MOBILE DATABASE SYSTEMS

CONTENT PAGE
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………..1-2
Fully Connected Information Space………………………………………………..………………3
MDBS………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4-5
Mobile Computing Architecture……………………………………………………………………5-8
Query Processing………………………………………………………………………………………….12
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….…………….. 14-15
References……………………………………………………………………………………………………..15

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 Overview

A Mobile database is a database that can be connected to a mobile computing device over a mobile
network (or wireless network). Here the client and the server have wireless connections. In today’s
world, mobile computing is growing very rapidly, and it is huge potential in the field of the database.
It will be applicable on different-different devices like android based mobile databases, iOS based
mobile databases, etc. Common examples of databases are Couch base Lite, Object Box, etc.

Introduction
• Recent advances in portable and wireless technology have led
to mobile computing, a new dimension in data communication
and processing.
• Portable computing devices coupled with wireless
communications allow clients to access data from virtually
anywhere and at any time.
• The mobile computing platform allows users to establish
communication with other users and to manage their work while
they are mobile.
• This feature is especially useful to geographically dispersed
organizations
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What is mobile computing?

• Users with portable computers still have network

connections while they move.
• Mobile Computing is an umbrella term used to
describe technologies that enable people to
access network services anyplace, anytime, and anywhere.

 Fully connected information space

• Each node of the information space has some
communication capability.
• Some node can process information.
• Some node can communicate through voice channel.
• Some node can do both
• Can be created and maintained by integrating legacy
database systems, and wired and wireless systems.

What is a Mobile Database System (MDS)?

A system with the following structural and functional

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properties
•Distributed system with mobile connectivity
•Full database system capability
•Complete spatial mobility
•Built on PCS/GSM platform
•Wireless and wired communication capability

 Mobile Database

•A mobile database is a database that can be connected to by a mobile computing device over a
wireless mobile network.

• Physically separate from the central database server.

• Resided on mobile devices.

• Capable of communicating with a central database server or
other mobile clients from remote sites.
• Handle local queries without connectivity. 8
Why Mobile Databases?
•Mobile data-driven applications enable us to access any
data from anywhere, anytime.
Examples:
• Salespersons can update sales records on the move.

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• Reporters can update news database anytime.
• Doctors can retrieve patient’s medical history from
anywhere.
•Mobile DBMSs are needed to support these applications
data processing capabilities.

 Mobile Computing Architecture

• The general architecture of a mobile platform is a distributed
architecture where a number of computers, generally referred to
as Fixed Hosts and Base Stations, are interconnected through a
high speed wired network
• Fixed hosts are general purpose computers that are not typically
equipped to manage mobile units but can be configured to do so
• Base stations function as a gateways to the fixed network for the
Mobile Units; They are equipped with wireless interfaces and
offer network access services of which mobile units are clients

Base Station (BS):

• A network element that interconnects the mobile station
(or Mobile unit (MU)) to the network via the air interface.
• Each cell in the network has a BS associated with it.
• The primary function of a BS is to maintain the air

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interface, or medium, for communication to any mobile
unit within its cell.
• Other functions of BS are call processing, signaling,maintenance, and diagnostics.
Mobile Units (MU)
• Also called Mobile Systems (MS) or Mobile Hosts (MH).
• Mobile units are battery-powered portable computers that move freely in a
geographic mobility domain, an area that is restricted by the limited bandwidth
of wireless communication channels.
• It consists of three components: (a) transceiver, (b) antenna, and (c) user
interface.
• The user interface exists only at MU, which consists of a display, a keypad for
entering information, and an audio interface for speaking and hearing voice
conversation. This can be a laptop, a palmtop, or a cell phone, or any other
mobile device.
• A downlink channel is used for sending data from a BS to an MU and an
uplink channel is used for sending data from an MU to its BS.

 Wireless Communications:
• The wireless medium on which mobile units and base stations
communicate have bandwidths significantly lower than those of a
wired network
• Some wireless access options allow seamless roaming throughout
a geographical region (e.g., cellular networks), whereas WiFi

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networks are localized around a base station;
• Some wireless networks, such as WiFi and Bluetooth, use
unlicensed areas of frequency spectrum, which may cause
interference with other appliances, such as cordless telephones;
• Modern wireless networks can transfer data in units called packets,
that are commonly used in wired networks in order to conserve
bandwidth;
• Wireless applications must consider these characteristics when
choosing a communication option

 Client/Network Relationships:
• Mobile units can move freely in a geographic mobility domain, an
area that is circumscribed by wireless network coverage;
• To manage the mobility of units, the entire geographic mobility
domain is divided into one or more smaller domains, called cells,
each of which is supported by at least one base station;
• The mobile discipline requires that the movement of mobile units
be unrestricted throughout the cells of a geographic mobility
domain, while maintaining information access contiguity – i.e.
intercell movement, does not negatively affect the data retrieval
process;
• The mobile computing platform can be effectively described under the
client-server paradigm, which means we may sometimes refer to a

