Lesson 2

A mobile computing environment involves accessing information through a wireless network connection. The mobile unit may be stationary, in motion, and/or intermittently connected to a fixed (wired) network. The increasing development and spread of computer networks, and the extensive need for information sharing have created a considerable demand for cooperation among pre-existing, distributed, heterogeneous, and autonomous information sources. In addition, users have become more demanding in that they desire and sometimes even require access to information anytime, anywhere. The growing diversity in the range of information that is accessible to a user at any given time and the rapidly expanding technology that makes available a wide breadth of devices, with different physical characteristics, have changed the traditional notion of timely and reliable access to global information in a distributed system. Growth and success of such an environment depends on two fundamental issues, efficient management of information systems and availability of reliable communications infrastructure.

Remote access to data is a rapidly expanding and it has become increasingly important aspect of computing. Remote access to data refers to both mobile nodes and fixed nodes accessing heterogeneous and autonomous data sources in an infrastructure that is identified by the following parameters:
Low bandwidth;

1. Frequent disconnection;
2. High error rates;
3. Limited processing resources; and
4. Limited power sources.