WIRELESS WONDERS JavaTM Technology For Wireless Data Solutions

by Steven Meloan

February 28, 2000 -- In an era where consumers rely on convenient consumer devices such as set-top boxes, pagers, smart cards, and cellular phones, we seem to be in the throes of a "post-PC" paradigm shift. The pager and the cellular phone, in particular, have now reached nearly ubiquitous levels in our society -- being found on the belts and in the pockets of everyone from school children, to Hollywood moguls, to grandmothers, to corporate executives.

But beyond being used as simple communication devices to maintain contact between business associates and loved ones, there is an increasing trend toward leveraging such wireless devices as network appliances -- for accessing the Web, sending and receiving e-mail, transacting e-commerce, facilitating banking and financial services, and even for playing interactive games. And just as Java^TM technology led the way in establishing a secure, easy to use, and cross-platform environment for the enterprise and for the desktop, so is it now doing for the wireless space.

J2ME^TM Technology: In Good Company

With the advent of the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME^TM), a subset of Java technology, Sun Microsystems offers a highly optimized Java runtime environment aimed squarely at the burgeoning wireless market. J2ME technology presents a Java platform designed specifically for the consumer space -- small devices that are limited in memory, processing power, and display capabilities. J2ME technology includes a treasure chest of tools, including a range of Java virtual machines, consumer-class APIs, profiles, libraries, tools, and more.

And the market is definitely responding. Since its introduction in June 1999, the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition has been endorsed by wireless carriers such as NTT DoCoMo, Vodaphone AirTouch, Bell South Wireless Data, and One 2 One; by device manufacturers such as Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, NEC, Fujitsu, Matsushita (Panasonic), Samsung, Sony, Palm Computing, and Research in Motion (RIM); and by application/content developers such as BBC Broadcast, Bonita, Ergon Software, Fidelity Investment, and the Weather Channel.

Can Your Wireless Phone Do This?

In order to expand its market reach, the wireless communication industry increasingly finds itself having to offer value-added services -- well beyond simple voice communication. Some Web/email enabled cellular phones already exist, but such devices are limited on a variety of fronts. For one thing, the user interfaces and browsers are locked in at manufacturing time. Imagine that you could never upgrade your PC, or work with any software facility other than the one that came pre-installed on the system. Until now, that's been the accepted state of affairs in the wireless space.

Meanwhile, from the wireless carrier perspective, the only thing distinguishing one company's offerings from another's are coverage and price. As a result, the industry regularly experiences what is known as "churn" -- customers jumping ship in order to acquire a new phone, obtain increased coverage, or procure a better calling plan.

In order to continue the wireless industry's explosive growth -- to hold onto current customers, to increase "online" hours, and to penetrate ever-new market niches -- there has to be more.

Enter Java Technology

The Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition stands poised to transform the cellular phone (and other devices restricted in processing power, memory, and input/output capabilities) into secure, dynamically upgradable network appliances.

With a Java technology solution, software applications run locally on the client device. As a result, new applications and software upgrades can be added at will. "Previously, only those applications selected by the device manufacturer, and included at manufacturing time, were accessible on a device," says Nicolas Lorain, senior product manager in Sun's Consumer and Embedded group. "But with Java technology, there's the capability to dynamically download new applications over the air, and then run them on the device -- using a standard platform."

And by being client-resident, functionality/processing need not be interrupted by a transient loss of connection to the network. Java technology-based software can preserve vital information and states, and then continue a given transaction once the network connection is reestablished. "If you want to put an entry in your calendar while you're out of coverage," says Lorain," you can do that, and then synchronize with the server afterward."

Finally, client-generated graphics can be vector-driven (as opposed to bit-mapped), making not only for a richer viewer experience, but also reducing network demand. And by being under local control, real-time games such as Tetris and 3D Maze become possible, as well as dynamic re-mapping of keys for more sophisticated gaming functions.

Java Technology Is Ready To Go

Java technology offers innumerable benefits to the wireless industry. For the carriers, traditional Enterprise functionalities (such as e-commerce, stock trading, and banking) can now be extended into the wireless space, while also offering entirely new information and entertainment-based possibilities (games, maps, weather, news, financial reports, interactive books, MP3 listening, and more). Meanwhile, for device manufacturers, adding support for Java technology will mean that their offerings will be capable of running a whole new generation of applications and services -- attracting customers, and selling product lines. And finally, for application developers and content providers, the powerful, flexible, and cross-platform nature of Java technology (along with a ready stable of over 1.7 million developers!) makes for a greatly reduced time to market and new business opportunities with connection to a whole new set of customers.

