MOBILE COMPUTING
Hatim Mazhar Husain Nagarwala
Department of Computer Science, Vishwabharati Academy’s College of Engineering,
ABSTRACT
The Paper Contains the knowledge about
the Mobile Computing which includes its
Definition its use and the common
information about its technologies. Next it
Summarizes the GSM technology and its
technical Specifications & the required
knowledge about the GSM technology. It
Moreover contains the Applications of
Mobile computing in general and also the
Future of Mobile computing.
INTRODUCTION
Mobile voice communication is widely
established throughout the world and has
had a very rapid increase in the number of
subscribers to the various cellular
networks over the last few years. An
extension of this technology is the ability
to send and receive data across these
cellular networks. This is the principle of
mobile computing.
Mobile computing is a generic describing
one’s ability to use technology while
moving, as opposed to portable computers,
which are only practical for use while
deployed in a stationary configuration.
Mobile data communication has become a
very important and rapidly evolving
technology as it allows users to transmit
data from remote locations to other remote
or fixed locations. This proves to be the
solution to the biggest problem of business
people on the move - mobility.
TAXONOMY
Mobile telephony took off with the
introduction of cellular technology which
allowed the efficient utilization of
frequencies enabling the connection of a
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large number of users. During the 1980's
analogue technology was used. Among the
most well known systems were the
NMT900 and 450 (Nordic Mobile
Telephone) and the AMPS (Advanced
Mobile Phone Service). In the 1990's the
digital cellular technology was introduced
with GSM (Global System Mobile) being
the most widely accepted system around
the world. Other such systems are the
DCS1800 (Digital Communication
System) and the PCS1900 (Personal
Communication System).
A cellular network consists of mobile units
linked together to switching equipment,
which interconnect the different parts of
the network and allow access to the fixed
Public Switched Telephone Network
(PSTN). The technology is hidden from
view; it's incorporated in a number of
transceivers called Base Stations (BS).
Every BS is located at a strategically
selected place and covers a given area or
cell, hence the name cellular
communications. A number of adjacent
cells grouped together form an area and
the corresponding BSs communicate
through a so called Mobile Switching
Centre (MSC). The MSC is the heart of a
cellular radio system. It is responsible for
routing, or switching, calls from the
originator to the destinator. It can be
thought of managing the cell, being
responsible for set-up, routing control and
termination of the call, for management of
inter-MSC hand over and supplementary
services, and for collecting charging and
accounting information. The MSC may be
connected to other MSCs on the same
network or to the PSTN.
The frequencies used vary according to the
cellular network technology implemented.

For GSM, 890 - 915 MHz range is used
for transmission and 935 -960 MHz for
reception. The DCS technology uses
frequencies in the 1800MHz range while
PCS in the 1900MHz range.
Each cell has a number of channels
associated with it. These are assigned to
subscribers on demand. When a Mobile
Station (MS) becomes 'active' it registers
with the nearest BS. The corresponding
MSC stores the information about that MS
and its position. This information is used
to direct incoming calls to the MS.
If during a call the MS moves to an
adjacent cell then a change of frequency
will necessarily occur - since adjacent cells
never use the same channels. This
procedure is called hand over and is the
key to Mobile communications. As the MS
is approaching the edge of a cell, the BS
monitors the decrease in signal power. The
strength of the signal is compared with
adjacent cells and the call is handed over
to the cell with the strongest signal.
During the switch, the line is lost for about
400ms. When the MS is going from one
area to another it registers itself to the new
MSC. Its location information is updated,
thus allowing MSs to be used outside their
'home' areas.
GSM TECHNOLOGIES
GSM communications is the most popular
standard for mobile phone in the world. Its
Promoter, the GSM Association, estimates
that 80% of the global mobile market uses
the standard. GSM differs from its
predecessors in that both signaling and
speech channels are digital, and thus is
considered a second generation (2G)
mobile phone system.
In 1982, the European Conference of
Postal and Telecommunications
administrations(CEPT) created the Groupe
Special Mobile (GSM) to develop a
standard for a mobile telephone system
that could be used across Europe. In 1989,
GSM responsibility was transferred to the
Europeans Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI). By the End of 1993 over
a million subscribers and GSM phone
network was being operated by 70 carriers
across 48 countries.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF
GSM NETWORK
GSM is a cellular Network, which means
that mobile phones connect it by searching
for cells in the immediate vicinity.
