MOBILE COMPUTING

AUTHORS

AASHITA K R
IIII/IV, B.Tech
ADHIYAMAAN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
HOSUR – 635109

achu_jaks@yahoo.com

MOURYA C R K
III/IV B.tech
ADHIYAMAAN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
HOSUR - 635109

sri_4154@yahoo.com
 ABSTRACT

Over recent years, the trend towards the smaller and faster device, coupled with the need
for information access on the move has paved the way for a new technology that brings together
the wireless application protocol (WAP) and the Mobile devices to share mobile information
between different client and mobile servers. Mobility is the ability to access information and
services anywhere anytime anyhow
The dissert of this paper is concentrated on the various layer of the mobile computing models. I.e.
application layer, mobile operating systems, device, wire less technologies (Wi-Fi and WAN
technologies). These are explained in detail with pictorial depiction. The wireless application
protocol is a strategy, which is being widely used in the present world of electronics and
computers. The types of WANs are given more stress for the better understanding. The Issues,
which create an important image for the creation of the mobile computing are, expand in detail.
Bluetooth replaces the mass of cables we use to connect personal devices (portable PC’s
mobile telephones and headsets, PDAs, digital cameras, mp3 players and son on) to share
information.
Bluetooth and WI-Fi are complementary technologies that address different market needs
Bluetooth for wireless point-to-point connections and WI-Fi for wireless network connections.
ALSO explained are the challenges, which are faced by the wireless networking i.e., Security,
Bandwidth, Software applications, safely.

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 INTRODUCTION

People on the move, need services, information and entertainment that move with them. With
access to mobile services, decisions and transactions that happen then and there. Mobile services
powered by Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) have been widely accepted by users. Growth in
this field is driven by the introduction of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), WAP 2.0,
Bluetooth and Mobile Commerce. Mobile Commerce. Mobile services benefit from three major
factors that boost information value to end users- Personalization, Time Sensitivity, Location
Awareness. Mobility is one of key factors reshaping how companies and end-users conduct daily
business.

Why wirelesses connectivity?

A mobile device can have faster access to resources on the Internet and resources at the
office at home or elsewhere. Its cost, size and power consumption can be held low while stiff
having great utility. This trend is not only for mobile computers. With increased access to
Internet, we’re looking to reduce the cost & complexity of the PC in favor of having great
bandwidth to the information and services we require, and also to applications that can be
downloaded from the Internet.
By going totally mobile, organizations can gain better control over the services that it
makes available to its employees and customers. These services can be tailor-made to match their
unique needs, and help them become more efficient in their everyday activities

Theoretically Mobile Computing comprises four layers. They are:

Layer-1

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 APPLICATION LAYER

Verticals: - Vertical Applications are those that apply to a functional part of an industry such as
field service or to a specific market segment such as banking or health care.

The pie chart shows that by year 2005, almost half f the people using mobile computing will be
performing mobile office applications. About a quarter will be using it for personal
communication. The rest will be in vertical applications such as field’s sales, field service and
transportation. The functions possible with the vertical applications are sales quotation, inventory
check, updating the maintenance database after the service is done, obtaining a maintenance
history of the item requiring, service, automatically locating a vehicle.

Horizontals: - Horizontals applications apply to many people across most market segments.

Mobile Office- 45% Personal

Communications-26%

Fax Messaging
Email Calendering
LAN access Directories
File Transfer Info Systems Figure 3
Database access FAX

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Horizontal applications, which are predicted to account for the majority of the market in a few
years, are illustrated above. Horizontal applications are essentially what we would be doing if we
were connected through a wire. With wireless we are able to perform them whenever we are as
long as in the range of backbone networks.
Layer – 2
MOBILE OPERATING SYSTEMS
This layer provides tools for application programmers to access different mobile devices and
different wireless networks. These tools make the job easier because they don’t have to be
connected with the details and complexities of the under lying networks. Further, they don’t have
to be concerned with how these networks or their interfaces change over time. This is a critical
layer that is key to the rapid growth of wireless networking and the desired. Proliferation of
compelling applications those companies can utilize to provide their customers with added value.
Some examples of mobile operating systems are general magic’s magic cap, apple Newton
operating system the application writers can focus on the vertical market or horizontal they are
serving. Mobile operating systems simplify and speed the writing of applications.

