http://www.sajim.co.za/vol2.nr1.01_07_2000/peer3.asp?print=1


   
  Peer Reviewed Article Vol.2(1) June 2000

Business applications of WAP 
Margaret van Steenderen 
CommerceQuest SA (Pty) Ltd 
Margaret.vansteenderen@commercequest.co.za 

Contents 

Introduction 
How the wireless application protocol works 
Background to the wireless application protocol 
Standardization 
Impact of WAP 
Benefits and applications of WAP 
Conclusion 
References 
Appendix A – Glossary 

Introduction 

1. Outline  

'The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is the platform for media phones. It provides an 
open universal standard for bringing Internet content and advanced value added services to 
mobile phones and other wireless devices' (Nokia White Paper, 1999:3). Further definitions 
of WAP are discussed first. Because of the numerous references to other terms a glossary has 
been provided for further definitions (Appendix A), so as not to bog the article down with 
too many definitions. 
 
WAP provides a uniform technology with consistent formats. This is provided through the 
various standards working together in the various layers, which are broken down and briefly 
explained. An example of how WAP and HTTP fits together is provided. The way the 
network fits together is described and an example of a wireless application ‘in action’ is 
shown using a calendar as an example. 
 
The development of the Internet and mobile communications has been rapid, and the 
development of the wireless application protocol has been driven by this development. The 
background to the wireless application protocol includes the growth in the mobile industry 
and mobile data communications. 
 
'The Wireless Application Protocol is an important development in the wireless industry 
because of its attempt to develop an open standard for wireless protocols, independent of 
vendor and air link' (GSM, 2000:Online [1]). This leads to a discussion as to why standards 



in this global world are so important. Part of these standards is to have a body that produces 
them and integrates development, which is the service that the WAP Forum provides. 
 
As with new technologies, WAP has the potential to have a huge impact on business tools, e-
commerce and information services. The benefits of WAP impact almost everyone. There is 
a brief overview of the benefits to various parties. This is then broken down into the direct 
benefits to consumers and corporate users, especially from an information management point 
of view. 
 
Because of the bandwidth restriction, small screens and limited keypads, there are design and 
development limitations when developing applications that make use of WAP which are 
discussed under the heading of disadvantages. The greatest impact that these disadvantages 
have will be on the applications for WAP, limiting the amount of information that can be 
sent and displayed. It seems to be key today to see problems as challenges and reducing the 
fat when it comes to data transmission can in fact be made an advantage for consumers of 
information, as they will receive the well thought out, pertinent nuggets that need their 
attention. 

2. Definitions  

'WAP: The de facto worldwide standard for providing Internet communications and 
advanced telephony services on digital mobile phones, pagers, personal digital assistants and 
other wireless terminals’ (WAP Forum 2000, Online[1]).  
 
Or, more basically put by GSM (2000, online [1]): 'WAP is simply a protocol – a 
standardised way that a mobile phone (and other mobile devices) talks to a server installed in 
the mobile phone network'. So, similarly to HTTP, WAP is a standardized protocol that has 
been developed for worldwide use, to enable collaboration and to provide standards. 
 
For other relevant definitions please see Appendix A - the glossary. 

How the wireless application protocol works 

'WAP provides a uniform technology platform with consistent content formats for delivering 
Internet and Intranet based information and services to digital mobile phones an other 
wireless devices' (Nokia, 2000:Online [3]). WAP provides this uniform platform and 
consistent content formats through using standardised protocols, provided in the WAP 
protocol stack. 

1. The Protocol Stack  

WAP has a layered architecture as shown in the diagram below (GSM 2000:Online [2]): 
Figure 1 WAP layers 

Wireless Application Environment (WAE) 

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Wireless Application Environment (WAE)
Wireless Session Protocol (WSP)
Wireless Transaction Protocol (WTP)
Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS)
Wireless Datagram Protocol (WDP)
Bearers e.g. Data, SMS, USSD



Wireless Session Protocol (WSP) 
Wireless Transaction Protocol (WTP) 
Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) 
Wireless Datagram Protocol (WDP) 
Bearers e.g. Data, SMS, USSD 
A protocol stack is 'a set of protocols that work together on different levels to enable network 
communication' (Microsoft 1998:CD – also see Appendix 1). The WAP protocol stack 
follows the ISO standard, where the higher levels of the stack deal with the application level 
interactions (the software), working down to the bottom layer that deals with the hardware. 
Definitions of each of the layers can be found in the glossary. 