There are five different cell sizes in GSM
network, macro, micro, pico, femto and
umbrella cells. The coverage area of each
cell varies according to the implementation
environment. Macro cells can be regarded
as cells where the base station antenna is
installed on a mast or a building above
average roof top level. Micro cells are
cells whose antenna height is under
average roof top level; they are typically
used in urban areas. Picocells are small
cells whose coverage diameter is a few
dozen meters; they are mainly used
indoors. Femtocells are cells designed for
use in residential or small business
environments and connect to the service
provider’s network via a broadband
internet connection. Umbrella cells are
used to cover shadowed regions of smaller
cells and fill in gaps in coverage between
those cells.
Cell horizontal radius varies depending on
antenna height, antenna gain and
propagation conditions from a couple of
hundred meters to several tens of
kilometres. The longest distance the GSM
specification supports in practical use is
35 kilometres (22 mi). There are also
several implementations of the concept of
an extended cell, where the cell radius
could be double or even more, depending
on the antenna system, the type of terrain
and the timing advance.
The modulation used in GSM is Gaussian
minimum-shift keying (GMSK), a kind of
continuous-phase frequency shift keying.
In GMSK, the signal to be modulated onto
the carrier is first smoothed with a
Gaussian low-pass filter prior to being fed
to a frequency modulator, which greatly
reduces the interference to neighboring
channels (adjacent channel interference).
GSM FREQUENCIES
GSM networks operate in a number of
different frequency ranges (separated into
GSM frequency ranges for 2G and UMTS
frequency bands for 3G). Most 2G GSM
networks operate in the 900 MHz or 1800
MHz bands. Some countries in the
Americas (including Canada and the
United States) use the 850 MHz and 1900
MHz bands because the 900 and 1800
MHz frequency bands were already
allocated. Most 3G GSM networks in
Europe operate in the 2100 MHz
frequency band
The rarer 400 and 450 MHz frequency
bands are assigned in some countries
where these frequencies were previously
used for first-generation systems.
GSM-900 uses 890–915 MHz to send
information from the mobile station to the
base station (uplink) and 935–960 MHz
for the other direction (downlink),
providing 124 RF channels (channel
numbers 1 to 124) spaced at 200 kHz.
Duplex spacing of 45 MHz is used. In
some countries the GSM-900 band has
been extended to cover a larger frequency
range. This 'extended GSM', E-GSM, uses
880–915 MHz (uplink) and 925–960 MHz
(downlink), adding 50 channels (channel
numbers 975 to 1023 and 0) to the original
GSM-900 band. Time division
multiplexing is used to allow eight full-
rate or sixteen half-rate speech channels
per radio frequency channel. There are
eight radio timeslots (giving eight burst
periods) grouped into what is called a
TDMA frame. Half rate channels use
alternate frames in the same timeslot. The
channel data rate for all 8 channels is
270.833 kbit/s, and the frame duration is
4.615 ms.
The transmission power in the handset is
limited to a maximum of 2 watts in
GSM850/900 and 1 watt in
GSM1800/1900.
THE STRUCTURE OF GSM
NETWORK
The network behind the GSM seen by the
customer is large and complicated in order
to provide all of the services which are
required. It is divided into a number of
sections and these are each covered in
separate articles.
• the Base Station Subsystem (the
base stations and their controllers).
• the Network and Switching
Subsystem (the part of the network
most similar to a fixed network).
This is sometimes also just called
the core network.
• the GPRS Core Network (the
optional part which allows packet
based Internet connections).
• all of the elements in the system
combine to produce many GSM
services such as voice calls and
SMS.

APPLICATIONS OF MOBILE
COMPUTING
The question that always arises when a
business is thinking of buying a mobile
computer is "Will it be worth it?"
In many fields of work, the ability to keep
on the move is vital in order to utilise time
efficiently. Efficient utilisation of
resources (ie: staff) can mean substantial
savings in transportation costs and other
non quantifyable costs such as increased
customer attention, impact of on site
maintenance and improved
intercommunication within the business.