Layer-3
Devices
Mobile devices are categorized into: -

Fixed Carriables Pocketables Wearable

Desktops Notebooks Palm-tops Smart Badges

Server'sNotepads Cellular phones Smart watches Figure 4
Access points Combinations PCs phones.
PDAs, IAs

Fixed Devices emphasize that they are very much a part of picture as it provide connectivity to
backbone networks and to the services that hold much of information we need. The large mobile
devices can be referred to as carriables. They are of size that would fit in briefcase. The next
category, Pocketable, includes PDAs, information appliances, and future navigators of various
kinds. They could provide several media, staring with voice and data and eventually evolving to
provide video.

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The last wearable includes smart badges and watches, etc. These are extremely light and small
devices.

WIRELESS LANS AND WANS

A wireless LAN carries high-speed traffic in excess of 1 Mops. It usually utilizes a random
access technique such as CSMA, so it does not support real time voice traffic. Experiments have
put real time voice on a random access LAN, but on the whole it has not provided satisfactory
service. The voice traffic prefers an isochronous network that can guarantee a Bandwidth, not one
where the access times vary over a large range and can cause packets to get lost or arrive out of
order.
The coverage area of a Wireless LAN is usually on order of 50 meters in indoor environments.
With this kind cell size, the network supports only pedestrian speed not much more. The reason
for this slow speed is simply if a user moves very quickly through cells that are 50 meters in
radius; the network is not able to keep track of her quickly enough because she changes cells too
rapidly.
Wireless WAN supports low to medium-speed data from 10 Kbps up to ISDN rates of 50 Kbps
or more in the future. WANs are the realm of real time voice. The switching technology used
there is mostly circuiting switching that dedicates a channel to a user as long as the call lasts. This
s the ultimate in guaranteed bandwidth and isochronous service. A Wireless WAN is expected to
provide islands of ubiquitous coverage. They are expected to provide islands of coverage within a
building or a campus. Finally, Wireless WANs support high-speed mobility.

Types of Wireless WANs

Many forms of Wireless WANs exist, including cellular, paging, packet radio, satellite, cordless,
PCs.
Several types of Wireless LANs are available such as ISM LANs, Infrared LANs, and
“Unlicensed PCs” LANs.

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 Bluetooth and WI-Fi

Blue is a personal are networking (PAN)_ technology designed to provide short-range

connectivity for peripherals such as a keyboards, speakers and headsets, it supports low data rates
(721 kbps) and limited range (10 meters), achieving low cost and minimal power drain.
Bluetooth replaces the mass of cables we use to connect personal devices (portable
PC’s mobile telephones and headsets, PDAs, digital cameras, mp3 players and son on) to share
information.
Bluetooth primarily works in the background, and because the speeds are much lower
than in WI-Fi, you can consider it as a low key automated way of exchanging and synchronizing
localized information. However, Bluetooth does have networking capabilities to a maximum of
seven users, with one machine as the master. The maximum working reach for Bluetooth is 100
meters (Toshiba version). With the addition of Spanworks or similar software, it becomes ideal
for ad hoc work (i.e. project teams) or for presentations where Spanworks will allow a
PowerPoint presentation in view only or view-and save-versions to be shared. Bluetooth can also
pass real-time text messages using the ‘chat’ feature.
On the other hand, WI-Fi replaces long network cables from desk to hub/server. It allows
users to log on to an office business network without the need to physically attach a network card.
For portables, a LAN adapter may be either built into a PC, or a docking station. Alternatively, a
PC card may be used. As long as the users have network access rights, they can log on to network
from anywhere within the network area. This simplifies the network infrastructure, as physical
cabling is only needed to connect the wireless access point to a hub or server. By removing

