Wireless Networking and Mobile Data Management

This book examines two main topics, namely, Wireless Networking and Mobile Data Management. It is designed around a course the author began teaching to senior undergraduate and master’s students at the Department of Computer Science & Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.

The first part of the book, consisting of eight chapters, including the introduction, focuses exclusively on wireless networking aspects. It begins with cellular communication systems, which provided the foundation of wireless networking principles. Three subsequent chapters are devoted to the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Bluetooth, infrared (IR), ZigBee and 6LoWPAN protocols. There is also a chapter on routings in ad hoc networks, an area that is currently being intensively researched due to its potential applications in areas of vehicular network, traffic management, tactical and military systems. Furthermore, the book discusses mobile operating systems and wireless network application level protocols such as Wireless Application Protocols (WAP), Mobile IP and Mosh.

The second part highlights mobile data management. It addresses the issues like location management, the importance of replication and caching in mobile environments, the concept of broadcast disk and indexing in air, storage systems for sharing data in mobile environments, and building smart environments. Given that the design of algorithms is the key to applications in data management; this part begins with a chapter on the type of paradigm shift that has been introduced in the design of algorithms, especially due to asymmetry in mobile environments. Lastly, the closing chapter of the book explores smart environments, showing the readers how wireless technology and mobile data management can be combined to provide optimum comfort for human life. Though the book has been structured as a monograph, it can be used both as a textbook and as a reference material for researchers and developers working in the area.