agents platform that implements migratory services. These application architectures are being explored as part of the Arches project.