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mobile unit as a client or sometimes as a user, and the base stations
as servers.
• Each cell is managed by a base station, which contains transmitters and receivers for responding to
the information-processing needs of
clients located in the cell.
• We assume that the average query response time is much shorter than
the time required by the client to physically traverse a cell.
• Clients and servers communicate through wireless channels.
• Wireless communications for mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) is
different; In a MANNET, co-located mobile units do not need to
communicate via a fixed network, but instead, from their own using cost-
effective technologies such as Bluetooth;
• In a MANNET, mobile units are responsible for routing their own data,
effectively acting as base stations as well as clients; They must be
robust enough to handle changes in the network topology, such as the
arrival or departure of other mobile units
• MANNET applications can be considered as peer-to-peer, meaning that
a mobile unit is simultaneously a client and a server;
• Transaction processing and data consistency control become more
difficult since there is no central control;
• Resource discovery and data routing by mobile units make computing
even more complicated.

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  Types of Data in Mobile Application

• Mobile applications can be categorized in two ways: (1) vertical

applications and (2) horizontal applications.
• In vertical applications users access data within a specific cell, and
access is denied to users outside of that cell. For example, users can
obtain information on the location of doctors or emergency centers
within a cell or parking availability data at an airport cell.
• In horizontal applications, users cooperate on accomplishing a task, and
they can handle data distributed throughout the system. The horizontal
application market is massive; two types of applications most
mentioned are mail-enabled applications and information services to
mobile users.

 Data may be classified into three categories:

1. Private data: A single user owns this data and manages it. No other user
may access it.
2. Public data: This data can be used by anyone who can read it. Only one
source updates it. Examples include weather bulletins or stock prices.
3. Shared data: This data is accessed both in read and write modes by

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groups of users. Examples include inventory data for products in a
company.
Public data is primarily managed by vertical applications, while shared
data is used by horizontal applications, possibly with some replication.
Copies of shared data may be stored both in base and mobile stations.

Data Management Issues

 From a data management standpoint, mobile computing may be
considered a variation of distributed computing

Mobile databases can be distributed under two possible scenarios:

1. The entire database is distributed mainly among the wired

components, possibly with full or partial replication; A base station or
fixed host manages its own database with a DBMS-like functionality,
with additional functionality for locating mobile units and additional
query and transaction management features to meet the
requirements of mobile environments
2. The database is distributed among wired and wireless components;
Data management responsibility is shared among base stations or
fixed hosts and mobile units
• The distributed data management issues can also be applied to
mobile databases with the following additional considerations and
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 variations:
• Data distribution and replication – Data is unevenly distributed among the base
stations and mobile units
• Transactions models – Issues of fault tolerance and correctness
of transactions are aggravated
• Query processing – Awareness of where data is located is
important and affects the cost/benefit analysis of query
processing; Query optimization is more complicated because of
mobility and rapid resource changes of mobile units
• Recovery and fault tolerance – The mobile database environment
must deal with site, media, transaction, and communication failure

• Mobile database design – The global name resolution

problem for handling queries is compounded because of
mobility and frequent shutdown
• Location-based service – As clients move, location-dependent
cache information may become stale
• Division of labor – Certain characteristics of the mobile
environment force a change in the division of labor in query
processing
• Security – Mobile data is less secure than that which is left at the fixed locatio
 MDS Query processing
Query types

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  Location dependent query
 Location aware query
 Location independent query

Location dependent query
A query whose result depends on the geographical
location of the origin of the query.
Example
What is the distance of Pune railway station
from here?
The result of this query is correct only for “here”.
Situation: Person traveling in the car desires to
know his progress and continuously asks the
same question. However, every time the answer is
different but correct.
Requirements: Continuous monitoring of the
longitude and latitude of the origin of the query.
GPS can do this.

Applications of Mobile Computing

• For Estate Agents

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• In courts
• In companies
• Stock Information Collection/Control
• Credit Card Verification
• Taxi/Truck Dispatch
• Electronic Mail/Paging
Challenges
 Disconnection
 Low bandwidth
 High bandwidth variability
 Low power and resources
 Security risks
 Wide variety terminals and devices with different capabilities
 Device attributes
 Fit more functionality into single, smaller device

Existing Mobile Database

.mobile database

 Sybase SQL Anywhere

 Oracle Lite

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  Microsoft SQL Server Compact
 SQL lite
 IBM DB2 Everyplace (DB2e)

CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY

Wireless network is becoming a commonly used communication platform. It provides a cheaper way
to get connected and in some cases this is the only way to reach people. However, it has a number of
easy and difficult problems and they must be solved before MDS can be built. This tutorial discussed
some of these problems and identified a number of possible approache

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The emerging trend is to make all service providing disciplines, such as web, E-
commerce, workflow systems, etc., fully mobile so that any service can be
provided from any place. Customer can surf the information space from any
location at any time and do their shopping, make flight reservation, open bank
account, attend lectures, and so on.

References
 Advanced database system modules
 Mobile database system (Alonso, R …and Korth, H. Database systems
issues in nomadic computing
Vijay Kumar, timeout based Mobile transaction commit protocol
 Database softcopy

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