MOBILE Chapter 1

COMPUTING INTRODUCTION
Distributed
Computing
Roger Wattenhofer Distributed
Computing
Mobile Computing
Group
Summer 2003 Group
Summer 2003

Overview [Der Spiegel]

A computer in 2010?

• What is it? • Advances in technology

• Who needs it? – More computing power in smaller devices
• History – Flat, lightweight displays with low power consumption
• Future – New user interfaces due to small dimensions
– More bandwidth (per second? per space?)
– Multiple wireless techniques
• Course overview
• Technology in the background
• Organization of exercises
– Device location awareness: computers adapt to their environment
• Literature – User location awareness: computers recognize the location of the
user and react appropriately (call forwarding)
• Thanks to J. Schiller for slides • “Computers” evolve
– Small, cheap, portable, replaceable
– Integration or disintegration?

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 What is Mobile Computing? Application Scenarios

• Aspects of mobility
– User mobility: users communicate “anytime, anywhere, with anyone”
• Vehicles
(example: read/write email on web browser) • Nomadic user
– Device portability: devices can be connected anytime, anywhere to the • Smart mobile phone
network • Invisible computing
• Wireless vs. mobile Examples • Wearable computing
8 8 Stationary computer
8 9 Notebook in a hotel • Intelligent house or office
9 8 Wireless LANs in historic buildings • Meeting room/conference
9 9 Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) • Taxi/Police/Fire squad fleet
What is important?
• The demand for mobile communication creates the need for • Service worker
integration of wireless networks and existing fixed networks
• Lonely wolf
– Local area networks: standardization of IEEE 802.11 or HIPERLAN
• Disaster relief and Disaster alarm
– Wide area networks: GSM and ISDN
– Internet: Mobile IP extension of the Internet protocol IP • Games
• Military / Security

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Vehicles Vehicles 2

GSM,
UMTS
GPS

c
ho
ad

DAB
[J. Schiller]

[Der Spiegel]

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Nomadic user Smart mobile phone
• Nomadic user has laptop/palmtop
• Connect to network infrequently • Mobile phones get smarter
• Interim period operate in disconnected mode • Converge with PDA? [Nokia]

• Access her or customer data • Voice calls, video calls (really?)

• Consistent database for all agents • Email or instant messaging
• Print on local printer (or other service) • Play games
– How do we find it? • Up-to-date localized information
– Is it safe? – Map
– Do we need wires? – Pull: Find the next Pizzeria
– Push: “Hey, we have great Pizza!”
• Does nomadic user need her own hardware? • Stock/weather/sports info
• Read/write email on web browser • Ticketing
• Access data OK too • Trade stock

Buil C
[J. Schiller]

150
t
• etc.

B
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Invisible/ubiquitous/pervasive and wearable computing Intelligent Office and Intelligent House

• Tiny embedded “computers” • Bluetooth replaces cables

• Everywhere • Plug and play, without the “plug”
• Example: Microsoft’s Doll • Again: Find the local printer

• I refer to my colleagues • House recognizes inhabitant

Friedemann Mattern and • House regulates temperature
Bernt Schiele and their according to person in a room
courses
• Trade Shows
• Home without cables looks better
• LAN in historic buildings [MS]
[ABC, Schiele]

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Meeting room or Conference Taxi / Police / Fire squad / Service fleet

• Share data instantly • Connect

• Send a message to someone • Control
else in the room • Communicate
• Secretly vote on controversial
issue • Service Worker
• Find person with similar interests • Example: SBB service workers
• Broadcast last minute changes have PDA
– Map help finding broken signal
• Ad-Hoc Network – PDA gives type of signal, so that
service person can bring the right
tools right away

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Lonely wolf Disaster relief

• We really mean everywhere! • After earthquake, tsunami,

volcano, etc:
• Cargo’s and yachts • You cannot rely on
• Journalists infrastructure but you need to
orchestrate disaster relief
• Scientists
• Early transmission of patient
• Travelers data to hospical

• Sometimes cheaper than • Satellite

infrastructure?
• Ad-Hoc network
[Red Cross]
• Commercial flop [Motorola]

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Disaster alarm Games

• With sensors you might be • Nintendo Gameboy [Advance]:

able to alarm early Industry standard mobile
• Example: Tsunami game station
• Example: Cooling room • Connectable to other
• Or simpler: Weather station Gameboys
• Can be used as game pad for
Nintendo Gamecube
• Satellite
• Ad-Hoc network
• Cybiko [Extreme] is a
competitor that has radio
capabilities built in
[Cybiko]
• Second generation already
• Also email, chat, etc.