2. WAP and HTTP  

How does the WAP protocol stack fit in with HTTP to interface to the application 
environment? Following is a diagram of a Wireless Protocol Stack fitted into a client 
application (Nokia, 2000:Online [2]). 
Figure 2 WAP client 

 

The Wireless Application Environment, having been defined by developers, is the 
environment with which the user will interact directly. Interfacing to this is the User Agent 
Layer, providing the converted data that the application environment will display. WAP uses 
the HTTP and URL layer for pointing and for loading certain applications (i.e. retrieving the 
content that is in HTML format). 

3. The Network  

The following figure (Nokia, 2000:Online [2]) provides an example specific to a mobile 
cellular phone, but the concept can be applied to any other mobile devices with a link to a 
network: 
Figure 3 The connection between networks 



 

The Operator network accesses the WWW and corporate servers to optimise the data that 
will be transmitted through the wireless (operator) network. WAP can operate on all wireless 
networks available. The corporate network (or an Internet ISP) links to the operator’s 
network (and therefore the mobile device) through a data call. The network will need access 
to a WAP server for the conversion of the data, as shown in the corporate network above. 

An Example 

The following example has been taken from Nokia (2000, Online [1]). 

As seen in the figure below a user can, through the corporate network, access their calendar 
on their cell phone, and see which blocks are marked as booked, indicating appointments: 
Figure 4 Accessing information 

 

Once a time has been established that suits both parties, a new appointment can be set up, 
which will be synchronized with the calendar at work, so that it will be updated for the next 
time it is accessed. As can be seen in these examples, although the screen is small, the 
writing is not illegible (although here somewhat obscured by the printed reproduction), and 
the ability to add data might be functional, but is considered adequate. 
Figure 5 Adding information 

 

Background to the wireless application protocol 

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'Since the early 1990s, the wireless world has been changing very rapidly, from analog to 
digital, from voice service to multimedia service, and from regional systems to global 
systems. This progress is due to recent developments of key wireless communication 
technologies as well as to rapidly increasing demand for wireless access to the Internet that 
has the same transmission quality as wired Internet systems' (Sampei, 1997:xv). This demand 
has brought together various groups, forming the WAP forum, for standardizing the Wireless 
Application Protocol. 
 
Mobile communications have been keeping up with the demand for more and more services. 
According to Groves (1998:10) future mobile communications users might expect to see: 

broadband and multimedia capability;  
flexible bandwidth on-demand allocation;  
speech quality comparable to fixed networks;  
packet data capabilities;  
global availability and global roaming;  
terrestrial and satellite capability in one system family; and  
mass market and niche market products in one system  

Since the book was written, most of this has already been implemented within the cellular 
systems, and is available on some cellular phones. The broadband capability is however still 
limited, and the speech quality is only comparable to fixed networks if used near a 
broadcasting point. 
 
Mobile data use has been growing rapidly, according to the Nokia White Paper (1999:2): 
1998 73% of European corporations were using some kind of mobile data solutions; 
1999 91% of those who were not said they would within 1999 
60% of mobile data users in the USA would rather use mobile data instead of computers. 
 
The WAP rides on top of an extremely strong mobile phone market, as show in the figure 
below (Nokia White Paper, 1999:5). 

Figure 6 World-wide mobile phone subscribers 

  

The increasing use of mobile data communications, and the increasing use of mobile phones 
has led to the following dramatic headline: 'Wireless Internet to surpass PC Internet' (NUA, 
02-2000:[Online]). According to this article, by 2003 61.5 million people will be using 
wireless devices. There are currently 7.4 million users in the US (drawn from a new report by
IDC Research) giving a potential growth of 728%. IDC noted, '1999 saw two major advances 
in the mobile Internet market': 

Microsoft’s endorsement of the wireless application protocol; and  



the proliferation of portals built specifically for wireless devices.

Standardization 

1. Importance of standardization  

Heeralall (1992:21-28) recognized the importance of standardizing mobile/wireless 
communications, most of the principles of which still apply today, and has been summarized 
as follows: 

Networks must interconnect to provide a basic service.  
Users should be able to roam as widely as possible.  
Collaboration helps to prevent the restrictions that patents can put onto ideas being 
used; 'it is difficult to make patented ideas become standards'.  
In contrast to other industries, for example the car industry, users need to connect 
across networks globally and use competing services (this applies to users of the 
Internet as well).  
'Globalisation … introduces an international spirit' and therefore needs a collaborative 
spirit (since this book was written the various cellular providers have shown this 
collaborative spirit and have standardized the wireless application protocol between 
them).  

