MCommerce MobileCommerce

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M-Commerce (Mobile-Commerce)

• Format of lecture session -
• What is M-Commerce? Including history
• M-Commerce Applications
• What is WAP?
• Bandwidth explanation
• WAP technical
• Alternatives to WAP
• Future Developments

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What is M-Commerce? History 1

• The rise of mobile data communication - the
  growth of mobile phone users - 500 million users
  and growing
• Forecast of 1bn phones by 2002 offering Internet
  services
• Trend towards converging technology - over the
  last two years the Internet and
  telecommunications have started to converge -
  network operators see mobile services as a huge
  opportunity
• Lead by customer demands - easy access to
  information anywhere at any time

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What is M-Commerce? History 2

• Early convergence started when users connected
  their mobile phones to laptop computers using
  infrared connection (IRDA port)
• Attempts were made by some manufacturers to
  integrate the browser itself in the phone
• Nokia introduced Smart Messaging but because it
  was not an open standard and the device was
  expensive it was not successful
• Java, the Network Computer and Personal Digital
  Assistants (PDAs) have been in the mix as well

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What is M-Commerce? Current 1

• Telecom operators and database vendors are
  attempt to provide
• broadband wireless communications infrastructures
• common interfaces
• operating systems for mobile computing devices
• Databases on mobiles is called the low-end server
  market. Examples -
• SQL Server mobile version
• Sybase SQL Anywhere Studio
• 3Com with Palm operating system

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M-Commerce Applications 1

• Real time share prices
• stock market movements as they happen
• Share portfolio
• client is able to track/purchase/sell shares
• Internet financial data company Hemscott allow
  mobile phone users to trade shares. Group has
  linked up with w-Trade Technologies of America to
  offer this WAP service.

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M-Commerce Applications 2

• News and weather updates
• Bank balances - most banks now giving away WAP
  phones to their on-line customers e.g. Nat West
• The take up of WAP in the UK has been extremely
  poor

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M-Commerce Applications 3

• Conversely mobile messaging has been hugely
  popular with the public. Short Message Services
  (SMS) - as of April 2001 there are 1billion
  messages per month in the UK alone!!!!
• Applications using SMS on mobile phone are
  limited by the size of character text message
  that can be sent and there is perhaps an issue
  with security
• Broadband bandwidth will supersede SMS
  limitations.see bandwidth slides later on
• Of course email via the internet using WAP phones
  or PDA phones has had some take up

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M-Commerce Applications 4

• Mobile commerce offers an interactive future
  with-
• two-way applications such as video telephony and
  video gambling(work currently under way on the UK
  lottery)
• one-way multimedia services such as movies on
  demand
• M-Commerce can include the use of mobile devices
  and location based services to facilitate
  conventional transactions - brick and click. UK
  behind on this type of application but not Hong
  Kong!
• JCW saw in Hong Kong the e-Coupon service -
  customers download special offers and discounts
  into their handsets in SMS formats
• Customer then enjoys range of privileges upon
  presentation of e-Coupon!

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M-Commerce Applications 5

• Wireless Portals
• Companies use the portal to enable their staff to
  keep in touch with enterprise email systems and
  with customer data
• Wireless portals are defined entry points through
  which users of mobile devices can access
  corporate systems
• A recent study by Delphi Group found that more
  than half of the companies surveyed expected to
  use wireless portals to deliver information to
  their workforce in the next two years

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What is WAP? 1

• WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol
• It is a solution for usable data communication on
  wireless devices
• It is also an open standard for browsing through
  WAP enabled Internet sites with a wireless device
• The WAP standard is a set of specifications that
  define how the client (mobile device) and a
  server communicate with one another and how a
  user communicates with the mobile device

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What is WAP? 2

• Why the need for WAP?
• To set a global standard for global services
• promotes convergence
• WAP Forum is the driver for the standard
• Users can access any WAP compliant site with a
  wireless device
• Not controlled by one party
• Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and Phone.com original
  members of the WAP forum industry association

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What is WAP? 3 - WAP devices

• SOC will be purchasing the new Ericsson R380 WAP
  phone for Summer 2001

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What is WAP? 4 - WAP devices

• However, Just because it is a WAP phone does not
  make it the finished article. Why?
• The phone we will buy will be GPRS compliant.
• GPRS will be superseded by the more versatile
  third-generation phones in 2002 - UMTS compliant
  phones - see later slides for info on UMTS
• As you all know devices soon become out of date
  as technology advances - there has recently(April
  2001) been evidence of downturn in device
  purchasing by UK customers - sticking with what
  they have got

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What is WAP? 5 - features

• It is optimised for wireless devices
• The WAP standard was invented for wireless
  devices instead of using existing internet
  technology and to cope with the obvious
  limitations of a mobile device
• Size of screen
• Input facilities of the keyboard and other
  navigational tools
• Limited CPU and memory size
• Restricted bandwidth - see next slide

