"Cuts through the hype! Golding's compelling offers visionary, but practical insights. A "must have" reference treatment for all practitioners in the mobile innovation space." Jag Minhas, Telefónica O2 Europe

Second edition of this best-selling guide to Wireless Applications: fully revised, updated and with brand new material!

InNext Generation Wireless Applications, Second Edition, the author establishes a picture of the entire mobile application ecosystem, and explains how it all fits together.

This edition builds upon the successes of the first edition by offering an up-to-date holistic guide to mobile application development, including an assessment of the applicability of new mobile applications, and an exploration into the developments in a number of areas such as Web 2.0, 3G, Mobile TV, J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) and many more.

Key features of this second edition include:

New introductory chapters on trends in mobile application, and on becoming an Operator.Two new chapters on Mobile 2.0 and IMS and Mobilizing Media and TV.Extra material on convergence, Web 2.0, AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service), WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) and WiFi.Best practice on how to present to, sell to and work with operators.More insights, anecdotes and sidebars reflecting the author's extensive experience in the industry.

Next Generation Wireless Applications will prove essential reading for professionals in mobile operator and mobile application developing companies, web developers, and developer community managers. Media companies, general managers, business analysts, students, business consultants, and Java developers will also find this book captivating.

"If you want to understand the future of mobile applications and services, their potential impact and the growth opportunities this is the perfect starting point." Martin Smith, Head of Content Innovation& Applications, T-Mobile

Paul Golding has over fifteen years experience in the wireless and mobile technology industry. Paul runs his own consultancy company Magic E Company and is currently consulting?in the area of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and Push-to-talk over Cellular (PoC). He has worked as senior consultant within Motorola's newly formed mobile applications team involving numerous encounters with operators globally and with numerous mobile applications vendors. He also has a popular blog which features a series of 100 Mobile Ideas, which has been followed by various industry participants, including prominent companies (e.g. Yahoo, Vodafone, O2, Etisalat).