'Since WAP is an open protocol for wireless messaging, it provides the same technology to 
all vendors regardless of the network system. This means that there will be WAP compliant 
terminals from several manufactures. Also, the server technology is open, so operators and 
companies can select from a wide range of products' (Nokia, 2000:Online [3]). The Internet 
Age has increased collaboration, as can be seen from the formation of the W3C. This 
collaboration benefits everyone concerned, and with the need to be able to use services 
globally, it is not really in the best interests of providers to have unique products, working 
only with their system. The leading edge will be given to those providing value-added 
services that use standards, such as WAP. The recognition for the need to collaborate is the 
reason the WAP Forum was formed. 

2. WAP Forum  

'The WAP Forum is a non-profit industry association open to all industry. It has published a 
global wireless protocol specification based on existing Internet standards such as XML and 
IP for all wireless networks. Founders of the WAP effort: Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and 
Unwired Planet chartered the Forum and opened it to general membership in January 
1998' (Nokia, 2000:Online [3]). The WAP Forum’s web site can be found at 
http://www.wapforum.org. The WAP Forum provides meetings for members to discuss 
developments and conferences to distribute and gather information. 
 
'Today the WAP Forum represents over 90% of the global handset market, carriers with 
more than 100 million subscribers, leading infrastructure provides, software companies and 
other organizations providing solutions to the wireless industry' (Nokia White Paper, 
1999:3). The WAP Forum has really managed to gather together all of the industry’s big 
names into a collaborative effort, and with the kind of backing that it has, cannot fail to 
continue implementing the wireless application protocol and associated services. 

The goals of the WAP Forum for the wireless application protocol are as follows 
(WAP, 1999:Online):  

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Independent of wireless network standard 
Open to all  
Will be proposed to the appropriate standards bodies  
Applications scale across transport options  
Applications scale across device types  
Extensible over time to new networks and transports.  

3. Partners in the WAP deployment  

Owing to the length of the list of full members of the WAP Forum, a list has been attached in 
Appendix B. Full membership fees are $27,500 USD per year, and an associate membership 
costs $7,500 USD per year. Full members may vote for directors and attend meetings, 
making it worthwhile for the ‘big names’ to sign up and be involved in the decision-making 
process. 

Impact of WAP 

'The trickle of companies promising products supporting the Wireless Application Protocol 
(WAP), … is becoming a flood' (IT Week, 1999 Online). Cell phone companies have been 
scrambling and producing cellular phones that have WAP-compliant micro browsers. Sagem 
(IT Week, 1999 Online) joined the race, and 'because the handset uses dual-band technology, 
it will allow free access to most mobile telecom networks across Europe'. It is not 
recommended for providers of mobile devices to allow WAP to bypass them, as they could 
well suddenly start losing clients as they turn to those who do provide the services. However, 
with 90 per cent of the global handset carriers participating in the WAP Forum, most 
companies have already recognized this. 

1. Effect of WAP on business tools  

Business tools will need to be adapted to be able to make use of the benefits of WAP. These 
benefits and examples thereof are provided in the next section. There is unlimited potential 
for corporations as they offer new services and products to their clients making use of this 
new mobile channel. According to the Nokia White Paper (1999:2), 'today people must carry 
with them at least a wallet, a calendar and a phone. Soon it will be only a phone – a media 
phone, which enables you to make calls, pay bills, buy tickets, check e-mail and manage 
your agenda.' 

2. Effect of WAP on e-commerce  

Because WAP is straightforward, existing applications can be easily adapted to the mobile 
environment. 'As of now, the mobile web means business' (Nokia White Paper, 1999:3). 
Those providers of e-Commerce that have not adapted need to climb onto the bandwagon as 
soon as possible. They should make the application changes needed and offer the changes to 
their users, so as not to be ignored by the users of mobile devices, who will turn to those who 
provide the service. 

3. Effect of WAP on information services  

Information delivery can be quicker, made more convenient to users and corporations and 
available to more people, as there are many more users of mobile phones in South Africa 
than there are users who have access to the Internet. For example, in some rural areas mobile 
access is available even where there is no landline infrastructure (and definitely no access to 

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computers). 
 
