Title: Anytime Anywhere Computing, Concepts and Technology
Author: Helal et. al
ISBN: 0-7923-8610-8
Reviewer:

Basic Stuff:
    The book is a concoction of the technological appliances developed over the last 7/8 years as well as a description of the technology and the intricate details underlying it. "Anytime Anywhere Computing, Concepts and Technology" as the title righteously portrays,  concentrates in discussing the recent appliances and tools developed in the industry as well as in academics. It however dosen't intrude into the deep and gory details of mobile communication protocols and data management issues. It provides a broad overview of the different research directions that a researcher might take in this broad field.

Organization:
    The organization of the book makes it further interesting to read. The initial chapter gives a brief overview of the vast world of mobile computing and clarifies some of the "Buzzwords" used in this context. It clearly points out the differences of this area with standard wired networking.  The book is logically divided into two parts: present and the future. It describes the present wireless communication networks and also the portable appliances publicly used and being developed by the industry. It then extrapolates to discuss about the future wireless communication networks which are supposed to give birth to a new breed of devices. It also dedicates one chapter into details of some of those devices. It then migrates a little into some of the existing end user client application systems and also discusses some back end server technologies involved in the scenario.  The last part of the book contains a summary of the ongoing research work in variuos fields: Mobile networking, transactions and discusses some of the eye catching areas: wireless web access, dynamic URLs, etc.

Applicability:
    The book is probably not meant for novices in the area of mobile computing. If you are already conversant about the basics of the technology and want to become 'industry aware', this is an ideal book to study. Also at the same time, if you want to know more about the networking and data management details involved in the area, probably you wont derive enough satisfaction by perusing it.

Table of Contents:

Foreword
Preface

1. Introduction to Mobile Computing

2. Wireless TeleCommunication Networks
    2.1.    Digital Cellular Systems
    2.2    The Wireless Network Technology
    2.3     Mobility Bandwidth Tradeoffs
    2.4    System Issues

3. Portable Information Appliances
    3.1    Historical Evolution
    3.2    The Advent of the PDA
    3.3    Palmtop Computers
    3.4    Hand-held Computers
    3.5    Communications
    3.6    Sub-Notebooks (Micro-Notebooks)
    3.7    NoteBooks
    3.8    Laptops
    3.9    Other Information Appliances
 
4.  Future Information Appliances
    4.1    New Challenges
    4.2    Emerging Portable Information Appliances and Teleservices
    4.3     Concluding Remarks

5.  Future Wireless Communication Networks
    5.1    Future Wireless Teleservices
    5.2    Emerging Wireless Network Standards
    5.3    Third Generation Wireless Networks
    5.4    Fourth Generation Wireless Research
    5.5    Concluding Remarks

6.   State of Industry: Mobility  Support Software
    6.1    Competing Philosophies
    6.2    End-user Client Applications
    6.3    Mobility Middleware
    6.4    Interoperability and Standardizations
    6.5    Shortcomings and limitations

7.  Research in Wireless and Mobile Computing
    7.1    Mobile Networking
    7.2    Quality of Services in Mobile Networks
    7.3    Mobile Access to World Wide Web
    7.4    Mobile Data Management
    7.5    Mobile Transactions
    7.6    Mobile Computing Models

Appendix A: Glossary of Common Abbreviations
Appendix B: Wireless Cellular Systems
Appendix C: Standards Organizations
References
Index
 

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