INTRODUCTION Mobile computing means different things to different people.Ubiquitou s, wireless andremote computing.

Wireless and mobile computing are no t s yn o n ym o u s . W i r e l e s s i s a transmission or information transport method that enables mobile computing.M o b i l e c o m p u t i n g h a s f a s t b e c o m e a n i m p o r t a n t n e w p a r a d i g m i n t o d a y ' s w o r l d o f n e t w o r k e d c o m p u t i n g s ys t e m s . R a n g i n g f r o m w i r e l e s s l a p t o p s t o c e l l u l a r p h o n e s a n d WiFi/Bluetooth-enabled PDAs to wireless sensor networks, mobile computing has becomeubiquitous in its impact on our daily lives. The debut if iPhones and the proliferation of other handheld devices has spurred excitement and interest in this evolving field. In this seminar,we will study the state-ofthe-art in both the research and commercial communities withrespect to mobile computing. We will investigate standard protocols and platforms, thecapabilities of today's commercial devices, and proposed next-generation solutions. In theprocess, we will seek to gain an improved understanding about where the field is headed,and what are the important remaining unanswered technical questions and challenges.Mobile computing is a new style of computer access emerging at the intersection of the twocurrently dominant trends: producing portable computers in computer industry and wirelesscommunications in telecommunication industry. This paper discusses some key issuesi n v o l v e d i n r e a l i z i n g a m o b i l e w i r e l e s s c o m p u t i n g e n v i r o n ment by examining thec h a r a c t e r i s t i c s r e q u i r e d o f e a c h m a i n c o m p o n e n t : m o b i l e c o m p u t e r , w i r e l e s s communications network, and coordination software.M o b i l e c o m p u t i n g i s b e c o m i n g i n c r e a s i n g l y i m p o r t a n t d u e t o t h e r i s e i n t h e n u m b e r o f portable computers and the desire to have continuous network connectivity to the Internetirrespective of the physical location of the node. Mobile IP, the more popular global mobilitysolution, was designed to support mobility of a single host. Even though the same protocolcan be applied in the case of network mobility, providing connectivity to mobile networksi n t r o d u c e s m a n y i s s u e s r e l a t e d t o t h e s c a l a b i l i t y, s e c u r i t y a n d Q o S . I n s t e a d , a m o b i l e network can be cited as a remote site, trying to establish secured communication with thehome network. This view of mobile1network solves many issues related to QoS, security and scalability. The objective of thispaper is to explore the possibility of using different VPN techniques to provide connectivity for mobile networks and measure the corresponding end-to-end performance of real timetraffic and best effort traffic patterns.Mobile Computing is an umbrella term used to describe technologies that enable people toaccess network services anyplace, anytime, and anywhere. Ubiquitous computing andcomputing are synonymous with mobile computing. Information access via a mobile deviceisplagued by low available bandwidth, poor connection maintenance, poor security, andaddressing problems. Unlike their wired counterparts, design of software for mobile devicesm u s t c o n s i d e r r e s o u r c e l i m i t a t i o n , b a t t e r y p o w e r a n d d i s p l a y s i z e . C o n s e q u e n t l y, n e w hardware and software techniques must be developed. For example, applications need tobe highly optimized for space, in order to fit in the limited memory on the mobile devices.For Internet enabled devices, the good old TCP/IP stack cannot be used; it takes too muchspace and is not optimized for minimal power consumption. Given the plethora of cellular technologies that have emerged in such a

market, it becomes extremely difficult to providesupport for inter-device communication.A new hardware technology solution, Bluetooth, has been proposed to o v e r c o m e t h i s barrier. Any device with a Bluetooth chip will be able to communicate seamlessly with anyother device having a similar chip irrespective of the communication technologies theymight be using. For the sake of explanation, an analogy can be drawn between the JavaVirtual Machine and Blue tooth.In the recent past, cellular phone companies have shown an interesting growth pattern. Thenumber of customers has been steadily increasing but the average airtime per user hasslowed to a constant. To increase the user average connect time, many cellular providershave started providing data services on their networks which entices the user to use themobile device for both voice and data communication. Typical data services include chat, e-mail, Internet browsing. An example of this type of service is SMS (Short Message Service).It is a data service in a GSM cellular network that allows the users to send a maximum of 160-character message at a time (similar to paging). Inherently, this service is not feasible2 browsing, checking e-mail or chatting. GSM networks provide another service called GPRS(General Packet Radio Service) that allows information to be sent and received across thecellular network.There has also been a recent effort defining common standards for providing data serviceson hand-held devices. WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and KVM (Kilobyte VirtualMachine) deserve a mention here. WAP is a protocol suite that comprises of protocolstailored for small devices. WAP has been developed by the WAP Forum and runs over anunderlying bearer protocol like IP or SMS. In the WAP model, a service provider operates aWAP gateway to convert Internet content to a miniaturized subset of HTML that is displayedby a mini-browser on the mobile device. Companies like Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola havea l r e a d y d e v e l o p e d W A P e n a b l e d p h o n e s . A s o f n o w , t h e s e p h o n e s a r e a v a i l a b l e a n d functional mostly in Europe.

The Role of Memory

The term "memory" applies to any electronic component capable of temporarily storing data. There are two main categories of memories: internal memory that temporarily memorises data while programs are running. Internal memory uses microconductors, i.e. fast specialized electronic circuits. Internal memory corresponds to what we callrandom access memory (RAM). auxiliary memory (also called physical memory or external memory) that stores information over the long term, including after the computer is turned off. Auxiliary memory corresponds to magnetic storage devices such as the hard drive, optical storage devices such as CDROMs and DVD-ROMs, as well as read-only memories.

