Network Requirements

PIKS is designed to provide a large number of users with optimized access to organizational information. The need for good connectivity support for unregistered anonymous users introduces a new challenge to network requirements. The following lists requirements that must be implemented: Minimal power consumption Low price Small size Distributed network - Client server architecture Serve many anonymous users Fast response time Transparent roaming Location awareness Robust connection   Cellular Networks GSM, CDPD, CDMA, GPRS Data over existing infrastructure   Wireless LAN -802.11 Standard Wireless connection to an existing LAN   Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN) BlueTooth, HomeRF, 802.15 Peer to Peer connection for pervasive devices   Resource Requirements The first implementation of the device command handler for PalmOS is written in a few hundred lines of simple C code, 95% of which, is totally portable and non-PalmOS dependent. The executable takes up about 4 KB of RAM, and no additional memory is allocated at run-time. The current implementation of PIKS client relies on WABA (Java VM derivative implemented on both Palm OS and WinCE). It is convenient from the development perspective, but ultimately, the target device should eventually have native code (about 95% portable) with only a small part of machine dependent code. Communication is done via the standard serial port using low-level send/receive calls, or via the built-in TCP/IP stack using stream sockets.