M-Services Meet Web Services: Architectural Opportunities for M-Commerce

This paper focuses on the intersection of mobile computing, the Semantic Web and Web services, and examines how these technologies serve as a foundation for an architectural framework that provides new opportunities for mobile commerce and services within organizations. Mobile technologies introduce several advantages that cannot be attained through conventional wired connectivity. These include localization and personalization, which allows the delivery of customized information to users based on locale, identity or a user role. Two technology initiatives that hold promise in helping realize the potential of mobile computing are the Semantic Web and Web services. The Semantic Web is an initiative supported by the W3C intended to support semantic meaning and context for Web resources. Key technologies include RDF and DAML for data categorization and inference. Web services represents an approach for applications to communicate with each other automatically over the Web using standard Internet protocols. Collectively, these technologies open up new possibilities for leveraging the capabilities of mobile computing where the Semantic Web supports contextual meaning and Web services technologies allow registration and discovery of services based on mobile context. 1. The Web and Mobility Mobile computing is moving into a phase driven by high-speed bandwidth and increasingly powerful device technologies. The auctioning of global spectrum to support new, high speed third generation (3G) wireless networks is now giving rise to high speed, multi-media Internet access to cell phones and wirelessly-enabled PDAs. The rollout of 3G technologies and the emergence of wireless LAN technologies are now important drivers for mobile commerce. At the same time, device capability is increasing. Devices capable of increased processing power are coming to market and the availability of Java on wireless devices is opening new possibilities, not only for delivering data to mobile devices but for using those devices to deliver information to the enterprise in new ways. The Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) [1] allows developers to use Java to develop applications for mobile devices including cell phones and PDAs. Companies making use of J2ME include Research In Motion (RIM), with its Blackberry two-way handheld devices; Korea’s Lucky Goldstar, with its J2ME-based CDMA mobile phones; Sega with Personal Java for its Dreamcast consoles; Nokia with its EPOCbased mobile phones; and Sony with its mobile phones. 1.1 Localization and Personalization Among the unique features of mobile computing are localization and personalization. Localization is the ability to locate wireless devices using either global positioning (GPS) or through cellular technologies that pinpoint location to within several feet. The ability to locate subscribers, coupled with the delivery of personalized information, is viewed as an important aspect of wireless service for both consumers and employees. From a consumer perspective, localization provides opportunities to deliver information to travelers about nearby restaurants and hotels. For businesses, localization allows companies to track workers across a wide region and improve company efficiencies. But the real impact is expected when mobile data sources serve as data providers to organizations. The other unique aspect of wireless is personalization. Because wireless network providers already track user identity for billing purposes, applications can leverage this information to personalize content based on user preferences and/or patterns of usage. While technology forecasts predict significant revenues from wireless technologies, the caveat is that the mobile Internet will succeed only if applications are developed that can take advantage of the unique characteristics of wireless. Work by Hjelm [2] has focused on the importance of context in accessing data from wireless devices. In a mobile environment, users do not have the time to conduct extensive searches while on the move. Mobile users require that supporting systems understand who they are, where they are located and to deliver appropriate information on demand. Solutions centered around Composite Capability/Preference Profiles (CC/PP) [3] allow parameterized requests to be sent to servers that contain both documents and user profiles that can help systems transform data for relevant and efficient delivery over wireless networks. 2. XML and Mobile Commerce One of the foundational building blocks of the Web is XML [4]. Most IT departments have at least been tracking the Extensible Markup Language (XML) over the past several years. During that time XML has emerged as the primary technology for building bridges between different systems. XML’s successes include its use as data exchange language between brokerage firms’ account systems and various stock exchange order systems. XML is finding increased utility in the wireless world. It is the basis for WAP, the Wireless Markup Language and is also used as the basis for XHTML, the next generation XML-compliant HTML that both WAP and i-Mode will be transitioning to in the near future, thus strengthening the connection between wireless and XML. In addition XML also is playing a major role in the middle tier through XML data storage that is used as the source for a wide variety of clients and display types. It’s common to expect a wireless strategy to support many different types of clients that expect HTML, WAP, i-Mode, Palm Query Applications, AvantGo, Text, SMS, Paging, or even XML content. One key technology supporting XML for wireless devices is XSLT, the Extensible Stylesheet Language Transform [5]. XSLT supports the Model-View-Controller architectural style [6] where application data may be separated from specific display requirements. As illustrated in Figure 1, XSLT templates can be used to store the markup language-specific content (i.e. HTML, WML, etc.) and are 'applied' to the XML using an XSLT processor. Fig 1. XML maybe used to generate output for a variety of different wireless platform through the use of XSLT However, XML alone has limited capability to describe the relationships (schemas or ontologies) with respect to objects. This is where the use of ontologies provides a powerful way to describe objects and their relationships to other objects and has opened up new ways of thinking about ways to integrate mobile computing with conventional web access. One such initiative is the Semantic Web.