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Assignment 2

Study of software aspects of wireless networks.

1) What is a micro browser? Compare four different browsers on different features.A mobile browser, also called a microbrowser, minibrowser, or wireless internet browser (WIB),

is aweb browser designed for use on amobile device such as amobile phone orPDA.Mobile

browsers are optimized so as to display Web content most effectively for small screens on

portable devices. Mobile browser software must be small and efficient to accommodate the low

memory capacity and low-bandwidth of wireless handheld devices.

Features Internet

Explorer Mobile

Android

browser

BlackBerry

Browser

Nokia Series

40 Browser

1. Creator Microsoft Google Research in Motion Nokia2. Free and open

source softwareNo Yes No No

3. Layout Engine Tridentlayoutengine

WebKit Mango (ver 4.5, 4.6,4.7, 5.0)Webkit (ver

6.0+)

WebKit

4. Softwarelicense

proprietary Apache

2.0 and

GPLv2

proprietary proprietary

2) What is Opera mini and Opera mobile? Give a list of five devices that support it.Opera Mini is aweb browser designed primarily formobile phones,smart phones andpersonal

digital assistants.Until version 4 it used theJava MEplatform, requiring the mobile device to

run Java ME applications. From version 5 it is also available as a native application forAndroid,

bada,iOS,Symbian OS, andWindows Mobile.Opera Mini is offered free of charge, supported

mainly through deals with mobile operators to have Opera Mini pre-installed in phones, and

other sources of revenue such as search advertising deals, licensing and paid bookmarks andSpeed Dial placement.

[5]

Opera Mini requestsweb pages throughOpera Software's servers, which process and compress

them before sending them to the mobile phone, speeding up transfer by two to three times and

dramatically reducing the amount of data transferred, chargeable on manymobile phone data

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_devicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_Mobilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_Mobilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_Series_40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_Series_40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Tridenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layout_enginehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webkithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprietary_softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License#Version_2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprietary_softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_MEhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_(Apple)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Mobilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Mini#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Mini#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_pagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_pagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Mini#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Mobilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_(Apple)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_MEhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprietary_softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprietary_softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License#Version_2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprietary_softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webkithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layout_enginehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Tridenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Tridenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_Series_40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_Series_40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_Mobilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_Mobilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_devicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser

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plans. The pre-processing increases compatibility with web pages not designed for mobile

phones.

When a user browses the web using Opera Mini,

the request is sent via theGeneral Packet Radio

Service (GPRS) to one of theOpera Softwarecompany's proxy servers, which retrieves the

web page, processes and compresses it, and

sends it back to the client (user's mobile phone).

Opera Mobile is aweb browser forsmartphones andPDAs developed by theOpera Software

company. The first version was released in 2000 for thePsion Series 7 andnetBook.Today, it is

available for a variety of devices that run onAndroid,S60,Windows Mobile,Maemo (labs),and

MeeGo (labs).The browser can dynamically reformatweb pages for small screen, using Opera's

Small Screen Rendering (SSR) technology andtext-wrapping.

The browser can be used by either using finger-touch or stylus on a touchscreen or with a keypadand can be displayed in portrait and landscape mode.

Nokia N90 Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 HTC Touch Viva Samsung i900 Omnia Motorola ROKR E6

3) Explain the basic difference between a web browser and a micro browser.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphoneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Series_7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Netbookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S60_platformhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Mobilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maemohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeeGohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_pagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_wraphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Ericsson_XPERIA_X1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Touch_Vivahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_i900_Omniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_ROKR_E6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_ROKR_E6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_i900_Omniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Touch_Vivahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Ericsson_XPERIA_X1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_wraphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_pagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeeGohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maemohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Mobilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S60_platformhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Netbookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Series_7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphoneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Service

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A Web browser is a full-featured application that runs on a computer, while a micro browser is a smaller

application that works on a smart phone or other portable device.Mobile browsers are essentially

scaled-down versions of standard HTML web browsers viewed on a computer.

Operating systemMobile phones come installed with an operating system that allows the phone to performdifferent functions, including using the web through a browser. Some popular operating systems

include Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android, iPhone OS and RIM. Some operating systems onlypermit certain mobile browsers to be downloaded and installed on the phone. This is not the casewith PC or Mac computer operating systems, which permit any web browser to run, as long as a

version of it exists for that operating system.

ResolutionMobile phone devices have very small screen resolutions in comparison to a standard computerscreen. Mobile browsers optimize web content so it is easier to view on a mobile phone screen.

Nonetheless, unless a site makes a mobile-browser-specific version, the standard site may look

distorted or have missing elements on a mobile browser. Smart phones like the iPhone andAndroid-based phones have larger screens than most mobile phones, which provide better

resolution.

Web Page LoadingDepending on the type of content on a web page, it could take substantially longer to load a pageon a mobile browser. Mobile phone operating systems and cellular data networks process data

onto a web page slower than a standard browser with an Internet connection would in most

cases. Images and other dynamic content tend to slow down web page loading, especially on

mobile browsers.