Nokia, 2000:Online [3] provides some examples of how information services can provide 
immediate access through wireless access: 

Wireless access to Internet content, therefore providing immediate access to the 
information they need;  
access to corporate IT-systems and extranets;  
corporations can offer their services and also create totally new services for their 
mobile customers;  
wireless access to personal information, e.g. e-mail; calendars; to do lists; screen text 
headers for their voice mail messages; and  
intelligent telephony services: through access to their personal and other customer-
related services  

Information Managers should already be looking at their current systems, ensuring that the 
information content will be available to their users. Although the information technology 
side is not necessarily actually put in place by information managers, they need to get hold of 
their information technology departments now and start to drive the process. This is not a 
small project, and although some systems might need a few changes made to them, others 
will need quite a lot of re-thinking. This is mostly due to the small display, bandwidth 
limitations and limited keyboard functions, meaning that access to information content will 
need to be simplified. This is particularly pertinent in industries that provide a service. 

Benefits of applications of WAP 

Mobile phones, although the focus of this article, are not the only devices available. Pagers, 
smart phones and personal hand-held devices can also be used. 
 
The benefits of WAP carry across most industries and people within industries. The 
telecommunications industry avoids overlapping costs and investments thanks to the 
common, open platform and tool for wireless messaging. As outlined by the WAP Forum 
(2000:Online): 

Carriers will be able to decrease risks and costs with revenue being increased.  
End users will benefit through easy, secure access to the information they require (via 
Internet and intranets) through mobile phones, pages, or other mobile devices.  
Manufacturers can access global open standards that already have critical mass. There 
are new product, marketing and revenue companies.  
Content Providers have access to previously untapped markets of mobile customers.  
Tool manufactures can add extensions to existing tools by taking advantage of the 
wireless marketplace.  
For developers, 80 per cent of the industry is behind it. This provides the necessary 
technology to develop, deploy and support wireless applications. 'There will be > 100 
million compatible devices shipped worldwide by end 2000, which will result in 
significant revenue for developers' (WAP, 2000, Online).  

What is also really interesting, besides the added business benefits, is how WAP can directly 
impact on consumers and to the corporate access to, and use of information. 

1. Consumers  

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Some examples of consumers being able to reduce the 'hassle related to routine activities' 
have been summarised from the Nokia White Paper, (1999:5-6) and GSM (2000:Online, 
[4]): 

Banking, for example, checking the bank account balance and carrying out 
transactions  
Mobile phone alert for a threshold, for example when a stock limit has been reached  
On-line tickets, for example, changing a flight  
'Infotainment', for example, the weather, sports, traffic information, yellow pages  
Define a shopping lists and receiving updated delivery times or triggering the delivery 
Voice and fax mail notifications  
Access to Internet email.  

2. Corporate Users  

Corporate users can implement the following uses (taken from the Nokia White Paper, 
1999:6-7; GSM , 2000:Online): 

Sales force and field service automation. This can allow for contact management, 
ordering and deal tracking. Push notifications can distribute critical data when needed. 
Operations and maintenance. Equipping components with 'GSM chips', providing 
access to information about performance and the need for maintenance.  
Management information. There is a vast amount of information available with 
managerial value (e.g. in databases, enterprise applications and systems) which is often 
textual (requiring a low bandwidth) and which can be sent via WAP.  
Mobile access allows for real time operations, allowing for faster and better decisions 
(and therefore superior business performance).  
Job dispatches.  
Remote point of sale.  
Remote monitoring such as meter reading.  
File transfers.  
Document sharing/Collaborative working.  

3. To the future  

'Voice will remain an important application in the wireless world for the coming years. This 
is demonstrated by the success of already existing applications, such as phone banking. WAP 
is an application protocol for devices inherently geared towards voice communication and it 
accommodates the integration between voice and data applications' (Nokia White Paper, 
1999:7). For longer transactions, voice will remain popular especially while the key 
functions are limited, however for a quick transaction, like retrieving a balance, which can be 
‘wired’ to a specific key, the wireless transaction should become more popular. 
 
'Market feedback will heavily influence future development' (Nokia, 2000:Online [3]). As 
users become used to the technology they will come up with their own ‘wish lists’ of what 
could be available and how it could be applied. An example of this, will be using hot-keying, 
so that only one button needs to be pressed to access a certain portion of information, or the 
calendar. 
 