Acknowledgements xv

Preface xvii

Abbreviations and Acronyms xix

1 Prelude The Next Generation Experience 1

1.1 What is Next Generation Anyhow? 1

1.2 The Mobile Mindset 2

1.3 The Futures Bright, the Futures Ubiquity 3

1.4 Our Multitasking Mobile Future 9

2 Introduction 11

2.1 What Does Next Generation Mean? 11

2.2 What is a Wireless Application? 13

2.3 A Concentric Networks Approach 14

2.3.1 Social Network 15

2.3.2 Device Network 16

2.3.3 Radio Frequency (RF Wireless) Network 17

2.3.4 Internet Protocol (IP) Network 19

2.3.5 Content Network 20

2.4 Application Topologies 21

2.5 Physical Network Elements 24

3 Becoming an Operator 2.0 27

3.1 Introduction 27

3.2 What Applications Can I Sell? 28

3.3 Where Does the Money Come From? 29

3.4 Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Retailing 30

3.4.1 Application Discovery 30

3.4.2 Application Distribution 32

3.4.3 Application Access 33

3.4.4 Charging Mechanism 33

3.5 Operator Retailing 34

3.6 Selling to Operators 35

3.6.1 Top Ten Selling Tips 35

3.6.2 Selling Apps to Operators Operator Perspective 37

3.7 Which Applications Should an Operator Deploy? 38

3.7.1 The Market Challenges 38

3.7.2 The User-Experience Focus 39

3.8 Interpreting User-Experience Trends into Applications 40

3.9 Wider Digital Trends Including Web 2.0 41

3.9.1 Web 2.0 and Mobile Web 2.0 41

3.9.2 Mobile Web 2.0 or Mobile 2.0? 43

3.9.3 Content Trends 44

3.10 Harnessing the Trends 47

3.11 Conclusion 48

4 Introduction to Mobile Service Architectures and Paradigms 49

4.1 Possible Application Paradigms for Mobile Services 49

4.2 Modes of Mobile Interaction 53

4.3 Mapping the Interaction to the Network Model 54

4.4 Mobile Interaction in the Mobile Ecosystem 57

4.4.1 Social Network 58

4.4.2 Device Network 59

4.4.3 RF Network 61

4.4.4 IP Network 66

4.4.5 Content Network 67

4.4.6 Machine Network 70

4.5 Modes of Communication Across the Network Layers 70

4.5.1 Human-to-Human Interaction (H2H) 70

4.5.2 Human-to-Content Interaction (H2C) 73

4.5.3 Human-to-Machine Interaction (H2M) 75

4.5.4 Machine-to-Machine Interaction (M2M) 77

4.6 Operator Challenges 79

4.7 The Web 2.0 Challenge 83

5 P-Centric Mobile Ecosystem and Web 2.0 85

5.1 Introduction 85

5.2 The Internet and Web 2.0 91

5.3 The Challenges of Liberating Data 93

5.3.1 Challenge 1: Making Database Information Human-readable 95

5.3.2 Challenge 2: Adding Visual Formatting to the Database Information 100

5.3.3 Challenge 3: The Need for a Protocol 102

5.3.4 Challenge 4: The Need for a Delivery Mechanism 106

5.4 Did We Need HTTP and HTML? 109

5.5 Overcoming Web Limitations with Web 2.0s AJAX, Widgets and Other Goodies 111

5.6 Sidestepping the Web with P2P Interaction 114

5.7 Going Beyond Publishing with Web Services 117

5.8 Semantic Web 120

5.9 XML Glue 122

5.10 Real-Time Services 124

5.10.1 Multimedia Streaming 124

5.10.2 Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) 127

6 ClientServer Platforms for Mobile Services 129

6.1 The Greater Challenges 130

6.2 The Specific Challenges 134

6.3 Service Delivery Platforms 136

6.4 Software Services Technologies 139

6.4.1 Example CS Design Issues 141

6.5 Introducing J2EE The Dirty Stuff Done For Us! 146

6.6 Why All the Fuss About J2EE? 148

6.6.1 The Challenges of Integration 149

6.7 Handling SIP with Java 156

7 HTTP, WAP, AJAX, P2P and IM Protocols 159

7.1 The Rise of the Web 159

7.2 How HTTP and HTML works 160

7.3 Important Detail is in the HTTP Headers 164

7.4 The Challenges of Using HTTP Over a Wireless Link 167

7.5 WAP Data Transmission Protocols 171

7.5.1 Protocol Stack Paradigm 171

7.5.2 The WAP Stack 173

7.5.3 Wireless-Profiled TCP 176

7.5.4 Wireless-Profiled HTTP (W-HTTP) 179