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Bandwidth 1

• Currently limited bandwidth for mobile network
• The speed of most common networks such as GSM
  (Global System for Mobiles) are limited to
  9,600bps (this is very slow compared to a
  standard modem)
• Higher speeds are thankfully in the pipeline -
• 2.5 generation solution using General Packet
  Radio Service (GPRS)
• 3rd generation Universal Mobile
  Telecommunications Services (UMTS)
• Vodafone in April 2001 performed their first test
  UMTS voice call

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Bandwidth 2

• GPRS was launched in July 2000 and devices
  available early in 2001 which will improve speed
  to a maximum of 115kbps (about eight times of
  GSM)
• UMTS is a third generation standard and will give
  a massive leap to a maximum of 2mbps!!! (that is
  2,000kbps)
• UMTS - launch world-wide 2002 - UK probably
  sooner
• If you recall the rights to build a 3rd
  generation infrastructure were auctioned last
  year in European countries like the UK

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GPRS reference

• GPRS is currently being built into mobile devices
  for 2001
• GPRS uses packet based technology to provide a
  so-called always on connection
• As a result there will be no delay when user
  accesses the internet - current WAP phones can
  take minutes to log onto the internet
• see great article on board about GPRS
• http//www.mobileGPRS.com/

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WAP technical 1

• The main difference between browsing through your
  existing PC browser and through a WAP enabled
  device is the WAP gateway
• WAP gateway retrieves information for you but
  shrinks it into a more compact format to save
  bandwidth before sending to mobile device
• You dial up the access server which assigns a
  unique IP address to your phone and then you can
  connect to WAP sites over the network that the
  WAP gateway is connected to
• The gateway uses a WAP stack augments the
  standard internet architecture

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WAP technical 2 - WAP Stack

• The WAP layers which make up the stack are-
• Wireless Application Environment (WAE)
• Wireless Session Layer (WSL)
• Wireless Transport Layer (WTP)
• Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) and
  Wireless Datagram Protocol (WDP)

WAE WML and WML Script
Bearer network
WSL
WTP
WTLS
WDP
Application Layer
Infrastructure Layer
HTML and JavaScript
HTTP
SSL
TCP/IP
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WAP technical 3 - comparison of access
WAP Infrastructure
WAP Gateway
Mobile Network
WAP Phone
Internet
Access Server
Web Server
Fixed Network
Access Server
ISP Infrastructure
PC with web browser
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WAP technical 4

• Instead of HTML WAP uses Wireless Markup Language
  (WML)
• Allows the text portions of Web pages to be
  presented on cellular phones and personal digital
  assistants (PDA's) via wireless access
• WML is an open language offered royalty-free see
  practical link and a filter program can convert
  HTML pages to WML

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WAP technical 5

• Is Wireless E-Commerce secure?
• Yes there is security consideration
• However, not point to point at present - goes
  through provider - WAP gateway
• Wireless message is encrypted using the Wireless
  Transport Layer Security (WTLS)
• Gets decrypted at switch to decide where to send
  it
• Gets re-encrypted and sent to destination

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Alternatives to WAP 1

• I-Mode
• Alternative communication layers
• Bluetooth (wireless)
• ADSL (not wireless)
• Digital satellite and digital cable
• Further information about the first two follows

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Alternatives to WAP 2 - I-Mode

• Current number of users is 22million
• Provided by DoCoMo (means anywhere in Japanese)
• WAP like but a different standard - uses
  C-HTML(compact HTML) and uses current internet
  technology rather than a WAP stack and gateway
• They seemed to have concentrated on usability and
  service - i.e. large number of sites accessible
• They will launch their 3G offering called W-CDMA
  (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) in
  Europe during May 2001! - way ahead of WAP
  timetable!

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Alternatives to WAP 3 - Bluetooth

• Bluetooth - allows wireless transfer of data
  between mobile devices and fixed devices over
  very short distances
• Bluetooth technology is being marketed as an
  alternative to infra-red technology. Infra red
  has one big disadvantage - it demands a
  line-of-sight connection
• see www.bluetooth.com
• see http//bluetooth.ericsson.se/default.asp

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Alternatives to WAP 4 - ADSL

• Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) a
  digital subscriber loop technology using existing
  copper cables from British Telecom
• Always on and quite cheap compared to ISDN
• Drawback? transmits data from the home to the
  service provider at much slower speeds than they
  receive it
• Advantage of wireless over ADSL is that not only
  receives broadband communications such as video
  over the airwaves but also transmits at the same
  high speed

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Future developments 1

• Convergence - E-Goggles!
• Frogdesign concept of ski goggles - in production
  in the next two years will allow web-surfing via
  a display on the inside of the glasses and a
  broadband internet connection.
• The goggles will also come with a built-in
  wireless phone and complete GPS (Global
  positioning system)

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Future developments 2

• Bango numbers!
• To get round cumbersome process of entering web
  addresses (URLs) into a WAP phone Bango.net is
  collaborating with mobile phone operators on a
  system which will replace the URL with simple
  numerical codes called Bango numbers
• Advantage - easier to input