According to news.com, there are already possible alternatives to the Wireless Net. The 
article states that : 'An ordinary telephone will soon be the only device needed to access the 
Internet, according to a report from Cnet. A number of start-up companies are developing 
speaking Internet services that can be accessed from any telephone. These services will read 
e-mails, share prices, news and sports headlines and point-to-point driving instructions to 



users.' Providers of these phones are hoping that they will compete with the wireless services 
as they will be perceived as more user friendly. The commands will be driven by voice, and 
not by the keypad. This service is only intended for those who will need access to the 
Internet for a brief period. This service will however have difficulty competing with the 
wireless Web when it comes to applications such as calendars, e-mail and e-commerce. 

4. Disadvantages of WAP/mobile devices  

Disadvantages or problems, such as the limited bandwidth and the specifics of a smaller user 
interface, have been seen as challenges to which WAP developers have risen.  

1. Design limitations of using mobile devices  

Saving bandwidth is often mentioned as a limitation. According to the Nokia 
White Paper (1999:7), the coming broadband networks will offer increased 
bandwidth, initially limited to the metropolitan areas. This constraint must be 
kept in consideration. 

The devices will have limited displays and interfaces (Nokia; WAP). Owing to 
the use of mobile phones typically with one had, Internet browsing will be 
limited (Nokia White Paper, 1999:7).  

2. Development issues  

Push not supported: 
According to GSM (2000:Online [3]), a push operation is not specified for the 
HTTP protocol, which is used by the WAP gateway server. The server will need 
to have the application interface to allow for the push generations and, on the 
client side, the capabilities of the mobile device will need to support this. 
Lack of cookies for session management: 

'Cookies are used on fixed Internet to identify the web browser and thereby 
assist in providing customised and streamlined services' (GSM, 2000:Online 
[3]). The protocol supports cookies (because it is based on HTTP) but the 
support will need to be built on the client side. In the mean time, some WAP 
applications use indexes in the URL as an alternative. 

3. Impact of limitations on the benefits  

'The report finds that the biggest obstacle to the uptake of wireless Internet is 
lack of information on behalf of the consumer. Where the consumer tends to 
think that mobile Internet access involves downloading Web pages onto a cell 
phone, the reality is that the service will comprise of specialised newsfeeds, 
customised announcements and email capability via WAP all available on 
mobile devices' (NUA, 2-2000: [Online]). 

All applications designed with WAP must take the limited bandwidth into 
consideration, limiting the data that can be sent. This could be turned into an 
advantage in that only essential data could be sent out, limiting the amount of 
information that goes out and eliminating information that is not really needed. 
The Wireless Markup Language (WML) will speed up access to information, 
aiding with the smaller displays and interfaces. 

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Conclusion 

'Who needs a PC? More than 90 percent of mobile phone manufactures have already 
committed to the new Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) specification … Starting next 
year, you’ll be able to check your bank account, read headlines, and handle e-mail with your 
phone' (PC Computing, 1999:Online). It sounds good, however the providers of the data also 
need to buy into WAP and provide their services in a WAP friendly format. 

'On the web, the conventional wisdom is that if you require more than three clicks to reach 
information, you will lose users' (Developer.com, 1999:Online). One way that sites have 
worked around this is providing large amounts of text on one page, this cannot be done when 
using a mobile device. Developer.com continues to say that 'the key to successful WAP 
design is simplicity: keep the information meaningful and brief'. This will force information 
providers to really sift through what they wish to provide, and to pull out the pertinent 
points.  

This does mean that some development will need to be made for current sites, but the 
simplifying of information and Internet sites can benefit the end user. The key points that 
Developer.com (1999:Online) makes with regards to development for WAP are as follows: 

Keep your text concise  
Use images only when appropriate  
Keep the menu levels to a minimum  
Keep the information structured in a clear, logical fashion  
Use the standard layout techniques within WAP.  

These could be applied to any good Web site (bar the last point) and the development of 
applications for WAP will however force these good development principles, providing 
simpler, more concise applications to end users. 
 
Computer Chronicles (2000:TV) featured voice technology, detailed voice driven commands 
and recording devices for these commands. Users can give detailed instructions for setting up 
meetings, send e-mail and include attachments through these devices. However, imagine 
doing this through a mobile device that through wireless communication actually does all of 
this, as the voice commands are being given, while away from the office. This could be one 
way to overcome the limitations of having to use the keypad on a mobile phone. The future 
is limitless. 

References 

Computer chronicles. 28 February 2000. Voice technology. SABC 3, 23:00. 

