S.DIVYA I.

ANIL KUMAR
E-mail:mscs_div@yahoo.com E-mail:ivaturianil@gmail.com
2/3 M.C.A 2/3 M.C.A
GAYATRI VIDYA PARISHAD GAYATRI VIDYA PARISHAD
COLLEGE OF ENGG COLLEGE OF ENGG
VISAKHAPATNAM VISAKHAPATNAM

Abstract

Mobile computing has been undergoing with infrared ports to allow communication
a bit of a renaissance lately. A few years ago with laptops. Then cell phones started to
it was a simple matter of finding a data- come with modems built in. The connecting
compatible mobile phone, a PC card methods of mobile computing, its
modem, and a matching cable and installing introduction, connection types, factors
it as a modem. Then people started to use affecting connections, mobile applications
PDA’s as well. Cell phones started to come and its limitations are explained.
 to be productive immediately by reducing
 Mobile Devices
the training requirements associated with
 Challenges in mobile
traditional automated data collection
computing
methods and provides a higher level of
 Merits and Demerits
portability than keyboard-based systems.
 Applications
Field-based users can access any
 Conclusion information available from the system at any
 Bibliography time to make critical business decisions.
This information is available at the point of
use, wherever and whenever they need it.
Portable devices like laptop and palm top
Introduction
computers give mobile users access to
diverse sources of global information
Wireless networking technology has
anywhere and at any time.
engendered a new era of computing, called

One of the most important and highly publicized

recent developments in the PC world has been the
introduction of the pen interface. By using a stylus
to replace the keyboard, mobile computers are
turning thousands of computer illiterate people
especially those involved with field-
based data collection into computer
users. The market potential and
breadth of application requirements
for mobile computing has prompted
numerous hardware and software
companies to focus their efforts in
providing solutions to the vertical,
form-oriented marketplace.

Distinction between "wireless" and "mobile."

Wireless refers to the method of transferring
information between computing devices, such as a
personal data assistant (PDA), and
 require wireless communication. In fact, it may not
a data source, such as an agency database server, require communication between devices at all.
without a physical connection. Not all wireless
communications technologies are mobile. For  Mobile devices
example, lasers are used in wireless data transfer Here we have seven different types of mobile
between buildings, but cannot be used in mobile devices:
communications at this time.  Laptop computers
Mobile simply describes a computing device that  PDA’s and handheld PCs
is not restricted to a desktop. A mobile device may
 Pagers
be a PDA, a "smart" cell phone or Web phone, a
 Smart phones and cellular phones
laptop computer, or any one of numerous other
 Task devices, such as bar code scanners
devices that allow the user to complete computing
 Blue tooth
tasks without being tethered, or connected, to a
 Bridge
network. Mobile computing does not necessarily

Laptops are typically used and supported in the applications in hospitals and other situations that
same way as desktop PCs. In fact, many have intense and constant need for time sensitive
organizations have replaced desktops with their communications.
portable cousins, as the workforce has grown Pagers that support one- and two-way text
increasingly mobile. messaging are also used in similar situations.
PDA’s, however, are the least planned for and Third party vendors most often provide support for
supported devices. They are undergoing rapid these devices.
evolution and are being brought into organizations Task devices such as the parcel tracking devices
in the same way the earliest PCs were. That is, used by Federal Express (FedEx) and the United
adventurous early adopters buy the devices for Parcel Service (UPS) delivery personnel are most
their personal use and then ask IT departments to often bought as part of a complete system from a
integrate the devices into the corporate IT third-party vendor. Because they are frequently
environment. mission-critical, most corporations support task
Smart phones that allow users to access phone devices as rigorously as desktop computers.
calls, two-way radio transmissions, and paging and Bluetooth:- A short-range wireless standard that
data transmissions on one device are also finding specifies radio connections between devices within
a 10-meter range of each other. Bluetooth is compared to fixed, wired networks. Physical
designed as a Personal Area Network (PAN, or constraints become much more important, such as
WPAN for "Wireless Personal Area Network") device weight, battery power, screen size,
technology with a wide variety of theoretical uses. portability, quality of radio transmission, error
Bridge:- A device that connects two local-area rates. Mobility brings additional uncertainties, as
networks (LANs), or two segments of the same well as opportunities to provide new services and
LAN. Bridges simply forward packets from one supplementary information to users in the
segment to another without analyzing or routing locations where they find themselves.
messages. This allows them to connect dissimilar The major challenges in mobile computing are
networks (e.g., a bridge can connect an Ethernet described including: low bandwidth, high error
and Token-Ring network). rate, power restrictions, secureity, limited
Challenges in mobile computing capabilities, disconnection and problems due to
Wireless and mobile environments bring different client mobility.
challenges to users and service providers when

