The Wireless Application Protocol: Writing Applications for the Mobile Internet - Hardcover

Sandeep Singhal; Thomas Bridgman; Lalitha Suyranarayana; Daniel Manuey; Jim Chan; David Bevis; Stefan Hild; Jari Alvinen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0201703114 ISBN 13: 9780201703115

Publisher: Addison-Wesley, 2001

Synopsis

(Pearson Education) A guide to the mobile Internet, the technology that powers it, and how to write content and applications for it. A tutorial and reference for content and application developers and business strategists and service planners, setting the standard for WAP resources. DLC: Computer network protocols.

About this title

About the Author

Sandeep Singhal is CTO of ReefEdge, Inc.--a wireless applications and infrastructure company based in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He was formerly Chief Architect and a Senior Technical Staff Member for IBM's Pervasive Computing Division, where he was responsible for product design to support network connectivity from a broad range of sub-PC devices to Web servers and application infrastructure. He previously worked as a Research Staff Member in IBM's T. J. Watson Research Center and as a Software Engineer for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He is also an adjunct assistant professor on the graduate faculty at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Sandeep's interests include network protocol design for large-scale collaborative and real-time systems, object-oriented software engineering, and network computing for pervasive computing devices. His credits include dozens of publications, including Networked Virtual Environments (Addison-Wesley, 1999), and ten issued patents. He served for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on an advisory board defining a long-term networked virtual environment research agenda and participated in a National Research Council effort to link military and entertainment applications of simulation technology. Sandeep also played a key role in defining and implementing the Defense Department's High Level Architecture (HLA) for distributed simulation.

Sandeep has participated in the WAP Forum since February of 1998. He currently chairs the User Agent Profile drafting committee and the Architectural Consistency Group at the WAP Forum. He is a member of the W3C Mobile Access Interest Group and is actively working toward converging WAP technologies with the larger Web.

Sandeep holds M.S. and Ph.D degrees in computer science from Stanford University, as well as B.S. degrees in computer science and in mathematical sciences and a B.A. in mathematics from Johns Hopkins University.

Tom Bridgman is a software engineer in IBM's Research Division, located in Yorktown Heights, New York. He joined IBM in 1989, working on network-based managed client environments for OS/2 and Windows. Since 1997, he has concentrated on development for pervasive computing devices, and he was one of the principal designers for the first release of Lotus Wireless Domino Access (now Mobile Services for Domino)--IBM's first product supporting HDML smart phones. Tom has been an IBM representative to the WAP Forum since February 1999, concentrating on the Wireless Application Environment Subgroup of the Wireless Applications Group. He has recently assumed editorship of the WML 1.x specification.

Lalitha Suryanarayana is a Senior Member of Technical Staff at Austin, Texas based SBC Technology Resources (TRI), the applied research arm of the SBC Communications family of companies. She is responsible for developing new services architecture strategy for wireless and other emerging data technologies. She has been with SBC TRI since 1997 and was formerly a Member of Technical Staff in NYNEX (now Bell Atlantic) Science and Technology in White Plains, NY.

With nine years in telecommunications research and development, Lalitha has had extensive experience in developing services in the voice and data worlds. She led the implementation of NYNEX's CallAbility Feature AccessSM. She has participated in the design of Southwestern Bell's first AIN mass-market service, Outgoing Call ControlSM, and more recently, in the architecture for Online OfficeSM. Lalitha's research interests include defining network and device agnostic architectures for interactive and collaborative data applications.

Lalitha has participated in the WAP Forum since October of 1998. She is currently serving on the WAP-W3C Coordination Committee, representing the WAP Forum in coordination activities associated with the convergence of mobile Internet with the larger Web. In addition, she is on the Drafting Committee for WAP User Agent Profile where she has been responsible for authoring the schema and vocabulary specifications for UAProf. She also participates in CC/PP standardization efforts within the World Wide Web Consortium.

Lalitha holds a M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic University, New York and is currently working towards an MBA at the University of Texas, Austin.