Developer.com. 1999. Design rules for mobile applications. [Online]. Available WWW: 
http://www.developer.com/journal/techworkshop/120399_mobile.html 

Groves, I. 1998. Mobile systems. Great Britain: St Edmundsbury Press. 

GSM. February 2000. An overview of wireless application protocol. [Online]. Available 
WWW: http://wwww.gsmworld.com/technology/wap.html [1] 

GSM. February 2000. WAP protocol stack. [Online]. Available WWW: 
http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/wap_04.html [2] 

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GSM. February 2000. WAP development issues. [Online]. Available WWW: 
http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/wap_06.html [3] 

GSM. February 2000. Applications. [Online]. Available WWW: 
http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/wap_11.html [4] 

Heeralall, S. 1992. Why do we need standards for mobile/wireless communications? In: 
Nanda, S. & Goodman, D.J. Third generation wireless information networks. United States 
of America: Kluwer Academic Publishers: (21:28). 

IT Week. March 1999. IT Week: Sagen joins WAP rush. [Online]. Available WWW: 
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news.1999/12/ns-7535.html 

Microsoft. 1998. Microsoft Press computer dictionary. CD. 

News.com. 2000. Portals eye up alternative to wireless Net. [Online]. Available WWW: 
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-1544891.html?dtn.head 

Nokia. February 2000. WAP demo. [Online]. Available WWW: 
http://www.nokia.com/corporate/wap/future_demo.html [1] 

Nokia. February 2000. Nokia WAP client. [Online]. Available WWW: 
http://www.nokia.com/corporate/wap/client.html [2] 

Nokia. February 2000. WAP solutions for mobile business. [Online]. Available WWW: 
http://www.nokia.com/corporate/wap/future_wap.html and 
http://www.nokia.com/corporate/wap/future.html [3] 

Nokia White Paper. 1999. WAP – the corporate perspective, version 1.0. [Online]. Available 
WWW: http://www.nokia.com/corporate/wap 

NUA. February 2000. Wireless Internet to surpass PC Internet. [Online]. Available WWW: 
http://www.nua.ie.surveys 

PC Computing. 1999. Business tools. [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.zdnet.co.za 

Sampei, S. 1997. Applications of digital wireless technologies to global wireless 
communications. United States of America: Prentice Hall PTR. 

WAP Forum. February 2000. Wireless application protocol – benefits. [Online]. Available 
WWW: http://www.wapforum.org/what/benefits.htm 

WAP Forum, February 2000. Wireless application protocol forum (home page) [Online]. 
Available WWW: http://www.wapforum.org [1] 

Appendix A - Glossary 

Analog 
adj. Pertaining to or being a device or signal having the property of continuously varying in 
strength or quantity, such as voltage or audio. Compare digital (definition 2) (Microsoft 
Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

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Application development environment
n. An integrated suite of programs for use by software developers. Typical components of 
application development environments include a compiler, file browsing system, debugger 
and text editor for use in creating programs (Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

Architecture 
n. The design of application software incorporating protocols and the means for expansion 
and interfacing with other programs (Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

Backbone 
n. 1. A network of communication transmission that carries major traffic between smaller 
networks. The backbones of the Internet, including communications carriers such as Sprint 
and MCI, can span thousands of miles using microwave relays and dedicated lines 
(Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

Cookie 
n. 1. A block of data that a server returns to a client in response to a request from the client. 
2. On the World-Wide Web, a block of data that a Web server stores on a client system. 
When a user returns to the same Web site, the browser sends a copy of the cookie back to the 
server. Cookies are used to identify users, to instruct the server to send a customized version 
of the requested Web page, to submit account information for the user, and for other 
administrative purposes. 3. Originally an allusion to 'fortune cookie,' a UNIX program that 
outputs a different message, or 'fortune,' each time it is used. On some systems, the cookie 
program is run during user logon (Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

Digital 
adj. 1. Related to digits or the way they are represented. 2. In computing, analogous to binary 
because the computers familiar to most people process information coded as combinations of 
binary digits (bits). Compare analog (Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

e-Commerce (or electronic commerce) 
n. Commercial activity that takes place by means of connected computers. Electronic 
commerce can occur between a user and a vendor through an online information service, the 
Internet, or a BBS, or between vendor and customer computers through electronic data 
interchange (EDI). Also called e-commerce (Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

HTML 
n. Acronym for Hypertext Markup Language. The markup language used for documents on 
the World-Wide Web (Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

