WAP Architecture - Wireless Application Environment

The uppermost layer in the WAP stack, the wireless application environment (WAE), is a general-purpose application environment based on a combination of WWW and mobile telephony technologies. The primary objective of the WAE is to establish an interoperable environment that allows operators and service providers to build applications and services that can reach a wide variety of different wireless platforms in an effi cient and useful manner. Various components of the WAE are:

● Addressing model: WAP uses the same addressing model as the one used on the Internet (i.e., URL). A URL uniquely identifi es a resource on a server that can be retrieved using well-known protocols. WAP also uses Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI). A URI is used for addressing resources that are not necessarily accessed using known protocols. An example of using a URI is local access to a wireless device’s telephony functions.

● WML: It is WAP’s analogy to HTML and is based on XML. It is WAP’s answer to problems such as creating services that fi t on small hand-held devices, low bandwidth wireless bearers, etc. WML uses a deck/card metaphor to specify a service. A card
is typically a unit of interaction with the user (i.e., either presentation of information or request for information from the user). A collection of cards is called a deck, which usually constitutes a service. This approach ensures that a suitable amount of information is displayed to the user simultaneously since interpage navigation can be avoided to the maximum possible extent. Key features of WML include variables, text formatting features, support for images, support for soft-buttons, navigation control, control of browser history, support for event handling (e.g., telephony services) and different types of user interactions (e.g., selection lists and input fields). One of the key advantages of WML is that it can be binary encoded by the WAP Gateway/Proxy in order to save bandwidth in the wireless domain.

● WMLScript: It is used for enhancing services written in WML. WMLScript can be used for validation of user input. Since WML does not provide any mechanisms for achieving this, a round trip to the server would be needed in order to determine whether user input is valid if scripting was not available. Access to local functions in a wireless device is another area in which WMLScript is used (e.g., access to telephony related functions). WMLScript libraries contain functions that extend the basic WMLScript functionality. This provides a means for future expansion of functions without having to change the core of WMLScript. Just as with WML, WMLScript can be binary encoded by the WAP Gateway/Proxy in order to minimize the amount of data sent over the air.

Source of Information : Elsevier Wireless Networking Complete 2010

WAP Architecture - Wireless Application Environment