ecent advances in technology have provided portable computers with wireless interfaces that allow networked communication even while a user is mobile. Whereas today's first-generation notebook computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are self-contained, networked mobile computers are part of a greater computing infrastructure. Mobile computing -the use of a portable computer capable of wireless networking -will very likely revolutionize the way we use computers. Wireless networking greatly enhances the utility of a portable computing device. It allows mobile users versatile communication with other people and expedient notification of important events, yet with much more flexibility than with cellular phones or pagers. It also permits continuous access to the services and resources of landbased networks. The combination of networking and mobility will engender new applications and services, such as collaborative software to support impromptu meetings, electronic bulletin boards whose contents adapt to the current viewers, lighting and heating that adjust to the needs of those present, and navigation software to guide users in unfamiliar places and on tours. ' The technical challenges that mobile computing must surmount to achieve this potential are hardly trivial, however. Some of the challenges in designing software for mobile computing systems are quite different from those involved in the design of software for today's stationary networked systems. In this article we focus on the issues pertinent to software designers without delving into the lower level details of the hardware realization of mobile computers. We look at some promising approaches under investigation and also consider their limitations. The many issues to be dealt with stem from three essential properties of mobile computing: communication, mobility, and portability. Of course, special-purpose systems may avoid some design pressures by doing without certain desirable properties. For instance, portability would be less of a concern for mobile computers installed in the dashboards of cars than with hand-held mobile computers. However, we concentrate on the goal of large-scale, hand-held mobile computing as a way to reveal a wide assortment of issues.
Another approach is proposed by REF who examine three basic features of mobile computing including wireless communication, mobility and portability.
The challenges of mobile computing
Computer
Computer
Computer Science