Chapter: 01-Mobile Computing
Introduction to Mobile Computing
By: Mr. Abdul Haseeb Khan
Course Basics
 Instructor
Mr. Abdul Haseeb Khan
 Pre-requisite
Computer Networks
 Text books
1.
2.
3.
4.
Mobile Computing Principles” by ,Reza B’Far
Mobile Computing: Theory and Practice
By: Kumkum Garg
Wireless
Communications:
Principles
and
Practices, 2nd Ed., T. S. Rappaport.
The Mobile Communications Handbook, J. D.
Gibson
Course Evaluation
Assignment, Quizzes &class Participation – 20%
Mid 1 – 20%
Mid 2 – 20 %
Final Term – 40%
Objectives of Course
 What are the key mobile computing and wireless technologies and their roles
 What are the concepts/terms (vocabulary), building blocks and their
interrelationships, Theoretical and conceptual foundations
 Introduce
 Introduction to Mobile computing and framework tools
 Mobile Computing and Commerce
 Mobility Management
 Basics and Evolution of Modern wireless communication
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Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Security Issues in Mobile Computing
Java Network Programming
Mobile Application & Mobile Development Frameworks
 Android-studio
 Outcomes
 Adequate knowledge and Able to carry research in different domains of Mobile
Computing
Course Syllabus
 Basic Concepts in Mobile Computing
 Mobile Computing and Commerce
 The Concept of fixed Wireless LAN and Evolution of modern wireless
communication Systems
 Mobile Data Management
 Mobility Location Management
 Cellular systems
► AMPS, IS-95, IS-136, GSM,
 Wireless networks
► GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, cdma2000, Mobile IP, WLAN and Bluetooth
 Emerging networks
► 3 G & 4 G, WiMAX, MANET, WSN
 OS Mobility Support, Software design for Mobile devices, e.g., Android and
iOS platforms.
Introduction to Wireless & Mobile
Computing
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
Wireless Communication
Evolutions of the Mobile Systems
Mobile computing
Mobile agents
Technical issues for mobility
Context-aware computing
Mobile computing Devices
Navel Applications Of Mobile Computing
Dimensions of mobile computing
Mobile Development Frameworks and Tools
Objectives
Course Objectives:
 What are the key mobile computing and wireless technologies and their
roles
 What are the concepts/terms (vocabulary), building blocks and their
interrelationships.
 Theoretical and conceptual foundations
Wireless Mobile or Mobile Wireless?
 Wireless communication systems is type of communication
system.
 Dimensions of mobility:
The set of properties that distinguishes the mobile
computing system from stationary computing system
Wireless & Cellular Communication
 Transmitting voice, data, video and other services data using
electromagnetic waves in open space (atmosphere).
 Cellular communication:
 Wireless communication using unguided media, that is, radio and
microwave frequencies or satellites, has found widespread use in
mobile phones.
Mobile Network Architecture
Wireless characteristics
 Variant Connectivity
 Low bandwidth and reliability
 Frequent disconnections
• predictable or sudden
 Asymmetric Communication
 Broadcast medium
 Monetarily expensive
 Charges per connection or per message/packet
 Connectivity is weak, intermittent and expensive
Portable Information Devices
 PDAs, Personal Communicators
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Light, small and durable to be easily carried around
dumb terminals, palmtops, wristwatch PC/Phone,
will run on AA+ /Ni-Cd/Li-Ion batteries
may be diskless
 I/O devices: Mouse is out, Pen is in
 Wireless connection to information networks
 either infrared or cellular phone
 Specialized Hardware (for compression/encryption)
Portability Characteristics
 Battery power restrictions
 transmit/receive, disk spinning, display, CPUs, memory
consume power
 Battery lifetime will see very small increase
 need energy efficient hardware (CPUs, memory) and
system software
 planned disconnections - doze mode
 Power consumption vs. resource utilization
Portability Characteristics Cont.
 Resource constraints
 Mobile computers are resource poor
 Reduce program size – interpret script languages (Mobile
Java?)