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Military / Security Application Scenarios: Discussion

• Vehicles
• From a technology standpoint • Nomadic user
this is similar to disaster relief • Smart mobile phone
• Invisible computing
• Sensoria says “US army is the • Wearable computing
best costumer” • Intelligent house or office
• Meeting room/conference
• Not (important) in this course • Taxi/Police/Fire squad fleet
What do you like?
• Service worker
• Lonely wolf
• Disaster relief and Disaster alarm
[Der Spiegel]
• Games
• Military / Security
• Anything missing?

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 Mobile devices What do you have? What would you buy?

PDA
Pager • simple graphical displays Laptop • Laptop (Linux, Mac, Windows?) 8
• receive only • character recognition • fully functional
• tiny displays • standard applications • Palmtop (Linux, Mac, Windows?) 8
• simplified WWW
• simple text • PDA/Organizer (Palm, Pocket PC, other?) 8
messages
• Mobile phone
Sensors,
embedded
• Satellite phone
controllers • Pager
Palmtop • Wireless LAN Card 8
• tiny keyboard • Wireless LAN Base Station (for home networking)
Mobile phone
• simple versions
• voice, data • Ethernet Plug in every room (for home networking)
of standard applications
• simple text display
• Bluetooth
• Proprietary device (what kind?)

performance and size

for exercises 8

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Effects of device portability Wireless networks in comparison to fixed networks

• Energy consumption • Higher loss-rates due to interference
– there is no Moore’s law for batteries or solar cells – emissions of, e.g., engines, lightning
– limited computing power, low quality displays, small disks • Restrictive regulations of frequencies
– Limited memory (no moving parts) – frequencies have to be coordinated, useful frequencies are almost all
– Radio transmission has a high energy consumption occupied
– CPU: power consumption ~ CV2f • Low transmission rates
• C: total capacitance, reduced by integration – local some Mbit/s, regional currently, e.g., 9.6kbit/s with GSM
• V: supply voltage, can be reduced to a certain limit
• More delays, more jitter
• f: clock frequency, can be reduced temporally
– connection setup time with GSM in the second range, several hundred
• Limited user interfaces milliseconds for other wireless systems, tens of seconds with Bluetooth
– compromise between size of fingers and portability • Lower security, simpler active attacking
– integration of character/voice recognition, abstract symbols – radio interface accessible for everyone, base station can be simulated,
• Loss of data thus attracting calls from mobile phones
– higher probability (e.g., defects, theft) • Always shared medium
– secure access mechanisms important

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History: Antiquity – 1890 History: 1890 – 1920
• Many people in history used • 1895: Guglielmo Marconi (1874 – 1937)
light for communication – first demonstration of wireless
– Heliographs (sun on mirrors), telegraphy (digital!)
flags („semaphore“), ... – long wave transmission, high
transmission power necessary (> 200kW)
– 150 BC: smoke signals for
– Nobel Prize in Physics 1909
communication (Polybius, Greece)
• 1901: First transatlantic connection
– 1794: Optical telegraph by Claude Chappe
• 1906 (Xmas): First radio broadcast
• 1906: Vacuum tube invented
• Electromagnetic waves
– By Lee DeForest and Robert von Lieben
– 1831: Michael Faraday (and Joseph Henry)
demonstrate electromagnetic induction
• 1907: Commercial transatlantic connections
– huge base stations (30 100m high antennas)
– 1864: James Maxwell (1831-79): Theory of
electromagnetic fields, wave equations • 1911: First mobile sender
– on board of a Zeppelin
– 1886: Heinrich Hertz (1857-94): demonstrates
with an experiment the wave character • 1915: Wireless voice transmission NY – SF
of electrical transmission through space • 1920: First commercial radio station

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History: 1920 – 1945 History: 1945 – 1980

