What is the role and purpose of WML and xHTML in the wireless Internet world?

What is meant by WML and xHTML "convergence" ? Explain how and why
convergence occurs and outline the main aspects of convergence. What role do SDKs
play in the development of mobile Internet content? How easy, or difficult, is it to
develop a mobile Internet page using WML or xHTML?

Answer: The Wireless Mark-up Language (WML) uses a limited variety of mark-up
tags to define its language environment. WML is defined using the rules and
principles of the eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML) and is, therefore, a close
relative of XML. The main purpose of WML is to allow the user of a WAP enabled
mobile phone to navigate around the WAP applications environment, and specifically
enable the user to view Internet content. The eXtensible Hypertext Mark-up Language
(xHTML) is a code sub-set of the Extensible Mark-up Language (XML). The
development of xHTML was recommended and stimulated by the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C). The W3C recommended that developments of WAP incorporate
the development of xHTML.

The standards developed by the Open Mobile Alliance, such as WAP Protocols,
WML and WML Script, are converging with standard Internet formats from the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). One of the great areas of convergence is in the
wireless software field with the convergence of WML and xHTML. The main
overarching convergence is between systems in the wired Internet world with systems
in the wireless Internet world.

The role of Software Development Kits (SDKs) is play in the development mobile
internet content of mobile internet content is a set of development tools to create
applications for the mobile internet by this software engineer.

It is easy to get the SDKs to develop a mobile Internet page using WML or xHTML,
also it is free. For the difficult, because now it had a lot of different type of SDKs, so
the user were difficult to choose which one is the best had a excellent development
tools to help the users to use.
310KM Mobile Commerce Application--
Lab/Tutorial 3
Name: Pun Hoi Lam
Student ID: 52027396

Part 1
Question 1: Describe the main purpose and role of the Wireless Applications Protocol
(WAP). What function does a protocol play within a network? Describe the main
components of the WAP suite of architecture standards. Why is a WAP network
architecture described as a "client-server"? Explain the role of "gateways" and
"emulators" within the WAP domain. Explain the relationship between WAP and the
Wireless Mark-up Language (WML).

Answer: Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is an open international standard for

application layer network communications in a wireless communication environment.
Its main use is to enable access to the Internet (HTTP) from a mobile phone or PDA.

The function does a protocol play within a network such as tread on the heels of stock
market prices, the headlines of the news and the results of sports etc.

Wireless Application Environment (WAE). This layer is of most interest to content

developers because it contains, among other things, device specifications and the
content development programming languages, WML and WMLScript.
Wireless Session Protocol (WSP). Unlike HTTP, WSP has been designed by the
WAP Forum to provide fast connection suspension and reconnection.
Wireless Transaction Protocol (WTP). The WTP runs on top of a datagram service
such as User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and is part of the standard suite of TCP/IP
protocols used to provide a simplified protocol suitable for low bandwidth wireless
stations.
Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS). WTLS incorporates security features that
are based upon the established Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol standard. It
includes data integrity checks, privacy, service denial, and authentication services.
Wireless Datagram Protocol (WDP). The WDP allows WAP to be bearer-independent
by adapting the transport layer of the underlying bearer. The WDP presents a
consistent data format to the higher layers of the WAP protocol stack, thereby
offering the advantage of bearer independence to application developers.
WAP network architecture described as a "client-server" because the data and
application are converted to travel between the server and client with WAP
environment.

WAP Gateway is normally a computer that acts as a proxy server, residing between
the Web Servers and the wireless mobile devices. The WAP Gateway compiles the
WML code and transmits the compiled byte code to a mobile device (e.g. mobile
phone) via the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). WAP applications will
normally consist of various code files located on a Web server. These files will
normally have been written in WAP emulator and often will also consist of files in
WML Script and also graphics files in WML Bitmap format. Also the emulator
software can use in computer to simulate and test the action both WAP gateways and
WAP enabled mobile devices.

For WAP, the files were located in the computer web server which write by
programme code. For WML, it such like a reader, because it can read WAP, WML
script is the common accepted language to build a web content to view on WAP-
enabled wireless devices.

Question 2: What is a "Smart Phone"? What products and services are available from
the Mobile Internet? What restrictions are present in accessing the Internet via a PDA
or Smart Phone? Does screen size and speed of data access have an effect on the
user's experience of the Mobile Internet?

Answer: Smart Phone is a mobile phone that offers a lot of advanced computing
ability and connectivity than a up-to-date basic feature phone. Also, Smare Phone that
can support mobile applications.

For the products and services are available from the Mobile Internet are such as
Email, watching TV/video, see E-books, browser website etc.