7.6 Wireless Protocols WTP and WSP 183

7.6.1 Introduction 183

7.6.2 Wireless Transport Protocol (WTP) 184

7.6.3 Concatenation and Segmentation 186

7.6.4 Segmentation and Reassembly in Action 187

7.6.5 Wireless Session Protocol (WSP) 188

7.6.6 WAP Push 189

7.7 Ajax 192

7.8 Peer-to-Peer (P2P) 193

7.8.1 Defining P2P 193

7.8.2 Some P2P Concepts 194

7.8.3 Jxta 195

7.9 Instant Messaging (IM) Protocols 198

7.9.1 Sip/simple 198

7.9.2 Xmpp 200

7.9.3 Imps 201

7.9.4 IM Interoperability 202

7.9.5 Protocol Acceptance (Support) 203

8 J2EE Presentation Layer 207

8.1 Separating Presentation from Business Logic 207

8.1.1 Servlets and JSPs HTTP Programs 209

8.1.2 Comparing Servlets with JSPs 211

8.2 Markup Languages for Mobile Devices 214

8.2.1 The HTML Foundation 215

8.2.2 The Mobile Evolution (WML) 218

8.3 Full Circle WML Becomes XHTML 226

8.3.1 XHTML is Modular 227

8.3.2 XHTML Basic 229

8.3.3 XHTML-MP (Mobile Profile) The Final Frontier 233

8.3.4 Using XHTML-MP 234

8.3.5 Browser-specific Enhancements to XHTML-MP 239

8.3.6 Guidelines for Mobile Webpage Authoring 242

8.4 Managing Different Devices 247

8.5 Building Device-Independent Applications 250

8.5.1 Detecting and Capturing Device or Browser Information 252

8.5.2 Conveying CC/PP Information 254

8.5.3 Dynamic Page Generation Schemes 259

8.6 Managing Sessions 270

8.6.1 Cookies to the Rescue 272

8.7 MMS and SMIL 277

9 Using J2EE for Mobile Services 283

9.1 Technologies Underpinning J2EE 284

9.1.1 Containers The J2EE Glue 284

9.1.2 RMI The EJB Glue 287

9.1.3 Stubs and Skeletons The Inner Workings of RMI 288

9.2 Managing Security 293

9.2.1 Securely Connecting the User 294

9.2.2 HTTP Authentication Basic 295

9.2.3 HTTP Authentication Digest 298

9.3 Encrypting the HTTP Link 303

9.3.1 Public Key Cryptography 305

9.3.2 Using PKC to Secure Web Connections 306

9.4 Applying SSL to Wireless 310

9.5 End-to-End Encryption in a Mobile Network 313

10 Mobile Devices 317

10.1 Introduction 317

10.2 Interface Elements 319

10.2.1 Tactile Interface Elements 319

10.2.2 Aural Interface Elements 323

10.2.3 Vocal Interface Elements 323

10.2.4 Visual Interface Elements 324

10.3 Interface Layer 325

10.3.1 Interfacing Via the Network Layer 327

10.4 Service Layer 328

10.5 Network Layer 329

10.6 Role of DSP in Digital Wireless Devices 333

10.6.1 Radio Frequency (RF) 334

10.6.2 Analog Baseband 334

10.6.3 Digital Baseband 335

10.6.4 Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 341

10.6.5 Summary 341

10.7 Suggesting a Generic Device Architecture 342

10.7.1 Core Processor and Operating System 343

10.7.2 Digital Signal Processor 346

10.7.3 Application Loader 349

10.7.4 Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) 349

10.8 Moving Towards a Commercial Mobile Platform 354

10.8.1 Communications Utilities 355

10.8.2 Personal Information Management (PIM) Utilities 360

11 Mobile Application Paradigms 365

11.1 Introduction 365

11.2 Application Topologies 365

11.3 Embedded Applications 367

11.3.1 What Do We Need to Develop an Embedded Application? 368

11.3.2 c and c++ Are Not the Only choices 369

11.3.3 Native Java Support 370

11.4 Embedded Development Tools 373

11.4.1 Design 374

11.4.2 Configuring the IDE/Program Editing/Compilation and Build 376

11.4.3 Testing and Debugging with a Simulator 377

11.4.4 Testing on the Target Device 380

11.4.5 Conducting Usability Tests 382

11.4.6 Pilot Trials and Deployment 383

11.5 Browser-based Applications 393

11.5.1 Limited Local Processing 396

11.5.2 Requires an Available Network Connection (Caching) 397

11.5.3 User Interface Constraints 398

11.6 Java Platform Applications 399

11.7 The Java EthosaTaleofTwoParts 399

11.8 Java 2 Micro Edition Wireless Java 405

