Purpose of Wireless Technology Read the three articles below: Hassan, A. (2005).

Question

Purpose of Wireless Technology Read the three articles below: Hassan, A. (2005). IEEE 802.11 Technologies Day, B. (2001), Developing Wireless Applications using the Javaä 2 Platform, Micro Edition, retrieved from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/wirelessdev-159014.pdf Sun Mobile Device Technology - Introduction to Mobility Java Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/getstart-155582.html When you click on these links, you will be sent to the home page for the Learning section of the Java Wireless Development website supported by Sun Microsystems. The home page consists of a great deal of overview content and links to other sources of information. Be sure to visit all the links and make sure you know where things are located for future reference. Pay particular attention to the material on J2ME and the relationship between J2ME and other Java Platforms. (Note that there are links to the two articles above contained in this webpage. There are also links to the tutorials that you will be working on in the Session Long Project.) Case Assignment After reading the articles and scanning the overview material: Write a 3- to 5-page paper on how the wireless technology initiatives will change the way in which global voice, email, data exchange and message will be impacted in the years ahead -- be sure to cite relevant support for your arguments from your readings.

Explanation / Answer

What is Wireless Communications?

Wireless communications is a huge field, encompassing everything from radio and television broadcasting through pagers, mobile phones, and satellite communications. The field of mobile phones is expanding very fast at the same time that standards and protocols are being adopted, used, updated, and sometimes discarded. The other rapidly expanding part of the wireless world is that of wireless local area networks (LANs). Driven by widespread acceptance of the IEEE 802.11 standard, wireless local networking for computers and other devices is spreading rapidly.

Although wireless may seem like a special case, it is actually more intuitive and more natural than wired networking. Some day soon the need to plug a laptop into a network physically will seem quaint and antiquated. The notion that you could walk into a room with your cell phone and have it unable to interact with other devices in the room will seem unbelievably primitive. The future will reveal that wired networks are the special case.

Conceptually, wireless communications can be split into two types, local and wide area. A local device is similar to a key fob with a button that unlocks a car, a 900 MHz cordless phone, a radio control toy, or a Bluetooth network. All of these devices operate over short distances, typically just a few meters.

Wide area wireless devices operate effectively over a much greater area. A pager or mobile phone is a good example; you can talk on your mobile phone to any other phone on the planet. These devices' greater range relies on a trick, however: a more elaborate land-based network. A mobile phone doesn't have that much more radio power than a radio control toy. What it does have is a network of carefully placed radio antennas (cell towers); the phone can continue to operate as long as it is within range of at least one tower. The mobile phone device receives service from a wireless carrier, a company that operates the land-based network.

The Scope of Wireless Java Technology

Wireless Java technology is the intersection of two vast worlds, wireless data communications and the Java platform. Wireless Java technology spans parts of Java Card, Java ME, Java SE, and Java EE. That said, some common misconceptions about wireless Java technology need clearing up:

Java™ technology has come a long way. Originally conceived for digital TV

development, it moved onto our desktops and Webtops, then into our servers, and

now, coming full circle, back into devices. Java technology will be nowhere more

prevalent in the coming months and years than in the small wireless gadgets we all

carry in our pockets and wear on our belts, our ever present companions, our mobile

phones, PDAs, and handhelds.

Why Use the Java Platform for Wireless Development?

The Java platform is an excellent choice for wireless development for many reasons. Here are three compelling advantages:

Wireless technology change the way in which

Sharing information and technical exchanges could reduce the amount of time it takes to launch a solution and reduce the associated costs. Smaller organizations, in particular, continue to exercise a great deal of trial and error when it comes to utilizing mobile technology in their work.

We have seen in the health field that mobile technology is facilitating data collection; yet health providers and local and national governments are now facing the need to create back-end systems capable of aggregating and analyzing a wealth of new data. System are complex and multi-faceted and interventions in one area may require investments in others. In some cases, advances made possible through mobile technology demand more sophisticated back-end systems.

There are so many wireless devices of java technology which are using:

Wireless Embedded Devices for Consumers

Microprocessor-based consumer products such as alarm clocks, coffee machines, televisions, air conditioners, and phones are referred to as embedded devices because the small computers inside them have a very focused operation. While a personal computer can run a wide-range of applications for various purposes, an embedded device runs a very focused set of applications. For example, a cell phone would run only cell phone applications and a personal organizer would run only calendar and date book applications. However, a personal computer can run calendar, date book, fax, scanning, word processing, and spreadsheet applications—to name only a few.