Daniel Mauney has designed wireless software and hardware user interfaces for more than six years. Currently, he is the Director of the Human Factors Engineering Group at Mobileum, Inc., a leading provider of solutions designed to power the global wireless e-commerce market. Dan is responsible for defining and designing the user interface for wireless Internet sites, and he participates in the WAP Forum.

Formerly, Dan was a senior member of technical staff in the Human Factors Engineering group at SBC Technology Resources, the applied research and development arm of SBC. He was responsible for defining, designing, and evaluating the user interface of WAP applications offered by the SBC Communications family of companies (including Southwestern Bell Wireless, Pacific Bell Wireless, Ameritech, and Cellular One). Prior to SBC, Dan was with Jabra Corporation, a small company that makes hands-free communications devices.

Dan holds a Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering with an emphasis in human factors from Virginia Tech. He has published numerous papers and has been granted five patents, with two additional patents pending.

Jari Alvinen is a Senior Specialist for Nokia Mobile Phones based in Tampere, Finland. He is responsible of standardization activities in the Wireless Application Protocol Forum and other WAP-related technologies. Jari has been with Nokia since 1999 and was formerly Manager of technology research and architecture in TeamWARE, Wireless Solutions.

He has been working with mobile applications since 1994 and has participated in the WAP Forum since February of 1998. He currently chairs the WAP Push drafting committee at the WAP Forum and is a member of the WAP Specification Committee.

Jari holds B.Sc. degree in computer science from Espoo-Vantaa Institute of Technology, as well as B.Sc. degree in telecommunications from Rïhäki Institute of Technology, Finland.

Dave Bevis is an architect for IBM's Pervasive Computing division based in Hursley, England. He is responsible for mobile data communications system design.

He has worked in the mobile communications arena for more than 10 years, in development of both hardware and software, and more recently as a consultant. Dave qualified in telecommunications and radio and line transmission while working for the Marconi Company in England and subsequently worked for IBM in both Germany and the United States.

Dave has been a telecommunications representative for IBM on several mobile computing forums, such as the European Community ACTS projects on mobility and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) working on Applications for Trans European Trunked Radio Association (TETRA). He currently serves as secretary for the WAP Forum's Wireless Application Group (WAG) and as editor of the WBXML specification. Previously, he represented IBM on the WAP Forum's Board of Drectors.

Jim Chan is the director of wireless network technologies at Mobileum, Inc. He contributes to the WAP Forum's WTA and WAP NG working groups, and the Location-Based Services Drafting Committee. Prior to this position, Jim was a senior member of technical staff of the Wireless Systems Division at SBC's Technology Resources, Inc. His projects included Wireless Telephony Applications (WTA), emergency and location-based services (LBS), wireless number portability, wireless communications for law enforcement, and speech recognition for wireless applications. From 1990 to 1997, Jim was with BellSouth's Science and Technology group where he worked on specification and development of Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) services. His background includes working on several telecommunications and data communications start-up projects.

He received his MSEE from Georgia Tech and is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) and Certified Computing Professional. He has been granted three patents and has one patent pending.

Stefan Hild has been involved with mobile communications research and development since 1992, working in IBM laboratories at Heidelberg (Germany), Hursley (UK), and Zurich (Switzerland). He holds doctorate and undergraduate degrees in computer science from the University of Cambridge, England and the University of London, respectively. Stefan has presented at a number of conferences and published articles in journals and trade magazines. He is a member of the IEEE and a Fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Most recently, Stefan and his colleagues at IBM Zurich Research have been involved with the on-going standardization of the Wireless Application Protocol and have made contributions in the area of WAP security and WAP prototyping.

