13.2 WAP Network Elements

Network elements in a typical WAP network are shown in Figure 13-4. WAP clients in the mobile devices communicate with application servers through a number of different proxies or directly. There may be several proxies supporting proxy functions for one or more application services. WAP clients support a mechanism for proxy or application server selection so that they can utilize the most appropriate proxy for a given service or application server discovery. Proxies can be located either in wireless carriers network or independent service providers in order to provide feature enhancements integrated with the wireless network. Proxies may also be located in a secure network to provide a secure communication channel between the WAP client in a wireless device and the secure network.

Figure 13-4. Example WAP network.