 WAP WAP  Foundation Of WAP Foundation Of WAP  Benefits… Benefits…  Architecture… Architecture…  Layers of WAP protocol stack Layers of WAP protocol stack

 WAP stands for wireless application protocol. It is an application environment and set of communication protocols for wireless devices.  WAP bridges the gap between the mobile world and the internet.  WAP specification define a set of protocols in application, session, transaction, security and transport layers which enables operators, manufacturers and application providers to meet the challenges in advanced wireless service differentiation and fast service creation.  With the help of WAP technology, mobile subscribers can access the same wealth of information from a pocket-sized device as they can from the desktop. back

 In 1992, Nippon telegraph and telephone corporation(NTP), a leading telephone company in Japan makes a wireless division and named it DOCOMO. Its success has been due to I-mode.  In 1994 in US a company named unwired planet was founded to develop a platform for internet access through wireless devices. It used a markup language which was called HDML(handheld device’s mark up language).  In 1995 another leading wireless company In Europe, Ericssion began work on a protocol known as ITTP(Intelligent terminal transfer protocol). It was designed to add services to mobile platform.  In 1997 Nokia develop TTML(Tagged text markup language). It was design to allow the mobile phone to communicate with www(world wide web). 

 Out of all these different technologies I-mode in Japan was the most successful service. So in June 1997 Ericssion, Motorola, Nokia and unwired planet joined hand to launch the WAP forum with the initial purpose of defining an industry- wide specification for developing applications over wireless communication network.  WAP 1.0 version was released in spring of Then continued with WAP version 1.1 in 1999 and then WAP version 1.2 released in back

 Operators: 1. For wireless network operators, WAP promises to decrease churn, cut cost and increase the subscriber base both by improving existing services such as interfaces to voice mail and prepaid system. 2. New applications can be introduced quickly and easily without the need for additional infrastructure.

 Content provider: WAP is a global and interoperable open standard that will enable content and application developer to grasp the tag based WML that will pave the way for the services to be written and deployed.  End Users: End users of WAP will benefit from easy, secure access to relevant internet information and services such as banking and entertainment services done through their mobile devices. back

WAP forum develops standards for application development over wireless devices like PDA’s and mobile phone. WAP is based on layered architecture and WAP protocol stack is similar to the OSI network model.WAP protocol stack consists of following layers: o WAE(wireless application environment) o WSP(wireless session protocol) o WTP(wireless transaction protocol) o WTLS(wireless transport layer security) o WDP(wireless datagram protocol) back

WAE WSP WTP WTLS WDP OTHER SERVICES AND APPLICATIONS

WAE: The WAE layer offers the services of a session layer for building applications. The important components of WAE are as follows :  WML  WMLScript  WAP content type  Wireless telephony application environment

WSP :  The WSP layer is a stripped down version of the internet standard, HTTP. One of the important feature of this protocol is to support the suspension and resumption of a session.  In an unstable connection situation that is prevalent in the mobile environment, user who may be disconnected can continue the operation from exactly the same point where the devices had been disconnected.

WTP In the WTP layer context a transaction is defined as request/response. Then the responsibility of the layer is to offer an efficient transaction service over the secure as well as insecure datagram service. WTLS This is optional layer implemented over WDP, offers a secure transport service interface to higher layers. It includes security features like:  Confidentiality using data encryption algorithm  Data integrity using message authentication codes  Authentication through digital certificates.

WDP The WDP has to directly deal with the heterogeneous bearer network environment. One of the important function WDP has to perform is to offers the higher layers of the protocol a consistent interface. back