Wireless Web

1
Wireless Web

• Pawan R. Vora
• October 2001

2
How the Wireless Web Works

Gateway
Request Air Link
Internet
Response
Web server
3
Wireless Web Components

• Devices and Operating Systems
• PDAs, Handhelds, Wireless Phones, Messaging-based
  devices
• Palm OS, Windows CE, EPOC
• Microbrowsers
• UP.browser, Mobile Explorer, and several variants
• Networks (Air link)
• CDMA, TDMA, GSM, GPRS, W-CDMA, CDMA2000,
  Bluetooth, and more
• Protocols (like HTTP for the Web)
• WAP, i-mode, SMS
• Markup Languages
• HDML, CompactHTML, WML, Subsets of HTML, MML, PQA

4
Wireless Devices
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Wireless-enabled PDAs

• Output improves
• Screen sizes
• Palm 160x160 (153x144)
• WinCE/PocketPC 240x320 (240x268)
• RIM 132x65 or 160x160
• Better resolution, but still not great in many
  cases
• Minimal color capabilities in current devices
• Mostly 4-16 shades of gray
• Some 256 color displays
• Some PocketPCs up to (supposedly) 65,535
• Larger tablets have (up to) 640x480 displays, but
  are bulky to carry

6
Microbrowsers
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Small Devices, Big Issues

• Hardware differences
• Jog dials, up/down, etc.
• Cant rely on buttons for navigation (i.e., press
  the down button to read more)
• Browser wars
• Different micro browsers
• Nokia, Phone.com, Ericsson R320, UP.browser,
  Mobile Explorer
• Bonus! Different manufacturers use different
  implementations of the default hardware key
  behavior

8
Wireless Networks
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Problems

• Competing and incompatible wireless networks
• Global roaming
• Ability to use a device outside of ones home
  network or country
• We might see dual-mode or multi-mode systems to
  support more than one air interface

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Protocols

• Circuit Switched
• Dedicated to a single connection between two end
  points in the network (dedicated)
• e.g., a voice call
• Users are charged for the time
• Packet Switched
• Small units of data, called packets, are routed
  through a network based on the destination
  address contained in each packet (connectionless)
• e.g., using the Internet
• Users charged for the data transferred

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WAP

• Wireless Application Protocol (or Wait-And-Pray)
• Designed to give users a way to access the
  Internet-based content using wireless phones
• A collection of technologies
• Programming languages, communication protocols,
  infrastructure architectures, etc.
• Designed to work on all major global wireless
  communication systems

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iMode

• NTT DoCoMo
• Uses packet-based system
• Always on!
• Reduces costs dramatically for users. Charges
  based on number of packet transferred
• Uses CompactHTML (cHTML)
• Killer app for iMode
• Downloading screen savers for 1 a month

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SMS

• Short Messaging Service
• Allows short text messages to be sent and
  received over mobile devices
• 140 characters for point-to-point and 93
  characters for point-to-multipoint
• 4,000,000 WAP phones vs. 65,000,000 SMS-enabled
  phones in the U.S.
• Source The Yankee Group
• U.S. SMS phones are mainly one-way (receive)
  whereas, in Europe, they are two-way (both send
  and receive)

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Bluetooth

• Short range radio link for electronic devices
• Scenario 1 Imagine when you walk into your
  office with a Bluetooth-enabled computer and
  youre automatically connected to all the
  peripherals and devices
• Scenario 2 Connect a Bluetooth-enabled cell
  phone to access the Internet through your desktop
  computer or wirelessly share files during
  meetings
• Bluetooth name?
• From Harald Blatand (Bluetooth in English), a
  Danish Viking King who united Denmark and Norway
• Bluetooth unifying computing and
  telecommunication industries

15
Location-based Services

• Services based on the physical location of
  wireless devices
• Expected to grow to 8 billion by 2005
• Source Strategis Group, 1997
• Examples
• GeePS uses consumer profiles kept by e-tailers to
  send alerts to cell-phone users about discount
  offers at nearby brick-and-mortar stores
• MedicinePlanet.com and Oracle partnership
  (m-health) to alert users with location-specific
  health advisories
• SpotCast Communication offers targeted ads based
  on the user profile as well as geographic location

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Markup Languages
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So the question is

• to wireless or not to wireless?
• And the answer is