HTTP 
n. Acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The client/server protocol used to access 
information on the World-Wide Web (Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

ISO/OSI model 
n. Short for International Organization for Standardization Open Systems Interconnection 
model. A layered architecture (plan) that standardizes levels of service and types of 
interaction for computers exchanging information through a communications network. The 
ISO/OSI model separates computer-to-computer communications into seven layers, or levels, 
each building upon the standards contained in the levels below it. The lowest of the seven 
layers deals solely with hardware links; the highest deals with software interactions at the 
application-program level (Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

Protocol (or communications protocol) 

 



n. A set of rules or standards designed to enable computers to connect with one another and 
to exchange information with as little error as possible. The protocol generally accepted for 
standardizing overall computer communications is a seven-layer set of hardware and 
software guidelines known as the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model. A somewhat 
different standard, widely used before the OSI model was developed, is IBM's SNA 
(Systems Network Architecture). The word protocol is often used, sometimes confusingly, in 
reference to a multitude of standards affecting different aspects of communication, such as 
file transfer (for example, XMODEM and ZMODEM), handshaking (for example, 
XON/XOFF), and network transmissions (for example, CSMA/CD) (Microsoft Dictionary, 
1998:CD). 

PROTOCOL stack 
n. The set of protocols that work together on different levels to enable communication on a 
network. For example, TCP/IP, the protocol stack on the Internet, incorporates more than 
100 standards including FTP, IP, SMTP, TCP, and Telnet. Also called protocol suite. See 
also ISO/OSI model (Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

URL 
n. Acronym for Uniform Resource Locator. An address for a resource on the Internet. URLs 
are used by Web browsers to locate Internet resources. A URL specifies the protocol to be 
used in accessing the resource (such as http: for a World Wide Web page or ftp: for an FTP 
site), the name of the server on which the resource resides (such as //www.whitehouse.gov) 
and, optionally, the path to a resource (such as an HTML document or a file on that server) 
(Microsoft Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

Wireless 
adj. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of communications that take place without the use of 
interconnecting wires or cables, such as by radio, microwave, or infrared (Microsoft 
Dictionary, 1998:CD). 

Wireless markup language (WML) 
n. A markup language that allows programmers to define the application’s user interface in a 
device independent way (Nokia White Paper, 1999:8). 

WMLScript 
n. A scripting language that allows programmers to embed executable logic in their 
applications (Nokia White Paper, 1999:8). 

Wireless application environment (WAE) 
n. The application environment consists of two things: a markup language (WML) and 
WMLScript. These allow the developer to define the application’s interface and then to 
embed logic in the applications (summarized from the Nokia White Paper, 1999:8). 

Wireless application protocol (WAP) 
n. The de facto worldwide standard for providing Internet communications and advanced 
telephony services on digital mobile phones, pagers, personal digital assistants and other 
wireless terminals (WAP Forum [1]). 

Wireless datagram protocol (WDP) 
n. Allows WAP to be bearer independent by adapting the transport layer of the underlying 
bearer. WDP presents a consistent data format to the higher layers of the WAP protocol stack 
thereby conferring the advantage of bearer independence to application developers (GSM, 
2000:Online [2]). 



Wireless session protocol (WSP) 
n. A sandwich layer that links the WAE to two session services – one connection oriented 
operating above the Wireless Transaction Protocol and a connectionless service operating 
above the Wireless Datagram Protocol (GSM, 2000:Online [2]). 

Wireless transaction protocol (WTP) 
n. Part of the standard suite of TCP/IP protocols, used to provide a simplified protocol 
suitable for low bandwidth mobile stations. TWP offers three classes of transaction service: 
unreliable one way request, reliable one way request and reliable two way request respond. 
WTP supports Protocol Data Unit concatenation and delayed acknowledgement to help 
reduce the number of messages sent. This protocol therefore tries to optimise the user 
experience by providing the information that is needed when it is needed – it can be 
confusing to receive confirmation of delivery messages when you are expecting the 
information itself. By stringing several messages together, the end user may well be able to 
get a better feel more quickly for what information is being communicated (GSM, 
2000:Online [2]). 

Wireless transport layer security 
n. WTLS incorporates security features that are based upon the established Transport Layer 
Security (TLS) protocol standard. This includes data integrity checks, privacy on the WAP 
Gateway to the client leg and authentication (GSM, 2000:Online [2]). 

   

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