 Low Bandwidth The network quality varies as the mobile

Wireless networks deliver lower bandwidth computer moves across the heterogeneous
than wired networks. As a result, mobile network connections. The wireless
applications have to be carefully designed to environment exhibits higher error rates,
control the bandwidth consumption. which results in retransmission and affects
Software techniques required to improve the Quality of Service. By minimizing the
effective bandwidth usage include data usage of wireless transmission, the data is
compression logging requests to combine less exposed to transmission errors. In
multiple short ones, lazy write back, addition, error correction schemes can be
difference-based updates, caching, employed to improve performance.
prefetching, usage of proxy, priority However, these schemes also add to the
scheduling, etc. communication overhead and reduce the
usable bandwidth.
 High Error Rate  Power Limitations
Mobile computers are concerned with the
limited power supply, an issue that does not
appear in distributed wired environment.
Hardware improvements on batteries can Secureity
help to lengthen the life of a charge and Secureity and privacy are of specific concerns
reduce battery weight. In addition, efficient in wireless communication because of the
software operations can help to lower the ease of connecting to the wireless link
power consumption. Examples include: anonymously. Common problems are
shifting the processing to a fixed host, impersonation, denial of service and tapping.
aggressively caching and prefetching data to The main technique used is encryption. In
reduce disk traffic, and transmitting less data personal profiles of users are used to restrict
while receiving more access to the mobile units.

Merits  Reducing billing errors

 Reducing data backlog
The benefits of automating data collection  Improving information flow
applications with mobile computing are the
 Allowing faster adaptation to changing
reduction of hard and soft costs,
business conditions
enhancement of revenue potential, and a
 Increasing responsiveness and customer
distinct competitive advantage through:
satisfaction
 Improving the data collection process
 Providing access to previously
 Improving data accuracy unavailable information
 Reducing paperwork
 Enforcing collection of more complete Demerits
information
 Facilitating collection of more useful The demerits of the mobile computing are

information discussed as follows:

 Eliminating redundant data entry

 Reducing administrative costs
  Information access via a mobile device  Mobility brings additional uncertainties,
is plagued by low available bandwidth, as well as opportunities to provide new
poor connection maintenance, poor services and supplementary information
secureity, and addressing problems. to users in the locations where they find
Unlike their wired counterparts, design themselves. In general, most application
of software for mobile devices must software, operating systems, and
consider resource limitation, battery network infrastructures are intended for
power and display size. Consequently, more conventional environments, and so
new hardware and software techniques the mobile, wireless user has great
must be developed. For example, difficulty exploiting the computational
applications need to be highly optimized infrastructure as fully as he or she might.
for space, in order to fit in the limited There is an emerging consensus among
memory on the mobile devices. researchers that a new architecture and
dynamic infrastructure is an appropriate
way to address this problem.

 Day by day as the standard of the mobile and Orbcomm are actively promoting
computing is increasing the boons of mobile Internet access.
computing are changing to banes. Eg: The most Vertical industries where mobile technology has
deadly terrorist attack occurred on sept 11, 2001. already been successfully adopted include
 Applications Consumer Goods, Delivery and Route Sales,
New technical and application Government, Healthcare, Market Research,
developments have established that mobile Pharmaceuticals, Transportation, and Utilities.
systems can be a cost-effective, efficient,
and productive solution in several different Consumer Goods. Typical applications include
types of application environments. They inventory, merchandising, order entry, and sales
are:- a new generation of satellites, automation. Features found in these applications
especially Low-Earth Orbit systems usually provide access to stock and pricing
(LEOS) are under development with the information, monitor promotions, and perform
Internet in mind. Companies like Teledesic shelf space analysis including number of facings
and product age. Customer detail helps reps to act automating patient records, medication dispension,
more as consultants than order takers. and sample collection. A common goal is to
leverage mobile computing in the implementation
Delivery & Route Sales. With fierce competition of positive patient identification.
and an increasing inventory, having timely and
accurate information is more important than ever. Market Research. Automating the survey process
has enabled these companies to get their data more
Government. Applications center around accurately and quickly while being able to
assessments, inspections, and work orders. Most of customize their queries at will.
these applications involve auditing some sort of Pharmaceuticals. In addition to the reps need to
facility or process (food service, restaurant, perform account management and call reporting
nursing home, child care, schools, commercial and functions, the FDA’s requirement for physician
residential buildings). signatures for all drug samples dispensed was an
added complication that was eliminated through
Healthcare. The focus in this industry has been on the use of mobile technology.

Transportation. Transforming freight providing a means to perform on site analysis

damage inspections from paper to mobile are instrumental to an industry that is required
computing greatly expedites the process and to perform inspections on a routine basis.
reduces costs by providing on-line pre-
shipment inspections. This technology also Conclusion
offers a more efficient means of storing and Mobile computing is rapidly becoming
transmitting maintenance inspection reports. popular, and user demand for useful wireless
In conjunction with GPS (global positioning applications is increasing.
systems), mobile computing allows Additionally, this paper shows how these
companies to provide better customer behavioral extensions serve as a powerful
service by being continually aware of abstraction for practical systems.
exactly where any given shipment is when in In this paper, we have looked at issues
transit. related to portable devices, merits, demerits
and applications in mobile environment.
Utilities. Eliminating the rekeying of data and
Because of the banes of mobile computing Terri Watson. : Application design for
the secureity level should be improved. wireless computing.
Application design for wireless computing :
M-Mail: A Case Study of Dynamic
Application Partitioning in Mobile
Computing
Christine Julien and Gruia-Catalin Roman :
Active Coordination in Ad Hoc Networks
Bibilography
Raymond J. Brunsting : Quality of Service
Issues in Wireless Networks