5NINE, the leading developer of Wireless Data Infrastructure (WIS/I) technology for Linux, announces the launch of WAPLinux.org, an open source development project for modifying the Linux kernel to fully support the Wireless Application (WAP) protocol and bearers such as the Short Message Service (SMS), Mobitex and third generation (3G) technologies such as the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS).
These wireless communication technologies will allow Linux to be a choice, for wireless handheld and device vendors, to put in PDAs, watches, appliances and cell phones which will set a Linux standard for wireless client application technology.
Even with the promise of public wireless networks with wider bandwidth, these networks will always suffer from the inherent unreliability caused by structural and radio interference evident in the wireless voice communications of today. WAP is a bearer independant protocol optimized for public wireless networks which allows a more satisfactory experience for end-users with wireless handhelds.
"In our commitment of making Linux the choice for wireless handhelds and appliances, we created WAPLinux.org.", says Martin Dumas, CEO of 5NINE, "3G communication technologies, combined with WAP, will create the wireless application platform of the future."
WAPLinux.org has the goal of creating a fully functional WAP stack integrated into the Linux kernel with support for the connectionless and connection oriented protocols plus bearer support for SMS, Mobitex, CDPD, UMTS and other transitioning technologies for IPv6. These integrations will be available in the form of patches and full kernel source code from the WAPLinux.org website. (http://www.waplinux.org/)
Other features will include:
-- WAP compliant (all mandatory and optional features);
-- WSP Connectionless and Connection-Oriented support;
-- Class 0,1,2,3 WTLS Support; o Class 0,1,2 WTP Support;
-- WDP Support with IPv4, IPv6, UMTS, GSM, SMS, Mobitex and others;
-- A user level header encoding library;
-- Integration with BSD Sockets with dynamic bearer loading;
-- Ability to run under tight resource constraints.
"Most wireless devices that can use Linux will not even include IP support in their kernels," says Boris Kuschel, Chief Technology Officer of 5NINE, "but will instead use network technologies such as WAP over GSM, CDMA and UMTS. It is essential for these technologies to be available in the Linux kernel for it to be a contender in the wireless handheld market."
In order to ensure the success of Linux in the wireless data space, 5NINE has created WAPLinux.org. Details about the project and how to contribute can be found at http://www.waplinux.org/.
[ Home | Contact | MobiChat | Experts database | Let's do it ]
Comments to the content of this page can be posted on the MobiChat discussion group