Wireless Application Protocol Overview Owen Sullivan Worldzap WAP Forum

Wireless Application ProtocolOverview

Owen Sullivan

Worldzap

WAP Forum WAP Forum

©2000 Wireless Application Protocol Forum, Ltd.

Agenda

Development of WAP

Protocol Layers

Wireless Application Environment

Security and Smart Cards

Convergence with IETF protocols


State of industry in 1997

Technologies were in use to allow handheld mobile devices access to network based content, but were incompatible Smart Messaging; HDML, Narrowband sockets, Others ...

WAP Forum was created to provide a single global standard for wireless data access for all handheld mobile devices


Initial goals of the WAP Forum

Bring Internet based content & services to handheld wireless devices

Work across global network technologies

Allow creation of content that works across many types of link layers and device types

To use existing standards wherever possible


What devices is WAP designed for?

Includes mobile phones, pagers, PDAs

Devices with limited CPU, memory & battery life

Devices with a simple user interface

Low bandwidth & high latency environments

Unpredictable availability & stability


Web Server

Content

CGI, Javaservlets, etc

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WAP Gateway

WML Encoder

WMLScriptCompiler

Protocol Adapters

Client

WML

WML-Script

WTAI

Etc.

HTTPWSP/WTP

High level view of WAP Architecture


Link layer technologies supported by WAP

GSM: SMS, Circuit Switched Data, GPRS, USSD, Cell Broadcast

ANSI-136: R-Data, Circuit Switched Data, GPRS-136

CDMA: SMS, Circuit Switched Data, Packet

PDC & PHS: Circuit Switched Data, Packet

CDPD; DECT; TETRA; Mobitex

FLEX and ReFLEX; DataTAC


WAP Protocols

Wireless ApplicationEnvironment (WAE)

Session Layer (WSP)

Security Layer (WTLS)

Transport Layer (WDP)

Other Services andApplications

Transaction Layer (WTP)

SMS USSD GPRS CDPD Etc..Circuit SwitchedData Flex


Wireless Datagram Protocol

Provides a network and bearer independent interface to higher layers

Provides port level addressing

Provides segmentation and reassembly

For link layers that support IP, UDP is used as the Wireless Datagram Protocol layer


Wireless Transaction Protocol

Provides efficient, reliable data transfer based on request/reply paradigm

Supports selective-retransmission

Supports segmentation and re-assembly

Message oriented (not stream)

Supports an Abort function

Supports concatenation of PDUs


Wireless Session Protocol

Provides shared state between client and server used to optimize content transfer

Provides semantics and mechanisms based on HTTP 1.1

Supports compact encoding of headers

Supports push functionality

Supports capability negotiation


Standard Message Center Adaptation Protocol

Non-IP bearer (e.g. SMS)

WDP

WTLS

Non-IP bearer(e.g. SMS)

WDP Adaptation WDP Adaptation

MessageCenter

WAP Proxy/ServerMobile

TCP

WTP

WSP

WAE

WDP

WTLS

WTP

WSP

WAE

IP

TCP

IPWDP Adaptation utilises SMPP, industry standard for Message

Center access


WAP application environment

WML- XML compliant mark-up language

WMLScript - ECMAScript based scripting language

WAP Push mechanism

User Agent profiles

WTA - WAP telephony services


InputElements

WML Example

Deck

CardNavigation

Variables

<WML> <CARD> <DO TYPE=“ACCEPT”> <GO URL=“#eCard”/> </DO Welcome! </CARD> <CARD NAME=“eCard”> <DO TYPE=“ACCEPT”> <GO URL=“/submit?N=$(N)&S=$(S)”/> </DO> Enter name: <INPUT KEY=“N”/> Choose speed: <SELECT KEY=“S”> <OPTION VALUE=“0”>Fast</OPTION> <OPTION VALUE=“1”>Slow</OPTION> <SELECT> </CARD></WML>


Placing an outgoing call with WTAI:

Input Element

WTAI Call

<WML><CARD> <DO TYPE=“ACCEPT”> <GO URL=“wtai:cc/mc;$(N)”/> </DO> Enter phone number: <INPUT TYPE=“TEXT” KEY=“N”/></CARD></WML>

Wireless Telephony Applications


Functions

WMLScript Example

ProgrammingConstructs

Variables

function currencyConvertor(currency, exchRate) { return currency*exchangeRate; }

function myDay(sunShines) { var myDay; if (sunShines) { myDay = “Good”; } else { myDay = “Not so good”; }; return myDay;}


WAP Security

Transport level security is WTLS, based on TLS. Provides privacy, integrity, authentication

End-to-end security mechanism defined at the transport layer

Application layer security provided via WMLScript crypto library


WAP and Smart Cards

WAP supports use of Smart Cards to enhance security

Wireless Identity Module specification supports performing security functions & storage of sensitive data

Smart Card Provisioning specification defines a file structure for secure storage of provisioning data


WAP’s current status

WAP Forum has 200+ members including 90% of world’s handset manufacturers

Carriers with over 100 million subscribers

Leading infrastructure providers, software developers & content providers

WAP v1.2 specification suite approved Dec 99

Commercial services now widely deployed


Changing marketplace

High speed 2.5G technologies - GPRS, EDGE

3G technologies being developed with data rates of up to 2Mbps

Multimedia capable devices being developed

Demand for richer content - high quality graphics, audio, video


WAP next generation

WAP Architecture Convergence group working to ensure WAP’s architecture converges with the IETF and other protocols

WPG reviewing the output from the IETF PILC group with a goal of incorporating TCP into the WAP stack

WAP continually evolving to ensure compatibility with emerging technologies

www.wapforum.org

Thank you!

WAP Forum WAP Forum

Documents

Wireless Application Protocol Overview Owen Sullivan Worldzap WAP Forum