Wireless Application

Protocol &
Wireless Markup
Language
Meng Gan
Institute of
Telematics
University of
3/11/200
1
Karlsruhe 1
 Overvie
w
■ Motivation

■ WAP
■ WML

■ Applicatio

ns
■ Conclusio

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 Motivati
on
■ Advances of mobile

communication systems,
especically GSM
■ Phenomenal growth of handy, PDA

and other handheld devices

■ New services required

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 Wireless
Communication

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 M-
Commerce

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 Applicatio
ns

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 PC +
Internet
■ High performance PC

■ Wired Internet connection

(V.90 modem, ISDN, xDSL,
Ethernet, ...)
■ Network protocols: TCP/IP +

HTTP
■ Document format: HTML

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 Problems with Wireless
Networks
■ Low bandwidth
■ High latency and jitter

■ High transmission error

rate
■ Low connection stability

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 Problems with Wireless
Terminals (Handy,
PDA,...)
■ Small screen, limited display

capability
■ One-finger navigation

■ Limited RAM/ROM

■ Limited CPU performance

■ Low battery life

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 Solutio
ns
■ Internet access via handheld

devices was possible before

WAP, but the technologies
never took off commercially
because they used proprietary
technologies that didn‘t work
across different platforms.

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 WAP-
Forum
■ http://www.wapforum.org

■ A consortium of hardware,
software, service and other
wireless-industry vendors
■ Founded in June 1997

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 WAP Overview
(I)Designed to address small devices‘
■

technical limitations
■ Work with a variety of wireless

platforms
■ Offer a scalable, extensible protocol

stack
■ Designed to solve some of the problems

caused when small low-powered devices on

different platforms try to use low-bandwidth
wireless network technology to access
services or data-intensive content via the
Internet
■ WAP uses proxy technology to connect
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1 wireless technologyL with the Web.
 WAP Overview
(II)
■ The WAP system architecture is based on the
WWW programming model, yet optimized to
suit the characteristics of a mobile network.
■ WAP is a global multi-layered protocol which
is designed to bring Internet contents to
“Thin-Client“ devices
■ Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a set of
communications protocols that standardise
the way that wireless devices can be used
for internet-based access

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 WAP Overview
(III)
■ Client/Server approach

■ Microbrowser in the mobile

phone, requiring only limited
resources
■ WAP puts the intelligence in the

WAP Gateways

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 WAP Service
Model

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 How It
Works

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 WAP Network
Elements Fixed Network Mobile Network

HTML WML WAP Binary

Intern
filter WML prox
et
y

HTML WML
HTML
filte Binary WML
r/
web HTML WAP
prox
serve y
r
WTA Binary
server WML
PSTN
Binary WML: binary file format for
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 WAP Reference
Model
Internet WAP

HTML, Java Application Layer additional

(WAE) services and
applications
HTTP Session Layer
(WSP)
Transaction Layer
(WTP)
SSL/TLS Security Layer (WTLS)

TCP/IP, Transport Layer (WDP)

UCP/IP, Transport technologies (GSM, CDPD, ...)

media

WAE comprises WML (Wireless Markup Language), WMLScript,

WTAI etc.
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 WDP - Wireless
Datagram Protocol
■ Protocol of the transport layer within the WAP
architecture
■ Uses directly transport mechanisms of different

network technologies
■ Offers a common interface for higher layer

protocols
■ Allows for transparent communication using

different transport technologies

■ Goals of WDP
■ Create a worldwide interoperable transport system

with the help of WDP adapted to the different

underlying technologies
■ Transmission services such as SMS in GSM might

3/11/200 change, new services can replace the old ones

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 WTLS -Wireless
Transport Layer
Security
■ Goals
■ Data integrity
■ prevention of changes in data

■ Privacy
■ prevention of tapping

■ Authentication
■ creation of authenticated relations between a

mobile device and a server

■ Protection against denial-of-service attacks
■ protection against repetition of data and unverified

data

■ WTLS
■ Based on the TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocol

(former SSL, Secure Sockets Layer)

