Using Service Specific Proxies to Migrate Web Services to the "Wireless Web": An Illustrative Case Study of Adaptive Maintenance

Adaptive maintenance is software maintenance performed to make a computer program usable in a changed environment [IEEE 1990]. A type of adaptive maintenance that is beginning to be encountered is the adaptation of services currently offered over the Internet for access by mobile devices, especially Internet-capable mobile phones. The delivery of “wired services” over the “wireless web” entails significant changes to the inputs and outputs of current services in order to meet the needs of mobile users. The paper describes a technique using intermediary proxies that simplifies this conversion. The technique is illustrated by an example involving the conversion of the National Weather Service’s Current Condition’s page for use on mobile phones.