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From the Back Cover

"This book is an example of a unique partnership of motivated, technical teammates and would-be competitors coming together to develop a real 'how to' book on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). . . . The authors are all actively working in the wireless and Internet industry, on the 'front line,' helping to develop and deliver services to customers using a new wireless Internet standard. . . . They have produced a WAP reference that will become required reading for anyone planning to create applications, author content, or deliver or deploy services to wireless devices."
--From the Foreword by Gregory G. Williams, Chairman of the WAP Forum The mobile Internet builds on a radical shift in the way we work, play, and communicate, extending traditional Internet and Web services to wireless devices such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). This book is about the mobile Internet, the technology that powers it, and how to write content and applications for this new environment. It is both a tutorial and a reference for two major audiences: content and application developers who need clear, technical details to guide their work, and business strategists and service planners who need to understand what drives the mobile Internet and where it is heading. Covering WAP 1.2, this book sets the standard for WAP resources.

* Part One introduces the mobile Internet and describes how it is shaping new business models, partnerships, and competition.
* Part Two introduces WAP, the mobile Internet standard defined to address user interface and network challenges peculiar to mobile devices.
* Part Three shows how to apply WAP standards to implement mobile content and services and includes coverage of the Wireless Markup Language (WML), the Wireless Binary Extensible Markup Language (WBXML), and the WMLScript language. It also includes an extensive discussion of how to ensure usability for applications running in the restricted mobile Internet enviroment.
* Part Four explains how to build and deploy advanced, sophisticated WAP services, with coverage of WAP User Agent Profiles, capabilities for push messaging, and the Wireless Telephony Application (WTA) environment for bridging data and voice environments.
* Part Five concludes the book by discussing the future of the mobile Internet and WAP's role in it.
The authors work for companies around the world that are participating in different aspects of the mobile Internet--including handsets, infrastructure, content, and services. The authors are all active WAP Forum participants and leaders. In this book, they bring together their expert knowledge and experience along with a worldwide perspective.

From the Inside Flap

The past few years have witnessed a radical shift in the way we work, play, and communicate. Today, the Internet and the World Wide Web allow people to exchange messages at the speed of light and access information from any source around the globe. These services are always on, always available, and easy to use. They are also affordable, requiring only a simple browser, desktop personal computer, and modem. The power of these services and their global reach are enriching people's personal lives and reducing costs for businesses.

At the same time, people around the world have jumped to wireless communications at a frenzied pace. Today, cellular telephones are critical companions for active consumers and mobile professionals. In fact, many people have abandoned their wireline telephones altogether, drawn in by the lower costs and greater convenience afforded by wireless handsets. In many parts of the world that do not have sufficient terrestrial telephone service, cellular infrastructure represents an inexpensive, easy-to-deploy alternative to the traditional telephony infrastructure. In some countries, as much as 70 percent of the population now uses cellular phones.

These two trends-the expansion of the Internet's reach and the burgeoning of mobile communications-are now converging. Enter the mobile Internet. The mobile Internet extends the traditional Internet to wireless devices such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and even automobiles. It brings information and services to users' fingertips when and where they need it, anytime, anywhere.

The mobile Internet involves more than simply accessing existing Web pages, however. Mobile users want personalized services that match their individual preferences and needs. They are demanding greater ease of use and immediate results. In this market, services should be tailored to suit the user's current physical location. In addition, services geared toward the mobile environment can push critical information such as news and stock price alerts asynchronously to the user. These new types of Web clients offer the pportunity to integrate Internet access with traditional telephony operations. In summary, the mobile Internet combines data and voice, information and communication, and global reach and personalization.

The realization of the mobile Internet relies on a new set of standards, known as the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). WAP extends the Internet by addressing the unique requirements of the wireless network environment and the unique characteristics of small handheld devices. This exciting technology enables efficient access to information, applications, and services from a wide range of mobile devices. It also facilitates the interaction between browsing and telephony services, and it defines how to deliver pushed content. The WAP standard provides the necessary network protocols, content types, and run-time application environments to deliver a broad set of new and existing services to consumers and professionals alike.