• 1920: Discovery of short waves by Marconi • 1958: German A-Netz

– reflection at the ionosphere – Analog, 160MHz, connection setup
– smaller sender and receiver only from mobile station, no handover,
– Possible with vacuum tube 80% coverage, 16kg, 15k Marks
– 1971: 11000 customers
• 1926: First phone on a train
– Compare with PTT (Swisscom) NATEL:
– Hamburg – Berlin
1978 – 1995, maximum capacity
– wires parallel to the railroad track [F.Mattern]
4000, which was reached 1980
• 1926: First car radio • 1972: German B-Netz
• 1928: First TV broadcast – Analog, 160MHz, connection setup from the fixed network too (but
– John L. Baird (1888 – 1946) location of the mobile station has to be known)
– Atlantic, color TV – available also in A, NL and LUX, 1979 13000 customer in D
– WGY Schenectady – PTT NATEL B: 1984 – 1997, maximum capacity 9000
• 1933: Frequency modulation • 1979: NMT Nordic Mobile Telephone System
– Edwin H. Armstrong (1890 – 1954) – 450MHz (Scandinavia)

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History: 1980 – 1991 History: 1991 – 1995
• 1982: Start of GSM-specification (Groupe spéciale mobile) • 1992/3: Start of GSM “D-Netz”/“NATEL D”
– goal: pan-European digital mobile phone system with roaming – 900MHz, 124 channels
• 1984: CT-1 standard for cordless telephones – automatic location, hand-over, cellular
• 1986: German C-Netz – roaming in Europe
– analog voice transmission, 450MHz, hand-over possible, digital – now worldwide in more than 130 countries
signaling, automatic location of mobile device – services: data with 9.6kbit/s, FAX, voice, ...
– still in use today, services: FAX, modem, X.25, e-mail, 98%
coverage • 1994/5: GSM with 1800MHz
– American AMPS: 1983 – today – smaller cells
– PTT NATEL C: 1986 – 1999 – supported by
• 1991: DECT many countries
– Digital European Cordless Telephone. Today: “Enhanced” – SMS
– 1880-1900MHz, ~100-500m range, 120 duplex channels, 1.2Mbit/s – Multiband
data transmission, voice encryption, authentication, up to several phones
10000 users/km2, used in more than 40 countries

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History: 1995 – today Wireless systems: overview of the development

cellular phones satellites cordless wireless
• 1996: HiperLAN phones LAN
– High Performance Radio Local Area Network 1981:
1980:
CT0
– Products? NMT 450
1982:
Inmarsat-A 1984:
• 1997: Wireless LAN 1983: CT1
1986: AMPS
– IEEE 802.11 NMT 900 1987:
1988:
– 2.4 – 2.5 GHz and infrared, 2Mbit/s analog
Inmarsat-C
CT1+

– already many products (with proprietary extensions) digital 1991: 1991: 1989:
CDMA D-AMPS CT 2
[J. Schiller] 199x:
proprietary
• 1998: Specification of GSM successors 1992: 1992:
1991:
DECT
– GPRS is packet oriented GSM Inmarsat-B
1993: Inmarsat-M
– UMTS is European proposal for IMT-2000 PDC 1995/96/97:
1994: IEEE 802.11,
DCS 1800 HIPERLAN
1998:
• 1998: Iridium Iridium

– 66 satellites (+6 spare) 2005?: 2005?:

UMTS/IMT-2000 MBS, WATM
– 1.6GHz to the mobile phone

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The future: ITU-R - Recommendations for IMT-2000 The success story of Mobile “Computing”
• M.687-2 • Mobile Phones
• M.1078
– IMT-2000 concepts and goals – Switzerland February 2002: More mobile phones than fixnet phones
– security in IMT-2000
• M.816-1 – Worldwide: More mobile phones than Internet connections
• M.1079
– framework for services
– speech/voiceband data performance – SMS: “More net profit with SMS than with voice”
• M.817
• M.1167 • Laptops
– IMT-2000 network architectures
– framework for satellites – Switzerland 2001: For the first year less computers sold, but more mobile
• M.818-1
• M.1168 computers; private households buy 18% more laptops than the previous year.
– satellites in IMT-2000
– framework for management
• M.819-2
• M.1223
– IMT-2000 for developing countries
– evaluation of security mechanisms 800
• M.1034-1 Desktop
• M.1224 700
– requirements for the radio interface(s) Mobile
– vocabulary for IMT-2000 600
• M.1035 500
• M.1225
– framework for radio interface(s) and 400
– evaluation of transmission technologies

