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Mobile Computing

This article is a subset of mobile computing and it's fully based on Mobile Internet.
Compared to a wired connection like ADSL or cable modem, the bandwidth of today’s wireless connections is reduced and wireless networks usually tend to be less stable and to have more latency.
Browsing multimedia HTML pages on the Internet from a wireless device like a GPRS mobile phone is getting better, but still not the same as from a 2 Mbps cable modem from home or the office. Receiving content via HTTP in HTML format with a data-rate of 53.6 kbps (with GPRS) and displaying pages that were originally created for large high-resolution screens on a tiny display with only 96 x 65 pixels, is not perfect.
Two standards were established to bring the benefits of the Internet to the mobile world: WAP and i-mode.
In June 1997, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, and Openwave (formerly known as Unwired Planet and Phone.com) founded the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum as an industry group for the purpose of extending the existing Internet standards for the use with wireless communication. By June 2002, the WAP Forum and the Open Mobile Architecture Initiative consolidated to the Open Mobile Alliance with members from all parts of the industry, including network operators, device manufacturers, service providers, and software vendors.
The WAP Specification Version 1.1 was released in the summer of 1999, and the first WAP devices and services were available in the fourth quarter of 1999. Most of the devices today support WAP Version 1.1, but the WAP Forums is currently working on Versoin 2 of the specification which acknowledges the increase in performance of wireless networks from 9.6 kbps with GSM, over 53.6 kbps with GPRS to UTMS with 2 Mbps and the new possibilities this gives to make WAP a real user experiences with colored images, sound, and video.
As WAP is based on GSM it was introduced by a large number of GSM carriers all over the world. Around the year 2000, together with the Internet boom, were has a lot of hype also around WAP, which got back to normal levels as the Internet economic back got to more realistic expectations.
In parallel to this i-mode was developed and successfully introduced by NTT DoCoMo, the largest carrier in Japan. Early 2002, o2 in Germany was the first carrier in Europe also offering i-mode, followed by the carriers in the Netherlands and Belgium.
What is WAP?
·         WAP is an application communication Protocol
·         WAP is used to access services and information
·         WAP is inherited from Internet standards
·         WAP is for handheld devices such as mobile phones
·         WAP is a protocol designed for micro browsers
·         WAP enables the creating of web applications for mobile devices
·         WAP uses the mark-up language WML (not HTML)
·         WML is defined as an XML 1.0 application

Why do we need WAP?
Having the performance and data transfer capacities of the common desktop computers in mind, the web designers constructed the Internet technology for devices as powerfull as those computers. Hand-held wireless devices present more a constrained computing environment with less powerful CPU's, less memory, restircted power consumption, smaller displays and different input devices. Similarly, wireless data networks have less bandwith, more latency, less connection stability and less predictable availability than conventional wired networks. Also, the operators aim to provide the users advanced services in more a usable and attractive way. [
The WAP specification meets the mobile network characteristics and operators needs by filling the special requirements of hand-held wireless terminals by using existing network technology and introducting new technology where appropriate.

Objectives of the WAP Forum

·        To bring Internet content and advanced data services to digital cellular phones and other wireless terminals
·        To create a global wireless protocol specification that will work differing wireless  network technologies
·        To enable the creation of content and applications that scale across a very wide range of bearer networks and device types

What type of devices will use WAP?

Handheld digital wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, smartphones and communicators -- from low-end to high-end.

Which wireless networks does WAP work with?

WAP is designed to work with most wireless networks such as CDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, ReFLEX, iDEN, TETRA, DECT, DataTAC, Mobitex and GRPS.

What operating systems are compatible with WAP?

WAP is a communications protocol and application environment. It can be built on any operating system including PalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, JavaOS etc. It provides service interoperability even between different device families.
WAP Micro Browsers
To fit into a small wireless terminal, WAP uses a Micro Browser.
A Micro Browser is a small piece of software that makes minimal demands on hardware, memory and CPU. It can display information written in a restricted mark-up language called WML. It can also interpret a reduced version of JavaScript called WML Script.
What is WML?
WML stands for Wireless Markup Language. It is a mark-up language inherited from HTML, but WML is based on XML, so it is much stricter than HTML. WML is used to create pages that can be displayed in a WAP browser. Pages in WML are called DECKS. Decks are constructed as set of CARDS.
What is WMLScript?
WML uses WMLScript to run simple code on the client. WMLScript is a light JavaScript language. However, WML script are not embedded in the WML pages. A WML page only contains references to script URLs. WML scripts need to be compiled into byte code on a server before they can run in a WAP browser.

Note:
The second part of this article "Architecture of WAP1.1" will be posted tomorrow. I expect that you have completed this article with full interest and also access this blog tomorrow to get more knowledge on Architecture of WAP1.1.
Resources Used to make this article:

1 ) Principles of Mobile Computing
     Uwe Hansmann
     Lothar Merk
     Martin S. Nicklous
     Thomas Stober

2) 14.4.1999
    Mintunkukka Paukkunen
    Department of Computer Science
    Helsinki University of Technology
    spaukkun@cc.hut.fi


3) Open Mobile Milance (above contents)
4) Itservices@amtexsystems.com

Edited By: Chaudhary Amit V.

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