Consumer and embedded devices that are not wired to the wall, but instead use a wireless technology to communicate are wireless. Wireless devices can be so small you can carry them around in your hand, pocket, or purse, or considerably larger so they operate from one location in your home, office, or automobile.

This article presents an overview of Java technologies under development by Sun Microsystems that device manufacturers can port to wireless devices. Applications developers can use the APIs that are part of these technologies to develop wireless applications on their personal computer or workstation. The application runs on any target device that supports a compatible implementation.

iPlanet Technologies

Businesses and service providers such as wireless carriers or cable providers that allow consumers to download new services might also be interested in the iPlanet products. In the wireless space, the iPlanet Wireless Server lets consumers access email, calendar, and address book information from virtually any device they choose to use. This means the consumer can access these services from home using their personal computer or workstation, and later in the day, access these same services and information from their digital wireless device. The information is consistent and reliable because it comes from the same place: a single email, calendar, and address book storage location.

Java Card Technology

A smart card is a credit card sized plastic card with an integrated circuit (IC) inside. The IC contains a microprocessor and memory so the smart card can process and store information. The Java Card platform gives smart card developers the abilityto standardize on a common card platform. This means, for example, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) wireless phone operator can easily develop new services that can be selectively downloaded over the air onto the smart card residing on the phone.

Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) Technology

The primary platform targeting the wireless market is Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME). J2ME consists of the Java virtual machine 1 specification and API specifications. The API specifications are based on Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE), but modified to meet the unique requirements of each product. In other words, J2ME defines an appropriate set of class libraries and virtual machine technology for a particular class of product.

The Market for Wireless Services

The market for wireless applications and services is huge. This market can be divided into two segments:

The J2ME virtual machine and API specifications for specific device platforms are developed by soliciting input on requirements through the Java Community Process initiative to make certain the specifications meet the unique needs within a given family or category of consumer devices. For example, hand-held wireless devices have a much smaller footprint in terms of memory, storage, and user interface capabilities than larger non-mobile wireless devices.

Once a Java Specification Request (JSR) is accepted through the Community Process initiative, the JSR lead, which can be Sun Microsystems or another company, creates a Java virtual machine and API reference implementation for a particular J2ME platform. Over time, this will result in a number of J2ME Java virtual machine and API implementations with each implementation targeted to a particular device.

Wireless Messaging API

The purpose of the Wireless Messaging API (WMA) optional package is to provide APIs for standard access to wireless communication resources, and thus enable developers to build intelligent network-connected Java applications. The wireless communication technologies addressed by this package are:

The Wireless Messaging API is based on the Generic Connection Framework defined in CLDC 1.0 -- a framework that supports input/output and networking functionality in J2ME profiles such as MIDP.

Mobile 3D Graphics API for J2ME

The aim of the Mobile 3D Graphics API is to define a lightweight interactive 3D API for use on J2ME-enabled devices. The API will be generic enough to be used for games, animated messages, screen savers, customer user interface, and product visualization.

Event Tracking API for J2ME

The objective of the Event Tracking API is to define an optional package that standardizes the tracking of application events on a mobile device and the submission of event records to an event-tracking server using a standard protocol (such as HTTP or HTTPS in MIDP2.0). The events will be used for purposes such as billing, usage tracking, application revocation, update notification, reviews, and ratings.

The security issue raised by this JSR is how to authenticate the specific application, device, and user so that the server is able to validate the source of the event. The expert group for this JSR plans to take advantage of the security model of the underlying environment. The final release of this specification is expected to be in Spring 2003.

Hence we can say that

J2ME technology has been very successful in the wireless industry. J2ME-enabled devices are already available from Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson, and others. This article provided an overview of complementary efforts that are currently under way to enhance the functionality of CLDC/MIDP devices. CLDC 1.1 and MIDP 2.0 will soon make their way into devices. MIDP 2.0 provides lots of interesting features that enable you to develop feature-rich end-to-end secure wireless Java applications. In addition, while all of the JSRs described above are interesting, I believe that the ones that will soon make their way into actual devices are the Mobile Media API (JSR 135) and the Wireless Messaging AP

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