Mobile computing and wireless communication Essay

Mobile computing and wireless communication - Essay Example This exploratory approach towards making things small yet sophisticated promises much more for the future. While analyzing the evolution [2] of mobile technology, it can be safely assumed that the size and power consumption patterns are on a decline while the bandwidths available for communication will continue to increase. Such trends lead us to believe that mobile communication is bound to play an increasingly important role in everyday life through a variety of new applications often referred to as "ubiquitous or pervasive" computing. The emergence of powerful portable computing devices, along with the advances in wireless communication technologies, has made mobile computing a reality. Sensor Networks: One typical application for mobile communication is the sensor network, used for gathering information about the surroundings of the mobile equipment. Such a network consists of small integrated devices scattered over a specified area in order to collect and share information. The goal in undertaking such exercise is to discretely observe, augment, analyze or control an environment in an automated manner. Mobile networks got further enhancement with the help of wireless communication and sophisticated sensors. ... work on the basis of fixed cell based infrastructure. Coverage is provided by base stations which manage the radio resources from a central location thus integrating the services. Depending upon the area being covered by the cell, certain amount of bandwidth is allocated for mobile subscribers. These cells make use of location-based routing protocols for transfer of information packets from sources to destination. Depending upon the bandwidth allocated, an upper limit is fixed for the number of subscribers that one cell can support. Sensor networks, in particular require to support a large number of 'subscribers', resulting in an increase in density per cell. Such networks are often used for short-range temporary communication. Therefore, implementing an infrastructure supporting such a large sensor network becomes very expensive. Mobile ad hoc networks [3, 4] on the other hand allow direct communication between wireless devices operating within the nearby areas and short distances of each other. Such devices prove to be very useful in disaster prone areas. In case of disaster, whole communication infrastructure may be destroyed. In such cases the intercommunicating ability of mobile ad-hoc networks within short range proves to be very useful. For communicating between two mobile devices which are located beyond range are the method of forward messaging messages via intermediate neighbors is used. Decentralization of an ad hoc communication network also eliminates the need for a fixed infrastructure, and results in greater cost reductions. The most widespread notion of a mobile ad hoc network is a network formed without any central administration which consists of mobile nodes that use a wireless interface to send data