SoftBridge: An Architecture for Building IP-based Bridges over the Digital Dividepdfauthor

Users and computing equipment have varying capabilities that include the abilities to exchange text and audio, engage in high bandwidth communication, etc. As the technological options increase, effective communication between the different media has be able to bridge across these options: the bridges have to take into account network quality, end-user equipment capabilities as well as user preferences and capabilities. Our research proposes a SoftBridge, an abstracted communications platform for the construction of applications across disparate capabilities found in various Digital Divides. We outline the architecture and the requirements that the SoftBridge has to fulfill. An approach and some initial work is described.