Web site development is also lagging behind in that PDAs and Web phones have very small (as compared say to a 21" monitor) viewing screens. Most Web sites take quite a while to scroll around to get to one’s information. Since the viewing screen is approximately 3" by 4' or less, one has to gain a sense of where one is on the Web site to be successful in moving about to see the presented information.

As noted in the April 2001 column and above, the limitations are network coverage, data throughput and usage costs. Some hardware and Internet providers are attempting to package the main Internet features in proprietary software systems to make it easier for users to get certain services such as e-mail, contacts, maps, travel connections, faxes, and certain features of Web sites such as on line sellers, stocks, directories, news, sports, and weather. This is really handy, but you are tied to what is offered by that service. The general Web connections are slow because all of the Web site is being processed by the limited resources in the PDA or Web phone.

The general operating systems are being fought out in the market place between Palm OS and Windows. PDA manufacturer, HandSpring is attempting to bring its own different OS out as well. This further complicates the situation. The two OSs are compatible only in a few places. Palm OS does not generally talk to Windows. The Palm OS based PDAs have a current majority of the market with Windows CE running a distant second. Windows CE in the Windows based PDAs, however, is readily compatible with Windows at the desktop. This can be a great advantage in developing generalized applications such as databases or spreadsheets for the mobile user. The CE devices are network ready for the most part as is Windows 98/2K.

All of these issues are being addressed because the market is demanding it. It is estimated that approximately 61.5 million wireless data service users will be on line by 2003. This is a very large population of users on the go. And, most of them are going to want to be compatible with the home or office computer. It is being predicted that reaching unconnected customers and employees will soon be one of the vital business issues. The predictions further state that the wireless world is here to stay and those who embrace its capabilities now will gain significant competitive advantages in future markets. The number of wireless users obtaining data through wireless sources is predicted to increase by 730 percent just in the next three years. Implementing wireless communication may be one of the biggest events for Information Technology  managers since networking began.

Databases, office suite applications, and other specialized software such as e-mail are being ported to the hand-held devices. The business up-side is that staff members can be just about anywhere and be in touch with the office and it’s functions. Additionally, the business customers can have really ready access to that data. Business at the speed of light.

Renovation of a business’s software applications to meet wireless capability for both inside and outside needs opens up the requirement to have the data reflect both outside customer and inside employee needs which are very different. IT managers have to be able to handle very different end-user requirements, including an extra level of security of the data. The IT guys must package the data for both inside and outside use. Some companies such as United Airlines and Delta have begun to make certain of their database information available to end-users, both in the firms and customers outside the firms. United has made certain its applications available to its outside sales force to make them more responsive are on the spot to customer needs. United has centered its wireless connectivity around the Windows CE devices because CE handles fairly sophisticated browsers allowing the work force to access inventory and scheduling data with ease. Delta is using both Palm and CE based data output. The executives like the Palm based data output and the sales force likes the CE based data output.

Medical personnel at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, have discovered wireless devices for collecting data in a hurry and being able to deposit it in near ready form for further use. Doctors use hand-held devices while making their rounds. Patient data can be entered in the Windows CE based PDA at each visit and then synced to a desktop back at the office. The data is entered only once and is usable from then on. PDAs are being used by medical students to record patient and clinical training data. This data is then synchronized to their central training server, for later retrieval by other students or professors.

Vitagen, Inc., a biotechnology company, is using Palm PDAs to constantly update and access data from clinical trials of an artificial liver device. This device, the ELAD (Extracorporeal Liver Assist Device) system, is used to aid patients until they receive an organ transplant or until they recover. A program is used to do “patient randomization” and the PDAs speed the field data back to the central office for immediate action on how to classify each patient. Both examples show that the hand-held devices provide one critical factor– speed to the doctor/ patient equation.

In addition to this inside/outside data problem, most companies are deciding how to implement wireless access to existing data applications. Hand-held device screen size and bandwidth rule out complete rewriting of the applications. The IT guys are getting some help in this revamping of the application data.

The wireless companies are developing rules that will provide a standard way of providing Web sites to these devices. The WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) will make it easier for IT departments to rewrite the HTML. The WAP makes use of the extensible HTML or XHMTL code for Web development. Additionally, the cellular telephone companies have formed an group called the Symbian Alliance for development of standards to make the mobile telephones ready to handle data and voice. The Symbian Alliance standard is called the Device Family reference Designs and has three categories of mobile devices. IT departments that have done development alone in the past will now find that they have to have outside help to accomplish wireless goals. IBM, EDS, and Wireless Knowledge are three of these speciality system integrators that offer services to this industry.

A developing Internet protocol is being readied by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) based on the TCP/IP suite of protocols that will become the new Internet standard for Web and private networks. This Mobile IP protocol has as its goal the ability to allow connections anywhere, anytime. The Mobile IP suite will allow users to remain plugged into the network or Web from any location in the world using any medium available. The medium can be cable or wireless as it is independent of the physical medium. It will have the capability for users to change locations without forcing users to restart applications or disturb ongoing communication.

Mobile IP will solve one big problem now associated with regular IP addressing. Currently, when a node (host computer) is moved from one network link to another via TCP/IP, the node cannot communicate at the new location until it changes its IP address to reflect the new network addressing scheme. Since the current IP addressing is based on the network-prefix portion of the destination IP address, network scaling is possible, but each node’s ability to move about is limited. Mobile IP is scalable and secure, and is not media-dependent. It is designed to allow nodes to move from one link to another without changing the IP address.

Mobile Ip supports heterogeneous and homogenous mobility, i.e., it is not dependent on any specific hardware or type of network. Other remote computing standards such as CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) and IEEE 803.11b for wireless networks provide mobility within their respective network and equipment types.

Three new functional entities, a mobile node, a home agent, and a foreign agent, are being developed in the Mobile IP scheme. The mobile node can change its point of attachment from one network to another while maintaining all existing communications. The home agent resides on a router on the mobile nodes home network. The foreign agent resides on a router on the foreign network that the mobile node is visiting. The mobile node acts as a traditional link when on its home network. A “care-of” data packet lets the home agent know when the mobile node is on a foreign network by being sent to a “care-of address on the foreign network. The foreign router then relays the data to the mobile node. This registers the mobile node with the home agent. All IP traffic addressed to the mobile node is received by the home agent and is then encapsulated in another IP packet for tunneling to the foreign agent, who passes the data on the mobile node.

Conclusion
Mobile communication is about to be neat stuff. With the advent of the Mobile IP scheme, everyone will have an IP address which will be acceptable on any network, hence the mobile communications ability to anywhere, anytime.