| The migration of the most common Internet services to a mobile environment has long been an evolving demand of both business and consumer markets. The ability to be connected to the Internet while on the go and to benefit from using such applications as e-mail, instant messaging, audio and video streaming, Web browsing, and e-commerce creates an exciting new lifestyle and sets the foundation for increased work efficiency and productivity. In addition, however, it introduces numerous technical challenges inherently associated with the user’s mobility and wireless connectivity. This book addresses these technical challenges and provides a thorough examination of the most recent and up-to-date technologies designed to deal with them and enable the so-called mobile Internet. It is written by some of the most eminent academic and industry professionals in the areas of mobile and multimedia networking.
In more detail, this book first discusses the evolution toward the mobile Internet and the associated technological trends and visions. In this context, it illustrates the key features of this evolution, including the migration to all-IP networks, the enabling of advanced multimedia services, the provision of endto- end quality of service (QoS), and the integration of heterogeneous access networks. In addition, we discuss the key players in the evolution toward the mobile Internet (e.g., the Third-Generation Partnership Project [3GPP], 3GPP2, the Internet Engineering Task Force [IETF], and the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers [IEEE]) and summarize their corresponding activities. This allows the reader to obtain a coherent understanding of how the technology is being evolved to meet the requirement of the mobile Internet and who is involved in this evolution.
Subsequently, the most common mobile and wireless network technologies that can provide the means for mobile Internet connectivity are examined. In this context, Internet access over technologies such as wireless local area networks (WLANs), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and satellites is discussed in a comprehensive way in order for the reader to understand their respective characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. To explain how well each technology can support Internet applications, we review their QoS and routing features. In addition, we present performance results and demonstrate how WLAN and cellular networks can be integrated in order to provide heterogeneous mobile data networks that are capable of ubiquitous data services with very high data rates in strategic locations, such as airports, hotels, shopping centers, and university campuses. Such heterogeneous networks are generally considered to be a key characteristic of fourth-generation (4G) mobile data networks. |