WIRELESS APPLICATION PROTOCOL (WAP)

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The Basics

1. What is the Wireless Internet?
2. Wireless Internet growth.

   The Technology

3. What is WAP?
4. Are there common standards for hardware, software and authoring?
5. How does WAP hosting and serving work?
6. What is a Micro-browser?
7. What is WML?
8. Is WAP Network Dependant?

   Wireless Internet Business

9. How might it be useful for my business?
10. Do I need a WAP website?
11. How do I go about getting a WAP website?
12. How does the Wireless Internet benefit end-users?
13. Is WAP Secure?
14. What about Wireless E-commerce?

    The Future

15. What developments are on the horizon?
16. What is the future of WAP?

    Glossary

THE BASICS

What is the Wireless Internet?

The Internet is moving from the 'desk-top PC' to anywhere, anytime Internet access. This is made possible by mobile devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA's) and pagers that have micro-browsers and are enabled with the Wireless application Protocol (WAP).

Wireless Internet Growth

Research has shown that by 2004 there will be one billion mobile phones in circulation. The number of mobile data users worldwide will grow rapidly from 31.7 million (1999) to 750 million (2004). In developed countries the percentage of mobile subscribers using data will be above 70%, with the highest, at 79% in Japan and W. Europe. - Reuters

THE TECHNOLOGY

What is WAP?

The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is the de-facto world standard for the presentation and delivery of wireless information and telephony services on mobile phones and other wireless devices.

WAP is tailor made to operate under the low bandwidth constraints of wireless networks (this is about 9.6kbps at the moment on a wireless network compared to the average of 56kbps on your PC, which uses normal telephone lines). Most mobile computing devices have limited CPU, memory, and battery life, and a simple user interface. WAP was developed with these limitations in mind.

Are there common standards for hardware, software and authoring?

Yes, as described above common Internet standards such as XML have formed the foundation for wireless Internet web authoring tools.

How does WAP hosting and serving work?

A WAP Gateway is used to link the mobile network to the Internet. This allows WAP-enabled mobile devices to request WAP services (for example, a wml web page) and information from traditional web servers - provided certain pre-configurations have been made.

The WAP gateway translates requests from WAP protocols to the web protocols. The content encoders translate Web content into compact formats to reduce the travelling over the wireless data network. The WAP Gateway also typically takes over all DNS services to resolve domain names used in URLs, thus offloading this computing task from the handset.

This infrastructure ensures that mobile device users can browse a variety of WAP content and applications regardless of the wireless network they use (provided that their network provider allows it). Application authors are able to build content services that are network and device independent, allowing their applications to reach the largest possible audience. WAP content and applications are hosted on standard WWW servers and can be developed using proven Web technologies.

What is a Micro-browser?

Micro-browser's are like normal Internet browsers except that they are specially built for mobile devices (such as mobile phones). They interpret and display WML pages.

What is WML?

Developers of WAP viewable sites use WML in much the same way as HTML is used for normal web sites. WML is based on the XML standard.

Is WAP Network Dependant?

No. WAP is network independent and leverages the existing infrastructure of the Internet while solving the unique problems associated with the wireless domain.

The WAP specification extends and leverages existing Internet technologies, such as IP, HTTP, XML, SSL, URLs, scripting and other content formats.

WIRELESS INTERNET BUSINESS

How might it be useful for my business?

"The market for mobile e-commerce will be worth $23 billion by 2003 - up from a mere $300 million in 1998." - BBC news.

Businesses that make use of this wireless technology will have the competitive edge. They will be able to offer a level of service never before possible. WAP creates new business opportunities for corporations by providing a new channel for existing services and the possibility for totally new services that can reach customers 24 hours a day wherever they are.

No matter what business you're in, it's hard to ignore 1 billion people!

Do I need a WAP website?

If you have a website you are serving the Internet community. A WAP website would be the logical extension of your HTML website. Given the sheer magnitude of the present and future mobile community, it is advisable to start looking into ways to include the wireless Internet into your online business strategy. A WAP website could end up giving your business the edge over your competitors. Also, it has generally been true that companies who adopted Internet technology before their peer group have gained competitive advantages. It would be sensible to see wireless networks as the 'next wave' of the same phenomenon.

How do I go about getting a WAP website?

Step one would be to establish clear business objectives for your WAP website. Define exactly what service your site will offer. The next step is to approach a professional Internet design company to assist you in implementing your WAP website - but be aware that this is early adopter territory, and even some of the best web design firms may not yet offer this service. It is also key to find a suitable 'host' for your site - somewhere for your site to reside. Once your site is developed and hosted it is critical to promote your site and let people know that it's there.

How does the Wireless Internet Benefit end-users?

The wireless Internet enables end-users to access highly personalised, relevant information from literally anywhere at any time. WAP adds a new dimension to the Internet - mobility. With a mobile phone or a handheld PC that supports WAP you can book tickets, order a pizza and check your bank account at any time. On the bus, on the beach or at work. The information is there when you need it - anywhere, anytime. You can search for news, weather forecasts and stock exchange rates if you want to be up-to-date. Play games, gamble and chat if you want entertainment.

Is WAP Secure?

The security measures available over WAP are similar to those commonly used on the Web. But where the Web uses so-called 'Secure Sockets Layer' (SSL), the wireless Internet uses a version know as 'Wireless Transport Layer Security' (WTLS) to provide similar levels of confidentiality, integrity and authentication in a lower-bandwidth environment.