[R.Weiss]
radio sub-system functions
300
• M.1036 • etc.
200
– spectrum considerations 100
• www.itu.int/imt
0
1996 1997 `998 `999 2000 2001

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Mobile phones worldwide Mobile phones Top 12

[crt.dk]
[crt.dk]

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Mobile phones saturation Internet vs. Mobile phones

[crt.dk]

[crt.dk]

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Simple reference model Course overview: Networking Bottom – Up Approach

– service location
• Application layer
– new applications, multimedia
– adaptive applications
– congestion and flow control
• Transport layer – quality of service
– addressing, routing,
• Network layer device location
– hand-over
Application Application
– authentication
[Tanenbaum/Schiller]

Transport Transport • Data link layer – media access

– multiplexing
Network Network Network Network – media access control
Data Link Data Link Data Link Data Link – encryption
• Physical layer – modulation
Physical Physical Physical Physical – interference
– attenuation
Radio Medium – frequency

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 HCPDU
USIM LF WSP/B
SS7 PDC

•
•
FACCHTCH/HS
M-NNI POS
DCCH DS DTIM VC TETRA
MSRN HI CCIR WATM
LAPDm GPS HBR DH PHY
SN CGI T-SAP BW
AK-HCPDU CD HDLC SC

–
–
–
–
–
–
PDO COA RLP DSDV UPT
DT-HCPDUPLI TLS TI HA Auth
GMSC WIM GWL VCC ACID BSS
WLAN VBR RAS TCH/H SEC-SAP
SIG CC PTP TINA MCC
SHF SDCCH DVD MN ASCII MF
CN XOR CS DQPSK SRES FHSS MS
VAD NMAS MSIN SDP
HDTV TFI HIPERL CBR
SIFS MCI HCQoS DVTR TD-CDMA PTM
GPRS WTA
AUS AN
WLL IMT-TC LA CORBA JDC WMLScript GSN NRL
T ISI
RA CPM DDIB GEO MTSAPACS-UB CRC IFS DSMA
USSD RTT BLIRCS VHF W3C FIB DBPSK
MSC OFDM SS EDTV

Supported by
CT RR PT
PSF TIB PNNI HMQoS CTS PAL
SNDCP 3GPP
SMS IMSI ABR S-SAP
W-CTRL ANSI CIDR TCH/FS BCA

Multihop chat
DFWMAC BCCH GTP DAMA NSA BRAN WWW HC
GP

Multihop game
DTMF HEO PSTN TDMA

– WAP exercises
DHCP

– paper exercises
Multihop routing
Chat application
FDD ASP MSC PAD SIM RAND WCAC MEO MSISD ML
BSC N
UWC NFS EIT HO-HMPDU MMF MIB NTSC MCM
EY-NPMA MTC
KID LAI

Neighbor detection
BSSGP ITU-T IMEI SAP CEPT GMM
ROM TMSI CKSN PDA NAV
BCH SFN Codec SDMA SCPAS-TP PCH
TDT CVSD AP
ETSI SFD RA ATIM
MT TFTS UP WML I-TCP M-TCP
ISM UBR
ID WMT ARQ EHF NSS WDP SUMR CW MBS
QPSK CPU

Distributed Computing Group

Distributed Computing Group
SMRIB MHEG UN DVB-T PTP-CONS
HIB DPCCH LIR HMPDUHSCSD
UTRA SDM SH ICMP
UTRAN ATM ILR FEC SDU LC SC
GRE NIB PTP-CLNS SDT PSN
NNI WAE FIC RT UD
TM PLW TTL
PIFS RLC IETF TC-HMPDU RL BSSAP POTS TSF
Req
Course Overview: Acronyms

GGSN WAN CDV VDB URI SAAL DVB-C HDACS HEC PDF
DVB-S
HCSDU SGSN Assoc AID PHS MATM HDA TTC GIF
CSMA/CA GSM
FPLMTS TLLI WTLS LAPD
IMT DECT HP ACT
CCCH MOT TIM ACL ASK CSCW ADSL
OMC PMD DCA FR MOC FDMA UNI
ISL CU FT ISO
AAL WTAI MH PRACH T-TCP LEO
MUL UIM
WTP FCCH CDPD AFS JCT MACA VBR-rt ITU MSAP
DC PPP PDTCH Disassoc LED
DCF FM GAP CIF LRU PIN

