Chapter 9
Intelligent Interfaces and Mobile Communications 1
9.1. Introduction
Since the beginning of the 1990s, mobile information technology has been in rapid development. Two main factors contribute to this phenomenon. Firstly, the development of mobile calculators: laptops, PDAs (personal digital assistants), mobile phones, GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation aids, are all types of calculators that can be embedded by a user today. Secondly, communications infrastructures for mobile terminals, and mobile phones in particular, are also booming.
In effect, in order to satisfy the more stringent user requirements in terms of mobility, if any particular field has experienced a surge of technical research and development (R&D) interest in recent years, this field would be mobile communications. This technical field requires specific expertise covering several aspects, from the physical layer in multiple access protocols, to network related issues, such as managing radio resources and mobility.
Mobile communications represent a rapidly expanding field; for example, for several years now the worldwide number of mobile phone users has exceeded the total number of landline subscribers. Industrial experts predict that in 2010, mobile data communications will generate more than half the revenues of wireless services suppliers [BAU]. Moreover, mobile terminals will constitute the principal way of accessing internet services.
In [USK], three types of mobility can be identified from ...
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