Mobile Computing

Advances in wireless networking have prompted a new concept of computing, called mobile computing in which users carrying portable devices have access to a shared infrastructure, independent of their physical location. This provides flexible communication between people and continuous access to networked services. Mobile computing is revolutionizing the way computers are used and in the coming years this will become even more perceptible although many of the devices themselves will become smaller or even invisible (such as sensors) to users. This paper attempts to give an insight into mobile computing, in particular, software design issues (models, algorithms and in particular middleware) are considered. Such issues arise from the need for wireless networking, the ability to change location and the need for unencumbered portability as well insuring security standards comparable to that found is distributed systems or central systems.