The restrictions are present in accessing the Internet via a PDA or Smart Phone are
because the screen is very small and the bandwidth for transmission was limited, so
the smartphone browser support limited plugins and the PDA versions of the sites
were usually simplified to support the smartphone.

The screen size and speed of data access have an effect on the user's experience of the
Mobile Internet, I think it will effect, for example, when you see a beauty photo in
facebook, you want to see, but the picture was very long and the amount was very
high, it will use a lot of time to download and very difficult to see it. So it will let the
user think that it had big impact on the screen size and speed of data access of the
Mobile Internet.

Question 3: What are the main characteristics of iMode? Why do you think that
iMode was so successful in gaining large numbers of subscribers to its products and
services when it was first introduced in the year 2000? Do you think that other
network operators, and mobile device developers of 2.5G and 3G technologies, have
benefited from the knowledge gained by observing iMode as a case study of Mobile
Internet access?
Answer: The main characteristics of iMode unlike Wireless Application Protocol or
WAP, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web
access, e-mail and the packet-switched network that delivers the data. i-mode users
have access to various services such as e-mail, sports results, weather forecast, games,
financial services and ticket booking. Content is provided by specialized services,
typically from the mobile carrier, which allows them to have tighter control over
billing.

Because i-Mode allow the provider to outspread their products or services information
to the wireless network and the mobile phone users were easy to access and view of
their products or services by push or pull on mobile phone. It is effective to increase
their profits. So why I think that iMode was so successful in gaining large numbers of
subscribers to its products and services when it was first introduced in the year 2000.

I think that other network operators, and mobile device developers of 2.5G and 3G
technologies, have benefited from the knowledge gained by observing iMode as a
case study of Mobile Internet access, because other network operators, and mobile
device developers can use the basic services and technology about iMode, then think
how to development the new technology and new services, also the other network
operators, and mobile device developers could implement their idea and give the
benefit to the society, the company etc.

Question 4: Explain the difference between upstream and downstream

communication.

Answer: In computer networking, upstream means the direction of data can be

transferred from client to the server. This different from downstream not only theory
and usage, but the speeds of upstream were usually at premium. Downstream refers to
the transfer speed by the data can be sent from server to the client. The process by
downstream is utilized that we know as downloading. Whereas the speed of
downstream is very important to the average home user for downloading content,
uploads are used for the web server applications and similar processes where the
sending of data is critical. The speeds of upstream also very important to users of
peer-to-peer software.

Question 5: What is the role and purpose of WML and xHTML in the wireless
Internet world? What is meant by WML and xHTML "convergence" ? Explain how
and why convergence occurs and outline the main aspects of convergence. What role
do SDKs play in the development of mobile Internet content? How easy, or difficult,
is it to develop a mobile Internet page using WML or xHTML?

Answer: The Wireless Mark-up Language (WML) uses a limited variety of mark-up
tags to define its language environment. WML is defined using the rules and
principles of the eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML) and is, therefore, a close
relative of XML. The main purpose of WML is to allow the user of a WAP enabled
mobile phone to navigate around the WAP applications environment, and specifically
enable the user to view Internet content. The eXtensible Hypertext Mark-up Language
(xHTML) is a code sub-set of the Extensible Mark-up Language (XML). The
development of xHTML was recommended and stimulated by the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C). The W3C recommended that developments of WAP incorporate
the development of xHTML.

The standards developed by the Open Mobile Alliance, such as WAP Protocols,
WML and WML Script, are converging with standard Internet formats from the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). One of the great areas of convergence is in the
wireless software field with the convergence of WML and xHTML. The main
overarching convergence is between systems in the wired Internet world with systems
in the wireless Internet world.

The role of Software Development Kits (SDKs) is play in the development mobile
internet content of mobile internet content is a set of development tools to create
applications for the mobile internet by this software engineer.

It is easy to get the SDKs to develop a mobile Internet page using WML or xHTML,
also it is free. For the difficult, because now it had a lot of different type of SDKs, so
the user were difficult to choose which one is the best had a excellent development
tools to help the users to use.

Part 3
Question 13: Redo previous step using your desktop User Agent. Explain why some
of these mobile sites use garden/Chinese wall to restrict convenient or any access to
their service/content?

Answer: The mobile sites that used Chinese wall to restrict convenient or any access
to their service because some of the mobile site such as The Hongkong and Shanghai
Banking Corporation Limited mobile site that was development a mobile phone
screen design for the web page. The Chinese wall has an ability to check the device
that to access the site you use, it can help the user had a better service when they were
using, also the mobile phone had a SIM card, it can identity the user who is, when
connect the mobile site, it can find it the user who is.