11.9 Using MIDP to Develop Mobile Applications 409

11.10 What Does MIDP 2.0 Offer? 412

11.10.1 Application Packaging and Delivery 413

11.10.2 API Summary 414

11.10.3 User Interface APIs 414

11.10.4 Networking API 418

11.10.5 Securing the APIs 419

11.10.6 Push Mechanism 419

11.11 MIDP OTA Download Mechanism 420

11.12 What Does MIDP 3.0 Offer? 424

11.13 On-Device Portals 426

11.13.1 Introduction 426

11.13.2 ODPs 427

11.13.3 Alternative Application Paradigms Opera Platform 429

12 The RF Network 433

12.1 The Essence of Cellular Networks 434

12.1.1 RF Network Convergence 436

12.2 The Radio Part 439

12.2.1 Basic RF 440

12.2.2 Building an RF Network 442

12.2.3 Increasing Capacity Using TDMA 446

12.2.4 Increasing Capacity Using CDMA 448

12.3 The Harsher Reality of Cellular Systems 451

12.3.1 Data-Rate Variation 453

12.4 Mobile Broadband Networks 456

12.4.1 Hspa 457

12.4.2 WiMAX 459

12.5 Techniques for Adaptation 460

12.6 Cellular Network Operation 465

12.6.1 Getting Data In and Out 467

12.6.2 Gateway GPRS Service Node 468

12.7 Accessing Network Assets 472

12.7.1 J2EE Revisited 478

12.7.2 Service Delivery Platforms Based on Web Services 483

12.7.3 Standards for the Service Layer APIs Parlay/OSA 485

12.8 Parlay X (Parlay Web Services) 488

12.8.1 What Does a Parlay X Message Look Like? 490

13 Mobile Location Services 495

13.1 Ive Just Run Someone Over 495

13.2 Where Am I? 496

13.3 Message Handling Using J2EE 503

13.4 Accuracy of Location-Based Services (LBS) 507

13.5 Interfacing LBS Applications with the Cellular Network 512

13.6 Integrating LBS Applications 517

13.7 Multimedia Messaging (MM) 521

13.7.1 Composing MMS Messages 523

13.8 Getting in the Zone with Splash (Spatial) Messaging 532

13.8.1 Introduction 532

13.8.2 Connectedness of Things 532

13.8.3 Making a Splash 532

13.8.4 Splash-Messaging Summary 538

14 Mobile 2.0 and IMS 541

14.1 Introduction 541

14.2 Mobile Transformation 541

14.3 IMS What is it Really? 543

14.4 Why is IMS Important? 544

14.5 Start Here: Internet Telephony, or VoIP 544

14.6 Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) 545

14.6.1 Making the Connection 545

14.6.2 The CSCF Triad 549

14.6.3 Media Support 551

14.6.4 Media Out of IMS Control 553

14.6.5 Telephony Gateway Support 553

14.6.6 More Than Just SIP 555

14.7 The Promise of a Common Services Environment 557

14.7.1 Seamless Mobility and Convergence 557

14.8 IMS as a Convergence Catalyst 558

14.8.1 Mobile Roots, Fixed Branches 558

14.8.2 Spanning the Mobile-fixed Divide TISPAN 559

14.8.3 A Winding Path to Convergence 559

14.9 End Here: Beyond VoIP - Application Servers 561

14.10 IMS Service Concept 561

14.11 Service Examples 563

14.11.1 Multimodal Chat 563

14.11.2 Push-To-Taxi 564

14.11.3 Avatar Chat 566

14.12 The Universal Client and Web 2.0 566

14.13 Conclusion 568

15 Mobilising Media and TV 569

15.1 Introduction 569

15.2 Why Experience? 570

15.3 Unique Mobilisation Characteristics 571

15.3.1 Pervasiveness Always On 571

15.3.2 Personalising the Experience 571

15.3.3 Merchandising Paying is a Familiar Experience 572

15.4 The Content Experience 572

15.5 Mobilisation Options 572

15.5.1 Client Versus Clientless: to WAP or Not to WAP 573

15.5.2 On-Device Portals: Using Clients to Engage the User 576

15.5.3 Offering Video Services 577

15.6 Mobile TV 578

15.6.1 Unicast (and Multicast) TV and Video 579

15.6.2 Broadcast TV and Video 580

15.7 Mobile TV is Not TV on the Mobile 582

15.7.1 Interactivity 583

15.7.2 Made-for-Mobile Production 584

15.7.3 Time and Place Shifted Viewing 584

15.7.4 TV-Centric Convergence 584

15.8 Commercial Considerations 585

15.9 Monetisation 586

15.9.1 Subscription Models 586

15.9.2 Advertising Models 587

Index 589