We start with the “hello world” equivalent

COFDM AIB
SCH CAMEL LLC LI GFSK TDM BER CCH FDM
OSI FA
FCA BTS PACS MNC D-AMPS LAN DIFS CDMA PCF
AM

Course overview: Hands-On Exercises

PA

MOBILE COMPUTING
MOBILE COMPUTING
PDU COS LM RIP WRC CDM DPDCH BSS
PLMN SSL
DVB
IN QoS B-ISDN Loc IMT-MC PCM DLC PPG
ITU-R BTSM
RTR WSP CSD
IMT-SC UE HLR AGCH HDML
PDN ISMA

We build a wireless LAN based ad-hoc network

SEQN WAP SW QAM IEEE
SA PI M-QoS ASA VLF
COMS EIR EDGE IrDA
PSPDN TDD TPC IWF ATM-CL UMTS AuC PRMA OTA
RSS LBR IV AIDCS ADA
GERANSCDMA TV BLIR MSC
PS PSK HID CAC
GSM LMP WPAN TR-SAP PMA
PM TCH/F STA RM NA-TDMAHTML SACCH
EDGE ARQN SI UDP
TOS DA BFSK CC DSSS
RAN DCS RAL SCF M-PNNI RIB PLCP SDTV RACH
PC

R. Wattenhofer
R. Wattenhofer

M-UNI VLR GR IMT-FT HCSAP EMAS-E CM TCP

NDC PUK
DAB EMAS MSDU
DSR SATM WP-CDMA Cnf GMSK
CCA PPM
PCS EIRP TA SNAP SNACK SAMA
TCH VBR-nrt AMPS ISDN MS
LS LOS IMF
MAC HM NIT HTTP CATV RFC
RSA DNS CLMS CAC VPN JPEG MM
RNS ACK BLI BPSK VNDC NAT LAPC
RRM V+D IR HDTP
BMP SwMI MPEG TFO AMA IOT
CN FW
OSS VHE ESS NMT UHF SCO DPCH PAD
TE CSMA WCMP
W-CDMA PCS RTT IMT-DS
HDB RTS
IS DSL L2CAP HO
SCPS CCF TMN HF Res
ARIB

1/43
1/41

XML FSK
AMES ICO
PLL MSK
IP
AESA ECDH
CSMA/CD
Systems

WAP

WML and
WMLscript
Bluetooth

Distributed Computing Group

Distributed Computing Group
GSM

[Pfingsten]
Mobile IP and TCP

File Systems & Mobile Objects

Clustering
Media Access Control
Physical and Link Layer

Mobile Web
Geometric Routing
Ad-Hoc Networks
[Ostern]

GSM
Wireless LAN
Introduction
card work?
wireless LAN
How does my

Satellites
Course overview: A large spectrum

WAP

MOBILE COMPUTING
MOBILE COMPUTING
hoc network?

Optimal
How do I route
in a mobile ad-

Allocation

Course overview: Lectures and Exercises

Frequency

"Hello World"

Theory: Cells
Theory: T.b.a.
Multihop Game
Instant Messenger

Multihop Routing 2
Multihop Routing 1
codes

Neighbor Detection

Topology Detection
Theory: Codes/MAC
Orthogonal

R. Wattenhofer
R. Wattenhofer

Hard- and Software Tests

channel?
How can we
access a shared

1/44
1/42
Theory
Course specialties Literature

• We are clueless about the number of students
• We are clueless about the availability of systems
• Maximum possible spectrum of systems and theory
• New area, more open than closed questions
• Lecture and exercises are hard to synchronize
• http://distcomp.ethz.ch/mobicomp
• Ivan Stojmeniovic – Handbook of Wireless Networks and Mobile
Computing
• Jochen Schiller – Mobile Communications / Mobilkommunikation
• Andrew Tanenbaum – Computer Networks, plus other books
• Hermann Rohling – Einführung in die Informations– und
Codierungstheorie
• James D. Solomon – Mobile IP, the Internet unplugged
• Charles E. Perkins – Ad-hoc networking

• Plus tons of other books on specialized topics

• Papers, papers, papers, …

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Famous last words

“Mobile wireless computers are like

mobile pipeless bathrooms –
portapotties. They will be common on
vehicles, and at construction sites, and
rock concerts. My advice is to wire up
your home and stay there.”
Bob Metcalfe, 1995
(Ethernet inventor)

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