 Computation and communication load cannot be distributed
equally
 Small screen sizes
Asymmetry between static and mobile computers
Mobility Characteristics
 Location changes
• location management - cost to locate is added to communication
 Heterogeneity in services
 bandwidth restrictions and variability
 Dynamic replication of data
• data and services follow users
 Querying data - location-based responses
 Security and authentication
 System configuration is no longer static
What Needs to be Reexamined?
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Operating systems - TinyOS
File systems - CODA
Data-based systems – TinyDB
Communication architecture and protocols
Hardware and architecture
Real-Time, multimedia, QoS
Security
Application requirements and design
PDA design: Interfaces, Languages
Mobility Constraints
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CPU
Power
Variable Bandwidth
Delay tolerance, but unreliable
Physical size
Constraints on peripherals and GUIs
Frequent Location changes
Security
Heterogeneity
Expensive
Frequent disconnections but predictable
Types of Wireless Communication
Celullar
Wireless computer network
Radio
service
Wireless Telecommunications Networks
 WWAN communication bandwidths
 1G
The first generation of wireless technology, which was analog based
 2G
The second generation of digital wireless technology; accommodates
voice and text
 2.5G
An interim wireless technology that can accommodate voice, text,
and limited graphics
Wireless Telecommunications Networks
 3G
The third generation of digital wireless technology;
supports rich media such as video
 3.5G
This generation was inserted into the ranks of cell phone
generations; it refers to the packet-switched technologies
used to achieve higher transmission speeds
 4G
The expected next generation of wireless technology that
will provide faster display of multimedia
Wireless Telecommunications Networks
 WWAN communication protocols
 Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
 Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
 WWAN network systems
 Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)
An open, nonproprietary standard for mobile voice and data
communications
Introduction Mobile computing
 Introduction: Mobile computing is computing that allows
continuous access to remote resources, even to small computing
devices such as laptops, palmtops and other handheld devices like
personal digital assistants (PDAs) and digital cell phones.
 Goal of Mobile Computing: “People and their machines should be
able to access information and communicate with each other easily
and securely, in any medium or combination of media – voice, data,
image, video, or multimedia – any time, anywhere, in a timely, costeffective way.”
Mobile computing Issues
 Basic issues of concern in physical mobility
 Weak connectivity
 Wireless connectivity
 Ubiquitous computing
 Mobile systems Technical issues for mobility
 Security
 Security infrastructure
 Reliability
 Naming and locating
Mobile computing
 Mobility of physical devices can be viewed at three different levels .
 Macro-mobility: This is mobility through a global network. While
moving in such a network, it should be possible to communicate without
breaking the existing access. mobile IP, which is the protocol that takes
care of macro-mobility.
 Micro-mobility: This is mobility of a device in one single
administrative domain of the global network. For cellular networks, this
is the lowest level of mobility. Cellular IP is the protocol designed to take
care of micro-mobility.
 Ad hoc mobility: This is mobility within a mobile ad hoc network
(MANET), caused by device mobility constantly changing the network
topology.
Mobile agents
 A mobile agent is a program that can move through a
network and autonomously execute tasks on behalf of the
users.
 Mobile agents are used to great advantage in applications
like e-commerce, software distribution, information
retrieval, system administration, network management, etc.
Context-aware computing
 A context-aware computing system is one which has user, device and
application interfaces which enable it to remain aware of various
parameters like its surroundings, circumstances or actions.
 The context of a mobile device represents the circumstances, situations,
applications or physical environment under which it is being used. For
example, the context is student when the device is used to download
faculty lectures.
 Context-aware computing leads to application-aware computing and
pervasive or ubiquitous computing.
Context-aware computing
 The five types of context-aware:
 Physical context- The context can be that of the physical environment.
 Computing context- Computing context is defined by interrelationships
and conditions of the network connectivity protocol in use
 User context- The user context is defined as user location, user profiles,
and persons near the user.
 Temporal context Temporal context defines the interrelation between
time and the occurrence of an event or action.
 Structural context- It defines a sequence and structure formed by the
elements or records.
