WAP

(Wireless Application
Protocol)
 The Two Paradigms

W – World W – World
W – Wide W – Wide
W -- Web W – Wireless
W -- Web
 Imagine …Anytime,
Anywhere You Can
 Get financial information
 Order and buy tickets
 Pay your bills
 Read the news
 Read and send e-mails
 Receive your voice-mail
 Get a local guide to restaurants
 Make stock queries
WAP makes it
possible !!
Why is Internet not enough?
… or actually … "too much" ...
 Motivations for WAP
n Web Access to mobile phones is different
because
n The Network is different
n Bandwidth is limited.
n The client devices are different.
n Weak CPU, Small Memory.
n Restricted MMI(display and keyboard, no

mouse)
n Restricted Power Consumption.
n Users are different
n Ease of use is very essential.

 Thus,


 A special protocol suite for Wireless

Web Access is justified.
 WAP Forum
 The Wireless Application Protocol is a standard
developed by the WAP Forum, a group founded by
Nokia, Ericsson, Unwired Planet and Motorola.


 The goals of WAP are to be:

n Independent of wireless network standard.
n Open to all.
n Scalable across transport options.
n Scalable across device types i.e. device independent.
n Extensible over time to new networks and transports.
n
 What is WAP?
n Wireless Application Protocol or WAP for
short is simply a protocol - a standardized
way for delivering Internet data over
wireless networks.
n

n Thus WAP links Wireless Network with

Computer Network (World Wide Web)
n

n Enables the mobile users to access the internet

data.
Wireless Application Protocol
nProtocol specification for communication
over wireless devices
nSpecified by WAP Forum

nOpen, global and non proprietary.

nDevice and bearer independent.

nConforming to OSI standards

nYou can say that it is a “parallel internet”

 WAP Key Features
Sc

ge
Designed to create services rip Multiple OS like Palm OS,

ua
for small handheld terminals tL EPOC, Flex OS, Java

ng
an
OS, OS/9, PocketPC ec.

La
gu
p
ku ag
e
ar
M

W
A ire
Fr pp l e
am lic ss

k
St t
ac
ol gh
ew atio Te

oc ei
or ns lep
ot t w
k ho Pr gh Designed to minimize
Access to telephony
Li

related functionality ny required bandwidth

and impact of latency
 WAP Architecture

Any WAP enable system consists of :



 A) WAP Gateway
 B) the HTTP Web Server and
 C) the WAP Device (ex: any WAP enabled
 mobile)
n
 WAP Architecture
Application Servers
(3rd party) Application Server,
Telephony Services
Operator’s
domain

WAP Gateway/
Proxy

Wireless
Network
Internet
 WAP Gateway
Connects the Internet domain to the
n
Wireless domain.
Cache service
n

Script compilation
n

Protocol conversion
n

Security provided with WTLS, which

n
supports authentication and encryption
Compressed Binary Transmission
n

n
 WAP Server
nHosts WAP applications
nAllows WAP services to be hosted on
standard WWW servers using proven
technologies like ASP, Java Servlets, CGI
scripts …
nProvides security and authentication

nWAP content is created using WML, which

is a light weight HTML.
nGateway and server functions can be
combined into a single physical server.
WAP Application Environment
n Wireless Markup Language (WML)
A light markup language, similar to HTML, but
optimized for use in handheld mobile terminals

n WML Script
A lightweight scripting language, similar to JavaScript
n

n Wireless Telephony Application (WTA, WTAI)

A framework and programming interface for telephony
service
n
WAP Protocol Stack
WAP Protocols
Conventional Web Architecture
Working of WAP

Fig: Showing WAP user request and response

Services & Business Areas
n Information services
n

n WAP Portals
n

n M-care - customer service, payment status, account

updates
n Entertainment – games & interactive multi-player
events
n

n M-commerce
nBanking and finance

nShopping

nGambling

nTicketing
 WAP v/s Standard Protocols
WAP is more economical than HTTP


n HTTP requires a TCP connection to every server: WAP

requires only one (WSP) session with its gateway.
n HTTP compiles the given content “as it is”.

 WAP compiles the WML content.

n HTTP uses human readable headers.

 WAP uses binary headers.



 For equivalent content, WAP requires less

packets and less volume than HTTP. Thus, it
provides higher effective bandwidth.



Advantages Vs Disadvantages

nSimplicity of Use nLow Band Width

nMobility nBattery life

nLimited Computation Power

nPersonalized
nLimited on board storage
nEasy to Carry
nLimited Graphics

nLimited Keyboard and Display

screen Size
 Potential Threats

n
n
Pricing
n Security
n End-to-end security problems
n

n Marketing
n Technology push, not market pull
n

n Competition
nMicrosoft Wireless Knowledge (Microsoft-Qualcomm tie-up)
nPalm VII (Palm Computing)
nI-mode (NTT) , currently most developed but limited due to
PDC
nSIM TOOLKIT, will be a complementary solution
 So Far …
nInternet on the cell phone.
nDownloadable applications.

nLocation and proximity detection

technologies…Global Positioning system
nConvergence of WAP and Bluetooth

nEvolution of Wireless networks towards 3

and 4G.
 Exciting Possibilities

nEmbedded Java will do away with

performance and memory issues
n“WAPLETS” will allow you to
dynamically download Java byte code and
execute them on the cell phone
nVoice will be a predominant option for
data entry, but key pads will still be used
for secure data
 Conclusion …
SMS and WAP continue to be the key
n
technologies for wireless application
development
n

When you design for wireless, don’t take a

n
“porting” approach towards your
application. Instead, focus on how you can
leverage the strength of the medium to
design your next killer app.
 References
n http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Application_Protoc
n

n www.scribd.com
n

n http://www.w3schools.com/wap/
n

n
n
http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/channels/wap/training/wa
n http://www.openmobilealliance.org/tech/affiliates/wap/wa
n
Thank You