3/11/200■ Optimized for low-bandwidth
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 WTP - Wireless
Transaction Protocol
■ Common interface to transport mechanisms, port-based abstract
interface to applications
■ Application is independent of transport mechanisms

■ Support of different communication scenarios

■ Connection oriented (WTP/C): reliable, full-duplex, QoS

negotiation, flow control, message oriented

■ Transaction oriented (WTP/T): reliable, data already in the first

packet, flow control

■ Connectionless (WTP/D): unreliable, ca be UDP if IP used for

layer 3
■ Supports peer-to-peer, client/server and multicast applications
■ Low memory requirements, suited to simple devices (< 10kbyte )
■ Efficient for wireless transmission
■ Segmentation/reassembly

■ Selective retransmission

■ Header compression

■ Optimized connection setup (setup with data transfer)

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 WSP - Wireless Session
Protocol
■ HTTP 1.1 functionality
■ Request/reply, content type
negotiation, ...
■ support of client/server, transactions,
push technology
■ key management, authentication,

Internet security services

■ session management

(interruption, resume,...)
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 WAE - Wireless
Application
Environment
■ Goals
■ Network independent application environment for low-bandwidth,
wireless devices
■ Integrated Internet/WWW programming model with high
interoperability
■ Requirements
■ Device and network independent, international support
■ Manufacturers can determine look-and-feel, user interface
■ Considerations of slow links, limited memory, low computing
power, small display, simple user interface (compared to
desktop computers)
■ Components
■ Architecture: application model, browser, gateway, server
■ WML: XML-Syntax, based on card stacks, variables, ...
■ WMLScript: procedural, loops, conditions, ... (similar to
JavaScript)
■ WTA: telephone services, such as call control, text messages,
phone book,
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... (accessible from WML/WMLScript)
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■ Content formats: vCard, vCalendar, Wireless Bitmap, WML, ...
 Examples for WAP
protocol stacks
WAE user agent WAP standardization

WAE outside WAP

transaction
WSP based
application
datagram
WTP based
WTP
application
WTLS
WTLS WTLS

UDP WDP
UDP WDP UDP WDP
IP non IP
(GPRS, ...) (SMS, ...) IP non IP IP non IP
(GPRS, ...) (SMS, ...) (GPRS, ...) (SMS, ...)
typical WAP
pure data
application
application
with complete
with/without
stac
protocol
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 Network Example
#1 WAP Gateway

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 Network Example
#2 WAP Application
Server

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 Payload vs.
Overhead

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 HTML and mobile
devices
■ HTML
■ designed for computers with “high” performance, color high-
resolution display, mouse, hard disk
■ typically, web pages optimized for design, not for
communication
■ Mobile devices
■ often only small, low-resolution displays, very limited input
interfaces (small touch-pads, soft-keyboards)
■ Additional “features”
■ animated GIF, Java AWT, Frames, ActiveX Controls,
Shockwave, movie clips, audio, ...
■ many web pages assume true color, multimedia support, high-
resolution and many plug-ins

■ Web pages ignore the heterogeneity of end-systems!

■ e.g., without additional mechanisms, large high-resolution pictures
would be transferred to a mobile phone with a low-resolution
display causing high costs
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 WML/
WMLScript
■ Wireless Markup Language

■ Based on XML
■ WML enables small and flexible

information display on mobile

phones or PDAs
■ WML permits scale of display

■ WMLScript is based on ECMAScript

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 WML
(I)
■ Tag-based browsing language

■ Screen management (text,

images)
■ Data input (text, selection lists,

etc.)
■ Hyperlinks and navigation

support
■ W3C XML-based language
■ Inherits technology from HDML
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 WML
(II)
■ Card metaphor
■ User interactions are split into
cards
■ Navigation occurs between cards
■ Explicit inter-card navigation
model
■ Hyperlinks
■ UI event handling
■ History
■ State management and
variables
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1 ■ Reduce networkL traffic
 WML Example
(I)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE wml PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD WML
1.1//EN"
"http://www.wapforum.org/DTD/wml_1.1.xml">