Mobile computing Devices
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Personal digital assistant/enterprise digital assistant
Smartphone
Tablet computer
Ultra-Mobile PC
Wearable computer
Mobile computing Limitations
 Range & Bandwidth: Mobile Internet access is generally slower than direct
cable connections,
 Security standards: When working mobile, one is dependent on public
networks.
 Power consumption: rely entirely on battery power
 Transmission interferences: Weather, terrain, and the range from the
nearest signal point can all interfere with signal reception.
 Potential health hazards: more likely to be involved in traffic accidents.
 Human interface with device: Screens and keyboards tend to be small,
which may make them hard to use.
Nomadic, Mobile & Ubiquitous
No
Fixed
Network
Network
Nomadic
Fixed
Wireless
Network
Wireless
Network
(A)
Wireless
Network
(B)
Mobile Computing
Computing
Ubiquitous Computing
Ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) is a concept in software engineering and computer science where
computing is made to appear everywhere and anywhere.
What is Pervasive Computing?
 Pervasive computing is a term for the strongly emerging trend toward:
 Numerous, casually accessible, often invisible computing devices
 Frequently mobile or embedded in the environment
 Connected to an increasingly ubiquitous network structure.
Impressive Wireless Infrastructure!
Global
Satellite
Suburban
Urban
In-Building
Micro-Cell
Macro-Cell
Pico-Cell
dik ©
In-Room
(BlueTooth)
Mobile Applications
 Expected to create an entire new class of Applications
 new massive markets in conjunction with the Web
 Mobile Information Appliances - combining personal computing
and consumer electronics
 Applications:
 Vertical: vehicle dispatching, tracking, point of sale
 Horizontal: mail enabled applications, filtered information
provision, collaborative computing…
General examples Of Mobile
Computing Applications
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Vehicles
Emergencies
Traveling Salesman
Entertainment
Education
Location Dependent Services etc.
Dimensions of mobile computing
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Location Awareness
Network Connectivity Quality of Service
Limited device capabilities
Limited power supply
Support for a wide variety of UI
Platform proliferation
Active transaction
Mobile Development Frameworks
and Tools
 Fully Centralized
 Have custom-designed clients
 Embedded in nature
 Designed to do only one thing
 Examples: Call centers, Battlefield systems, Grocery store
 N-Tier Client-Server
 Any Number of Tiers – No Limits
 3-Tier: Client (User Agent), Application Server, Database
 Problems: Code portability, Mobility
 Needs: Layer of Software, Performance and system requirements
Client-server architecture
The N-Tier application (cont'd)
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3-tier application
The N-Tier application (cont'd)
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Multi-tier application
Selection of the Frameworks and
Tools
 Thin-Client Wireless Client-Server
Browser that loads markup code (Web-model)
Each platform have homogenous browser specification in a
client-server environment
No concern about environment
Server-side structure
WAP and WML are used
 Stand-alone Applications
 They do not need networking components
 Needs of synchronization with some
periodically
external
system
Selection of the Frameworks and
Tools
 Thick-Client Wireless Client-Server
 In the client side, there's a custom application that
communicate with the server
 Using the client as a means of storing data
for the offline business logic performs
 Does not need to be centralized
 Having thick clients is more difficult
 The platforms :
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Provide by OS or a VM's, ex: J2ME
Hardware manufacture, ex: Qualcomm Brew
Selection of the Frameworks and
Tools
Restricted resources: (Screen, Keyboard)
Deployment and provision problem
 Operating system or virtual machine
 Programming environment
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Examples:
Operating system (Windows CE, Symbian)
Virtual Machine J2ME
android-studio
Summary
• Mobile applications is a tremendous area of growth
• Business drivers such as M-Business are significant
• Mobile computing platforms have to handle special cases:
• Slow line speeds (19.2 Kbps)
• Congestions are usual
• More error prone
• Different types of wireless networks
•
Cellular
•
Wireless LANs
•
Satellites
• Many emerging areas: sensor networks, Mobile Adhoc Networks, Free Space Optics
• Many issues in Architectures, security and management
• Standards work is also progressing in many areas