The importance of Mobile Computers has
been highlighted in many fields of which a
few are described below.
For Estate Agents
• Estate agents can work either at
home or out in the field. With
mobile computers they can be
more productive. They can obtain
current real estate information by
accessing multiple listing services,
which they can do from home,
office or car when out with clients.
They can provide clients with
immediate feedback regarding
specific homes or neighborhoods,
and with faster loan approvals,
since applications can be submitted
on the spot. Therefore, mobile
computers allow them to devote
more time to clients.
In Courts
• Defense counsels can take mobile
computers in court. When the
opposing counsel references a case
which they are not familiar, they
can use the computer to get direct,
real-time access to on-line legal
database services, where they can
gather information on the case and
related precedents. Therefore
mobile computers allow immediate
access to a wealth of information,
making people better informed and
prepared.
In Companies
• Managers can use mobile
computers in, say, critical
presentations to major customers.
They can access the latest market
share information. At a small
recess, they can revise the
presentation to take advantage of
this information. They can
communicate with the office about
possible new offers and call
meetings for discussing responds to
the new proposals. Therefore,
mobile computers can leverage
competitive advantages.
Stock Information Collation/
Control
• In environments where access to
stock is very limited ie: factory
warehouses. The use of small
portable electronic databases
accessed via a mobile computer
would be ideal.
Credit Card Verification
At Point of Sale (POS) terminals in
shops and supermarkets, when
customers use credit cards for
transactions, the intercommunication
required between the bank central
computer and the POS terminal, in
order to effect verification of the card
usage, can take place quickly and
securely over cellular channels using a
mobile computer unit. This can speed
up the transaction process and relieve
congestion at the POS terminals.
 Electronic Mail/Paging
• Usage of a mobile unit to send and
read emails is a very useful asset
for any business individual, as it
allows him/her to keep in touch
with any colleagues as well as any
urgent developments that may
affect their work. Access to the
Internet, using mobile computing
technology, allows the individual
to have vast arrays of knowledge at
his/her fingertips.
Paging is also achievable here,
giving even more
intercommunication capability
between individuals, using a single
mobile computer device.
FUTURE OF MOBILE COMPUTING
With the rapid technological
advancements in Artificial Intelligence,
Integrated Circuitry and increases in
Computer Processor speeds, the future of
mobile computing looks increasingly
exciting.
With the emphasis increasingly on
compact, small mobile computers, it may
also be possible to have all the practicality
of a mobile computer in the size of a hand
held organizer or even smaller.
Use of Artificial Intelligence may allow
mobile units to be the ultimate in personal
secretaries, which can receive emails and
paging messages, understand what they are
about, and change the individuals personal
schedule according to the message. This
can then be checked by the individual to
plan his/her day.
The working lifestyle will change, with the
majority of people working from home,
rather than commuting. This may be
beneficial to the environment as less
transportation will be utilised. This
mobility aspect may be carried further in
that, even in social spheres, people will
interact via mobile stations, eliminating
the need to venture outside of the house.
This scary concept of a world full of
inanimate zombies sitting, locked to their
mobile stations, accessing every sphere of
their lives via the computer screen
becomes ever more real as technology,
especially in the field of mobile data
communications, rapidly improves and, as
shown below, trends are very much
towards ubiquitous or mobile computing.
The future of Mobile Computing is very
promising indeed, although technology
may go too far, causing detriment to
society.
REFERENCES
“GSM World Statistics” GSM Association
2007 retrived on 01-10-2008
“About GSM Association” GSM
association
“DOMINO: Databases for Moving Objects
Traking” by Ouri Wolfson, Bo Xu, Sam
Chaamberlain, Liqin Jiang and Prasad
Sistla
“MobSQL, An SQL Like Query Language
for Mobile Objets Databases” by Ahmed
Lbath and Mourad Ouziri
“Why Mobile Computing? Where can it be
Used?” Article by Vasilis koudounas,
1996.
Communication Systems, Third Edition
1994, By Simon Haykin.
“Mobile Computing” By R.K.Ghosh, April
2005.
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