Types of Memory Devices

Introduction to Memory Devices
Computers and many electronic gadgets usually rely on stored information which is mainly data which can be used to direct circuit actions. The digital information is stored in memory devices. Memories can be divided into 2 categories based on what memory cells can be accessed at a given instant.

SAM (Sequentially Access Memory) is accessed by stepping through each memory location until the desired location is reached. Magnetic tape is an example of SAM. The second category of memory devices is called RAM (Random Access Memory) where the memory can be randomly accessed at any instant, without having to step through each memory location. It is generally faster to access a RAM compared to SAM. Most of the electronics gadgets memory are of RAM type.

Random Access Memory (RAM) Memory Device

RAM memory is "volatile" which means that the information stored in the RAM will be lost once the power to it is removed. Two common types of RAM are DRAM (Dynamic RAM) and SRAM (Static RAM). DRAM stored a bit as the presence or absence of charge on MOSFET gate substrate capacitance. As the capacitance has leakage, it must be refreshed every few miliseconds. SRAM is an array of flip flops of which the bit stored in the flip flop will remain until power is removed or another bit replaces it. SRAM does not need to be refreshed. DRAM is usually 1.5 to 4 times as dense as SRAM and hence cheaper. However, SRAM has faster access times than DRAM.

Read Only Memory (ROM) Memory Device

ROM is non volatile in that its contents are not lost when power to it is removed. All ROMs can be programmed at least once. Mask ROMs are programmed by having "1"s and "0"s etched into their semiconductors at the time of manufacturing. Programmable ROM (PROM) can be written after manufacturing by electrically burning specific transistors or diodes in the memory array. EPROM can be erased and reprogrammed by using ultraviolet light. EEPROM (electronically erasable PROM) data can be erased electronically but it takes longer time compared to RAM. Read and write time for RAM is almost the same but PROM has slower write times. PROM must be erased before they can be reprogrammed and it often needs a higher programming voltage than its operating voltage.

ROM is usually used to store data or programs that do not change frequently and must still be there when power supply cuts off.

Non Volatile RAM (NVRAM) Memory Device

A NVRAM chip consists of both RAM and ROM. During power on reset, the contents of the ROM are copied to RAM. Before the power turns off, the system will copy the entire contents of the RAM into ROM for non volatile storage. The RAM in an NVRAM is called shadow RAM. NVRAM fills the gap between easily written memory and non volatile memory.

Introduction to Flash Memory Flash memory is used for easy and fast information storage in such devices as digital cameras and home video game consoles. It is used more as a hard drive than as RAM. The data retention of flash memory can be as long as more than ten years. A few examples of Flash memory:

Your computer's BIOS chip Compact Flash (most often found in digital cameras) Smart Media (most often found in digital cameras) Memory Stick (most often found in digital cameras) PCMCIA Type I and Type II memory cards in laptops Memory cards for video game consoles

The reasons why we use Flash memory instead of a hard disk:

It is noiseless It allows faster access It is smaller in size It is lighter

Because the cost for a hard disk is much cheaper than Flash memory for the same amount of storage, Flash memory cannot substitute hard disk completely. Dynamic Random-access Memory (DRAM): The basic building block of any memory circuit is the cell in which a single bit of information is stored. The DRAM has the simplest cell structure, consisting of a single transistor and a capacitor. The figure below shows a simplest example of a DRAM cell consisting of a single NMOS transistor and a capacitor. The gate of the transistor is connected to a "row select" or "wordline", and the source of the transistor is connected to the "bitline". When both the wordline and the bitline are brought to high voltage, the transistor is on, and charge can flow to the capacitor. If the capacitor initially had no charge (stored zero), then charge flows into the

capacitor. If the capacitor initially is charged (stored one), then very little charge flows into the capacitor. To read an individual bit, the sensing circuitry measures the amount of charge that flows into the capacitor and determines whether it is zero or a one. The capacitor is then refreshed by either fully charging it or completely depleting it of charge, depending on which state it was initially. The write cycle simply charges a capacitor to the desired state 0 or 1 and the amount of charge needed is not measured.

How Flash memory works? Flash memory has a grid of columns called bitline and rows called wordline with a cell that has two transistors at each intersection as shown in the following diagram.

Flash memory is a type of EEPROM chip. The figure below shows a cross section of a single cell of flash memory. In short, a capacitor is stacked on the top of a transistor. The lower electrode of the capacitor is also the gate electrode of the transistor and it is called floating gate, the upper electrode of the capacitor is called control gate and it is connected to the world line.

Read, Write and Erase To erase the cells of a chip to change the cell value to a "0" requires Fowler-

Nordheim tunneling. A negative electrical potential, usually -10-13 volts, is applied to the floating gate. The electrons stored in the floating gate are drained to the source side of the transistor. The electrons in the cells of a Flash memory chip can be returned to normal ("1") by the application of a strong electric field. Flash memory uses in-circuit wiring to apply the electric field to the entire chip, or to predetermined sections known as blocks. Flash memory works much faster than traditional EEPROMs because instead of erasing one byte at a time, it erases a block or the entire chip, and then rewrites it. The writing process is through channel hot electron injection. The control gate is applied with a voltage of 10-13 volts, the source line is grounded and the bitline is applied a voltage about 5 volts. The following table shows that the process of writing, erasing and reading.