WAP is an enabling technology that is heralding a revolution in the way we think about building and deploying Internet services. Some analysts predict that Internet traffic from mobile devices will outpace traffic from traditional desktop systems within a few years. Consequently, developers need to keep the mobile environment in mind when they are building and deploying Web site content. A failure to do so could eventually translate into the loss of a significant percentage of available traffic. Conversely, exploitation of the mobile Internet as enabled by WAP creates opportunities to reach new customers, provide more personalized service, and sell new applications.

Organization of This Book

WAP--The Wireless Application Protocol: Writing Applications for the Mobile Internet focuses on the mobile Internet, the technology that powers it, and strategies for writing content and applications for this new environment. It is divided into five parts, plus appendices:

Part I introduces the mobile Internet. It discusses how the mobile Internet is emerging at the nexus of the traditional World Wide Web and wireless communications. The mobile Internet is driving new business models, partnerships, and competition. In this environment, providers are seeking to expand their existing Internet content and applications, as well as to deploy new services that take advantage of handheld devices' unique capabilities.

Part II introduces WAP, the mobile Internet standard. The wireless environment brings with it several unique challenges that make traditional Internet Web browsing impractical from mobile devices. The WAP standard was defined to address these user interface and network challenges. This suite of protocols defines a complete mobile Internet platform, along with the mechanisms needed to bridge the gap between the mobile environment and the wired Internet.

Part III discusses how the WAP standards can be applied to implement mobile Internet content and services. The Wireless Markup Language (WML) is a content format that is attuned to devices having small screens and limited user input capabilities. The Wireless Binary eXtensible Markup Language (WBXML) enables the delivery of arbitrary data over low-capacity networks. The WMLScript language provides a rich execution environment for client-side application logic. The mobile Internet introduces its own set of usability requirements, many of them arising from its non-Internet-savvy user population. Hence, the creation of mobile applications requires that the developer follow a rigorous usability design process.

Part IV describes how to build and deploy advanced sophisticated WAP services. WAP User Agent Profiles (UAProf) allow application developers to customize their content to match the unique capabilities of the individual devices targeted. WAP provides sophisticated capabilities for push messaging. The Wireless Telephony Application (WTA) offers capabilities that bridge the gap between the data and voice environments. In the end, the holy grail is the deployment of integrated, reliable, and secure Web applications that can serve existing desktop, emerging mobile, and future clients; accomplishing this goal requires the cooperation of many business entities.

Part V peers into the future of the mobile Internet, commenting on WAP's role in its evolution.

The appendices include information describing how to obtain the freely available WAP development environments, as well as reference guides to WML, WMLScript, and WAP User Agent Profiles.

The companion Web site includes a full WAP simulation environment, including a browser, along with all of the code examples from the book and some additional example applications.

Who Should Read This Book?

WAP--The Wireless Application Protocol: Writing Applications for the Mobile Internet examines both the business and the technology of the mobile Internet. It can serve both as a tutorial and as a reference for several audiences:

Business strategists and service planners: The book describes the market forces that are driving the creation of the mobile Internet, as well as the ways in which the mobile Internet is shaping business models, partnerships, and competition. Parts I, II, and V should be of particular interest to these readers.

Content and application developers: The book discusses application development in detail. Parts II and III form the heart of this material. Part I provides background information, and part IV describes strategies for taking advantage of WAP's more advanced features. The appendices are useful references, and the CD-ROM contains the software needed to get started writing mobile Internet content.

University students and researchers: The book highlights the unique qualities of the mobile environment, including networking, information design, and usability issues. It not only teaches readers about the mobile Internet, but also explains how the traditional Internet infrastructure can be adapted and extended in unforeseen ways. Parts II, III, and IV provide the most important lessons.

The reader is expected to have a basic familiarity with the World Wide Web, including the notion of Web browsers, servers, and proxies. A basic knowledge of TCP/IP, the Internet protocol stack, HTML, and XML will contribute to understanding the motivations behind various aspects of the WAP standards.

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Edition details

• Publisher: Addison-Wesley
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0201703114
• ISBN 13: 9780201703115
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 678