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physical cabling, costs are reduced and there is less physical structure to fail/troubleshoot. And
the mobility of the network, while remaining connected increases.
So, Bluetooth is just a cable replacement technology and not a real network technology like
WI-Fi. Both the Bluetooth and the Wi-Fi technologies have their own plus points and are
designed from very different perspectives: Wi-Fi ‘s strengths are speed and range, which make
well suited to networking, while Bluetooth’s low power consumption makes it great for mobile
devices.
Bluetooth and WI-Fi are complementary technologies that address different market needs
Bluetooth for wireless point-to-point connections and WI-Fi for wireless network connections.
Bluetooth is designed to replace cables between cell phones, laptops, and other computing and
communication devices within a range of 10 meters. WI-Fi is wireless Ethernet; it provides an
extension or replacement of wired networks for dozens of computing devices.

MOBILE COMPUTING SYSTEMS DESIGN ISSUES

The technical design of mobile computing solutions offers unique challenges to systems
professionals. Mobile users have unpredictable usage patterns, and ergonomic considerations is
mobile office are formidable.
We suggest that mobile computing professionals should analyze the following systems design
issues:

1. Technical Design Issues

 Network Design: Wireless LAN design issues and Wide Area Radio Network Design Issues.

 Capacity planning and response time calculations

 Data compression considerations

 System availability design

 Security issues

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2. Ergonomic and Logistics Design

CHALLENGES

The major challenges faced by the wireless networking are in the following areas Security,
Bandwidth, Software applications, safely.
Securing information from unauthorized access is a major problem for any network,
especially for wireless networks, since radio signals travel through the open atmosphere where
they can be intercepted by individuals who are constantly on the move – and therefore difficult to
track down.
Here is some examples common security breaches:

 Networks by criminals elements

 Interception of credit card authorizations over wireless networks.
 Physical breach of security at unmanned base stations or other communications centers.

Wireless network bandwidth is scarce and expensive. Every possible technique should be
used to get the utmost service out of this bandwidth. Everyone wants to access the network at the
same time. The system has to be able to handle almost all the terminals at the same time,
Moreover, the access mechanism has to be extremely fair, and the first user requesting must be
served first.

It is hard to find the right application software for a particular hardware. Software applications
are probably the one biggest reason why wirelesses networking in data implementations have
lagged behind voice implementations.
Certain health problem may be associated with the radiation emanating from the wireless
networking devices.

CONCLUSION

In the nutshell, Wireless Internet and Mobile Computing help ameliorate the difficulties and
unravel the complexities, especially in these turbulent political and economic times. Some of
important mobile computing applications is in ADP (Automatic Data Processing), Hewlett

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Packard in UK, Integrated Device Technology, and Revenue Canada. Wireless devices are
becoming significantly easier to use and that will have a dramatic effect on the proliferation of
wireless data communications.
A Look at the Future
We explore some of the work that is taking place at Xerox Park in the area of mobile
computing in the next century. They developed a model that has the three components namely,
boards, pads and tabs.
The tab is a wireless wearable device that is very light and unobtrusive. It is a small
microprocessor. Among other possible functions, it broadcasts the identity of its wearer and can
perform opening of doors automatically; rooms greet people by name, etc. A pad is a cross
between a sheet of paper, a notebook computer, and a palm top computer. It can be called
intelligent paper. Each pad would be performing a different function. A board computer is the
size of a blackboard. They allow people in the room to work on them with electronic chalk.

THE FUTURE IS WIRELESS. Don't’ YOU AGREE?

REFERENCES

 Mobile data and wireless LAN technologies

By: Rifaat A. Dayem
 Electronics for you
September 2003 edition
 Database Management Systems
By; - Alexis Leon and Mathews Leon
 Computer Networks
By: Andrews S Tanenbaum

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