<wml>
<card id=„no1“ title="Image">
<p>
This is an image
<img src="../images/stickman.wbmp"
alt="stickman" />
in a paragraph
</p>
</card>
</wml>

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 WML Example
(II)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE wml PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD WML
1.1//EN"
"http://www.wapforum.org/DTD/wml_1.1.xml">
<wml>
<card id="card1" title="School">
<do type="accept" label="Answer">
<go href="#card2"/>
</do>
<p>
<select name="name">
<option value="HTML">HTML School</option>
<option value="XML">XML School</option>
<option
</select> value="WAP">WAP School</option>
</p>
</card>
<card id="card2" title="Answer">
<p>
You selected: $(name)
</p>
</card>
</wml>
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 WMLScri
ptWMLScript is the scripting language
■

used in WML pages

■ WMLScript is a light version of the

JavaScript language
■ WML scripts are not embedded in the

WML pages. WML pages only contains

references to script URLs
■ WMLScript is compiled into byte code

on the server before it is sent to the

WAP browser
■ WMLScript is a part of the WAP
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 WMLScript
Example
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE wml PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD
WML 1.1//EN"
"http://www.wapf extern function go_url(the_url)
orum.org/DTD/wml_1.1.xml" {
> if (String.find(the_url,"http://") < 0)
<wml> {
<card id="no1" title="Go to URL"> the_url="http://"+the_url;
<do type="options" label="Go"> }
<go WMLBrowser.go(the_url);
href="check.wmls#go_url('my_url')"/> }
</do>
<p>
Enter a URL: check.wmls
<input type="text" name="my_url"/>
</p>
</card>
</wml>

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 Contents
Provision

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 Implementati
on
■ Nokia Activ Software

Suite
■ Phone.com UP.Link

Server
■ Kannel

■ http://www.kannel.org
■ Open Source Project

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 Test WAP on
PC
■ Virtual WAPJAG

■ http://virtual.wapjag.com
■ http://virtual.wapjag.com/?url=wa

p.n-
tv.de

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 Useful WAP
sites:
■ WAP sites catalog
■ http://www.wap.de/Katalog/index.
html
■ News
■ wap.n-tv.de
■ wap.tagesschau.de
■ Information
■ wap.lufthansa.de
■ wap.bahn.de
■ Search engine
■ wap.fireball.de
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 Possible
Applications
M-commerce - shopping, tickets, micro-payments
■

■ Finance - statements, funds transfer, shares trading

■ M-billing - notification, presentation and payment of

bills
■ Enterprise access - inventory, shipment/sales

updates, email
■ M-care - customer service, payment status, account

updates
■ Entertainment - games, gambling, interactive

multi-player events
■ Messaging - communication and collaboration

■ Travel - scheduling, advisories, reservations

■ Location services - traffic reports, parking

information, store discounts,

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recommendations
 Consumer
Applications
■Simple Person ■ Prepayment
to Person ■ Ringtones
Messaging ■ Mobile Commerce
■ Voice and Fax ■ Affinity Programs
Mail
Notifications
■ Mobile Banking
■ Unified
■ Chat
Messaging ■ Information
■ Internet Email Services

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 Corporate
Applications
■Job Dispatch ■ File Transfer
■ Remote Point Of ■ Web Browsing
Sale ■ Document Sharing
■ Customer Service ■ Collaborative
■ Remote Monitoring Working
Such As Meter ■ Audio
Reading ■ Still Images
■ Vehicle Positioning ■ Moving Images
■ Corporate Email ■ Home Automation
■ Remote LAN Access
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 WAP 2.0 - the
Next
Generation
■XHTML (with backwards
compatibility to WML)
■ TCP
■ Color graphics
■ Animation
■ Large file downloading
■ Location-smart services
■ Streaming media
■ Data synchronization with desktop
PIM
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 But, What is Actually
WAP
■Where are the phones
■ Wasn‘t actually possible
■ Challenges
■ Will it offer appealing content
■ Will it be obsolete by other technologies
■ What happens if „Thin-Client“ becomes
more powerful
■ What happens if more bandwidths are
available

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