What about Wireless E-commerce?

Wireless e-commerce is simply the ability to purchase goods and services and make payments via the Internet on your mobile device. The vast majority of the major Internet portals and shopping sites are already offering mobile, WAP versions of their sites.

Various leading banks in the UK are also offering secure banking facilities for clients, via their mobile phones, using 128-bit encryption. For more information click here.

Nokia and Visa (The world's largest consumer payments organisation and the world's number one mobile phone manufacturer) have also recently (February 2000) signed an agreement to introduce solutions for advanced mobile e-commerce. Under the agreement, Nokia and Visa will introduce a standardised means of making secure payments using a mobile. These solutions will be based on the WAP standard, to enable a mobile phone user to make secure, guaranteed payments over the Internet. For more information click here.

THE FUTURE

What developments are on the horizon? (up to 2004)

3G - HSCSD - GPRS - EDGE - UMTS - BLUETOOTH

3G

('3rd Generation' or 3G is the generic term used for the next generation of mobile communications systems. 3G networks will provide enhanced services to those - such as voice, text and data - available today.) Video on demand, high-speed multimedia and mobile Internet access are just a few of the possibilities for users in the future. 3rd Generation Systems will expand the possibilities of information and communication. The main benefit is that they will offer high-end service capabilities, which includes substantially higher capacity, quality and data rates than is currently available. They will also include the concurrent usage of multiple services. 3rd Generation systems will also bridge the gap between the wireless world and the computing/ Internet world, making inter-operation apparently seamless.

HSCSD

High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) is a new high-speed implementation of GSM data techniques. It will enable users to access the Internet via the GSM network at considerably higher data rates than at present. HSCSD allows wireless data to be transmitted at 38.4 kbps or even faster over GSM networks.

GPRS

(General Packet Radio System) One of the main benefits of this new technology is that users are always connected, always on-line, and may be charged only for the amount of data that is transported. Voice calls can be made simultaneously while a data connection is operating. Users will also benefit from fast and easy 114 kbps data access to different services.

EDGE

Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) will boost network capacity (the amount of data a network can handle at any one time)and increase the air interface data rates. For GSM providers, this new technology will increase data rates of both circuit switching (HSCSD) and packet switching (GPRS) up to three-fold.

UMTS

UMTS stands for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. UMTS will play a key role in creating the future mass market for high-quality wireless multimedia communications that will approach 2 billion users worldwide by the year 2010. UMTS will enable tomorrow's wireless Information Society, delivering high-value broadband information, commerce and entertainment services to mobile users via fixed, wireless and satellite networks. UMTS will deliver low-cost, high-capacity mobile communications offering data rates up to 2Mbps with global roaming and other advanced UMTS services, which will launch commercially from 2002.

BLUETOOTH

Bluetooth wireless technology is a de facto standard, as well as a specification for low-cost, short-range radio links between mobile PCs, mobile phones and other portable devices. Bluetooth will enable users to connect a wide range of computing and telecommunications devices easily and simply, without the need to buy, carry, or connect cables. It delivers opportunities for rapid ad hoc connections, and the possibility of automatic, unconscious, connections between devices. (For example, as you walk into your office your mobile phone's address book will automatically synchronise with your PC's address book.)

What is the future of WAP?

WAP has been designed to be as independent as possible from the underlying network technology (as specified above). The original constraints WAP was designed for -- intermittent coverage, small screens, low power consumption, wide scalability over bearers and devices and one-handed operation -- are still valid in 3G networks., We can expect the bandwidth required by applications (users want to use) to steadily increase. So, there is still a strong need to optimise use of device and network resources for the wireless environments. We can expect WAP to evolve optimised support for multimedia applications and continue to be relevant.

GLOSSARY

Bandwidth

the amount of data can pass through a network cable, throughput capacity.

CPU

Central Processing Unit, the 'brain' of your personal computer (PC)

IP

Internet Protocol, the protocol of the Internet

HTTP

hypertext Transfer Protocol, the protocol used by Web browsers and Web servers to transfer files.

XML

Extensible Mark-up Language, allows you to define your own customised mark-up language

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer, a standard that provides encryption (or coding) and decryption of data between two network hosts.

URL

Uniform Resource Locator. A website address, for example, www.gaskin-is.com

TCP/IP

Transfer Control Protocol / Internet Protocol, governs how packets of data travel across a network.

Packet

When data travels across a network it is divided into segments or 'packets'

DNS

Domain Name Server, resolves (or matches) domain names to IP addresses.

Domain Name

A 'human friendly' name that represents an IP address on the Internet (or other network).

IP Addresses

where a computer 'lives' or resides on the Internet

Proxy

An entity that, in the interest of efficiency, essentially stands in for another entity.

WML

Wireless Mark-up Language, the formatting tool for constructing web pages for the wireless Internet.

GSM

Global System for Mobile Communications, an international digital cellular standard

Circuit switching

Process of assigning bandwidth to users and applications served by a network. With this method a dedicated physical circuit path must exist between sender and receiver for the duration of the "call." Used heavily in the telephone company network

Packet switching

Networking method in which nodes share bandwidth with each other by sending packets.

Broadband

Any channel having a bandwidth greater than a voice-grade channel. Characterised by high-bandwidth applications.

Protocol

rules that govern the transfer of data over a network