Chapter 9: Wireless Middleware

Ken MacGregor, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Nico de Wet, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Bonnie Lam, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Nadim Yazdani, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Copyright 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.

Abstract

Introduced in this chapter is wireless middleware as a means of writing distributed applications for mobile environments. The concepts of middleware and the additional challenges that arise from wireless communications are introduced, in particular, low bandwidth and unreliability. Then described are the commercial wireless products currently available, with particular emphasis on the manner in which they solve challenges. The authors hope that greater appreciation of the capabilities of wireless middleware will enable future developers of applications for mobile environments to produce more efficient systems and researchers to produce better wireless middleware products.