Design and implementation of a support platform for distributed mobile computing

With the rapid development of mobile computer systems and mobile communication infrastructures, a broad field of distributed mobile computing is enabled. The paper first discusses these developments in closer detail and summarizes the resulting requirements concerning adequate software support. An application scenario of the service engineering area illustrates specific aspects including bandwidth and location management, dynamic configuration, resource heterogeneity, disconnection, and security. Based on these considerations, a generic software support platform for distributed mobile computing is derived. It addresses several of these aspects by providing application-independent and reusable support services. In particular, it offers a framework for organizing distributed mobile applications into manageable domains, it equips mobile stations with enhanced functionality for location, resource and bandwidth management, and it uses industry standard RPC communication facilities for enhanced portability. The design, implementation and use of the support platform is illustrated based on a specific part of the application, a mobile multimedia e-mail system. Experiences and implementation aspects in this context are particularly emphasized.