NTT DoCoMo's browser-based mobile Internet services grew to 1.5 million customers in just the first six months that it was offered. Imagine the growth possibilities inherent in adding J2ME technology to such an offering -- with a ready stable of developers, the secure, cross-platform, component-driven capabilities of Java technology, and the inherent ability to re-purpose already existent content and applications across a broad new range of consumer devices.

J2ME Technology

With the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition, Sun Microsystems has firmly established that one size does not fit all. The Java technology platform has now been re-architected into three basic editions -- the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE^TM), for the desktop and work station environments; the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE^TM, targeted at large, server-based systems, offering features such as Enterprise JavaBeans^TM and JavaServer Pages^TM; and the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME), which covers a range of small consumer devices -- from set-top boxes to pagers.

Within the framework of J2ME technology, the various types of consumer devices are grouped into basic categories -- set-top boxes, screenphones, wireless devices (pagers and cell phones), and so on -- with a "profile" for each category, specifying a set of category-specific APIs and a configuration that consists of a minimum set of APIs and a Java Virtual Machine. The Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) is composed of the K Virtual Machine (KVM, described in detail in the next paragraph) and core class libraries that can be used on a variety of devices such as cell phones, pagers, PDAs, and retail smart-card readers. The Mobile Information Device (MID) profile includes APIs covering the user interface, persistent storage, security and messaging specifically for cellular phones and pagers. (Note: The PersonalJava platform is itself a profile, targeted at Web-enabled devices, such as webpads, webphones and hand-held computers.)

A key feature of J2ME technology is the K Virtual Machine, a highly optimized Java virtual machine built from the ground-up, specifically for consumer devices constrained by limited memory, processing power, and display capabilities. The "K" of KVM refers to Kilobyte, because the KVM is designed to operate comfortably with only 128 Kbytes of memory (including class libraries). Yet it still offers many high-end, workhorse capabilities, including multithreading and garbage collection. And in keeping with the scalable nature of Java technology, applications written to J2ME technology are upwardly scalable, able to work with either Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition or Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition.

Both J2ME technology and the K Virtual Machine are being developed using the Java Community Process, with involvement and input from a wide array of wireless and consumer electronics industry leaders. "We have an expert group working on the MID profile which is composed of over twenty companies," reports Lorain, "including all of the top wireless device manufacturers and carriers, including America Online, Matsushita (Panasonic), Motorola, Nokia, NEC, NTT DoKoMo, RIM, Sharp, Symbian and Telecordia. The CLDC, meanwhile, has been developed in close cooperation with America Online, Fujitsu, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia, Palm Computing, RIM and Sharp. The KVM, meanwhile, was developed in close cooperation with Motorola, with contributions from such companies as 3COM, BULL, Fujitsu, Matsushita, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, and Siemens."

By establishing a secure, easy-to-use, and cross-platform development and execution environment for the wireless technology space, where executable functionality can be dynamically downloaded, Java and J2ME technologies stand poised to foster an explosion of new features, facilities, and applications. Built into the J2ME platform is the ability to receive not only application code, but also libraries. In this way, a Java technology-enabled wireless system can be configured "on the fly," providing the proper environment necessary to run a given application, regardless of whether the necessary library files were present on the device when shipped.

The Future

Consumer devices, services, and applications are all rapidly coming together, part of a growing wireless/consumer electronics, post-PC paradigm shift. And Java technology, with the help of the J2ME platform and the KVM, increasingly stands at the enabling center of this revolution.

On February 28, 2000, Sun Microsystems and Bell South Wireless Data announced their intent to develop an end-to-end architecture based on Sun technologies to facilitate development of Java technology-based solutions for handheld devices on the Bell South Intelligent Wired Network. Furthermore, the two companies intend to foster a broad, third-party development community directed toward this goal.

Meanwhile, NTT DoCoMo plans to deploy Sun's Java and Jini^TM and JavaCard^TM technologies to its i-Mode digital cellular phone and wireless services and support, as well as its next generation W-CDMA services. NTT DoCoMo currently services over 23 million cellular phone subscribers. The i-Mode phone and services allow consumers to browse the Web, check e-mail and take advantage of online services such as e-commerce, city guide and public transportation navigation aid. Java and Jini technologies are expected to make the i-Mode service even more compelling by providing enhanced security for mission-critical applications such as online banking and trading and increased functionality, including game downloading services and interactivity with other devices on the network. In addition, Java technology will allow NTT DoCoMo to dynamically upgrade and manage i-Mode software and services.

Clearly, when it comes to melding consumer electronics and the wireless space with the power of Java technology, the sky is the limit.

See Also

Java^TM 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME^TM)
(http:/java.sun.com/j2me/)

K Virutal Machine (KVM)
(http://java.sun.com/products/kvm/)

[ This page was updated: 04-Apr-00 ]