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To: JohnG who wrote (8221)	10/13/1999 10:37:00 AM
From: slacker711	Respond to of 54805

Here's a pretty good explanation on both WAP and Phone.com......The site also explains all kinds of other wireless acronyms. dataonsms.com Wireless Protocols BACKGROUND Several different wireless protocols are emerging- these protocols attempt to standardize the means through which server-based software applications communicate with mobile phones in order to carry out administration and service-related tasks such as customer provisioning and service access menus. All of these protocols take client-server approaches- requiring support in both mobile phones and servers connected to the SMS Centers for actual implementation. The general industry direction that all the protocols anticipate is towards more individual, interactive and intelligent wireless services. This section will discuss the main protocols: SIM Application Toolkit Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and MExE (Mobile Station Application Execution Environment). Let us take a look at each of these three wireless protocols in turn. WIRELESS APPLICATION PROTOCOL (WAP) See wapforum.org. Simon Buckingham's own dedicated WAP website is located at mobilewap.com Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson and the US software company Phone.com (formerly Unwired Planet) were the initial partners that teamed up to develop and deploy the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). WAP is an attempt to define the standard for how content from the Internet is filtered for mobile communications. WAP was developed because content is now readily available on the Internet, and there needs to be a way of making it easily available to mobile terminals. One of the reasons why the mobile industry has got so excited about WAP is because it combines two of the fastest growing industries: wireless and the Internet. The Wireless Application Protocol is envisaged as a comprehensive and scaleable protocol designed for use with: any mobile phone from those with a one line display to a smart phone any existing or planned wireless service such as SMS, Data, Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) any mobile network standard such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobiles (GSM), a widely available digital mobile phone standard, or Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) multiple input terminals such as keypads, keyboards, touch-screens and styluses The Wireless Application Protocol incorporates a relatively simple micro-browser into the mobile phone. As such, WAP's requirement for only limited resources on the mobile phone makes it suitable for thin clients and early smart phones. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is designed to add value-added services by putting the intelligence in the WAP servers whilst adding just a micro-browser to the mobile phones themselves. Microbrowser-based services and applications reside temporarily on servers, not permanently in phones. The Wireless Application Protocol is aimed at turning a mass-market mobile phone into a "network-based smartphone". As a representative from Phone.com (formerly Unwired Planet) on the board of the WAP Forum commented "The philosophy behind Wireless Application Protocol's approach is to utilize as few resources as possible on the handheld device and compensate for the constraints of the device by enriching the functionality of the network". The Wireless Application Protocol embraces and extends the previously conceived and developed wireless data protocols such as the technology developed by Phone.com (formerly Unwired Planet) and Nokia's Smart Messaging. Phone.com (formerly Unwired Planet) created a version of the standard HTML (HyperText Markup Language) Internet protocols designed specifically for effective and cost-effective information transfer across mobile networks. Wireless terminals incorporate a HDML (Handheld Device Markup Language) microbrowser, and Phone.com (formerly Unwired Planet)'s Handheld Device Transport Protocol (HDTP) then linked the terminal to the UP.Link Server Suite which connected to the Internet or intranet where the information being requested resides. The Internet site content was tagged with HDML. (See www.phone.com). This technology has been incorporated into WAP- and renamed using some of the many WAP-related acronyms such as WMLS, WTP and WSP. (See www.phone.com). Someone with a WAP-compliant phone uses the in-built micro-browser to make a request in WML (Wireless Markup Language, a language derived from HTML especially for wireless network characteristics). This request is passed to a WAP server that then retrieves the information from a Internet server either in standard HTML format or preferably directly prepared for wireless terminals using WML. If the content being retrieved is in HTML format, a filter in the Wireless Application Protocol Server may try to translate it into WML. A WML scripting language is available to format data such as calendar entries and electronic business cards for direct incorporation into the client device. The requested information is then sent from the WAP Server to the WAP client, using whatever mobile network bearer service is available and most appropriate. The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is well placed to eventually become a standard wireless phone protocol. Whilst Mobile Station Application Execution Environment (MExE) is a only a GSM and Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) standard, WAP is being designed for all cellular standards such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and is supported by major worldwide wireless leaders such as AT&T Wireless and NTT DoCoMo.