Supported Web LanguagesMost mobile web browsers can support some web programming languages like HTML, CSS,

JavaScript and Ajax. This allows most content and actions on a site to be viewed or performedon the web browser. Flash, a popular browser plug-in that permits video-viewing, is available on

a limited number of mobile devices, but has yet to be supported on a smart phone device (as of

2010). However, the latest iteration of HTML5 supports video viewing without the use of theFlash plug-in on mobile and standard browsers.

Dynamic ContentThe memory capacity on most mobile phones is small, so dynamic content on mobile browserseither loads very slowly or cannot be seen at all. Flash video and animations, for example, are

generally not supported on most mobile web browsers. Even JavaScript actions can be difficult

to run on mobile browsers, especially if the script heavily utilizes images or external content. Itcan cause the browser to crash. Typically, this is not the case with most standard web browsers.

4) What is OPNET, OMNET? How are they different?

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OPNET is a network simulation tool.

It comes with the following toolsets:

Node model that specifies interface of a network component

packet format defines protocols process model that abstracts the behavior of a network component project window that defines network topology and link connections simulation window that captures and displays simulation results

OMNeT++ is a discrete event simulation environment.

Its primary application area is the simulation of communication networks, but because of itsgeneric and flexible architecture, is successfully used in other areas like the simulation of

complex IT systems, queuing networks or hardware architectures as well.

OMNeT++ provides a component architecture for models. Components (modules)are

programmed in C++, then assembled into larger components and models using a high-level

language (NED). Reusability of models comes for free. OMNeT++ has extensive GUI support,and due to its modular architecture, the simulation kernel (and models) can be embedded easily

into your applications.

Although OMNeT++ is not a network simulator itself, it is currently gaining widespread

popularity as a network simulation platform in the scientific community as well as in industrial

settings, and building up a large user community.

5) What is a Net Stumbler tool? What are its applications?NetStumbler (also known as Network Stumbler) is a tool forWindows that facilitates detection

ofWireless LANs using the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLANstandards.It runs on

Microsoft Windows operating systems from Windows 2000 to Windows XP.

The program is commonly used for:

WardrivingWardriving is the act of searching for Wi-Fi wireless networks by a person in a moving vehicle,using a portable computer or PDA.

Verifying network configurations Finding locations with poor coverage in a WLAN Detecting causes of wireless interference Detecting unauthorized ("rogue") access points

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windowshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_LANhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardrivinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardrivinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_LANhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows

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Aiming directional antennas for long-haul WLAN links6) Compare mobile OS and computer OS.

Mobile OS Computer OS1. Has minimum number of system files Has maximum number of system files

2. System memory is not vast and fast System memory is vast and fast

3. Doesnt have large memory, RAM andprocessor

Does have large space, processor andRAM

4. Easy to learn Not easy to learn

5. Can't run several programs in same time. Can run several programs in same time

7) What is ns-2? What are the versions of ns-2?Network Simulator 2 (NS2) is one of the most popular open source network simulators. The originalNS is a discrete event simulator targeted at networking research. NS2 is the second version of

NS (Network Simulator). The current second version NS2 is widely used in academic research

and it has a lot of packages contributed by different non-benefit groups.

Main features:

NS2 is an object-oriented, discrete event driven network simulator which was originallydeveloped at University of California-Berkely.

The programming it uses is C++ and OTcl (Tcl script language with Object-orientedextensions developed at MIT). The usage of these two programming language has itsreason. The biggest reason is due to the internal characteristics of these two languages.

C++ is efficient to implement a design but it is not very easy to be visual and graphically

shown. It's not easy to modify and assembly different components and to change different

parameters without a very visual and easy-to-use descriptive language. For efficiency

reason, NS2 separates control path implementations from the data path implementation.

The event scheduler and the basic network component objects in the data path are written

and compiled using C++ to reduce packet and event processing time. OTcl happens to

have the feature that C++ lacks. So the combination of these two languages proves to be

very effective.

C++ is used to implement the detailed protocol and OTcl is used for users to control thesimulation scenario and schedule the events. The OTcl script is used to initiate the event

scheduler, set up the network topology, and tell traffic source when to start and stop

sending packets through event scheduler. The scenes can be changed easily by

programming in the OTcl script.

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When a user wants to make a new network object, he can either write the new object orassemble a compound object from the existing object library, and plumb the data path

through the object. This plumbing makes NS2 very powerful.

Another feature of NS2 is the event scheduler. In NS2, the event scheduler keeps track ofsimulation time and release all the events in the event queue by invoking appropriate

network components. All the network components use the event scheduler by issuing an

event for the packet and waiting for the event to be released before doing further action

on the packet.

Figure: Simplified User's View o f NS2

ns-1

The first version of ns, known as ns-1, was developed atLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

(LBNL) in the 1995-97 timeframe by Steve McCanne, Sally Floyd, Kevin Fall, and other

contributors. This was known as the LBNL Network Simulator, and derived from an earliersimulator known as REAL by S. Keshav. The core of the simulator was written in C++, with

Tcl-based scripting of simulation scenarios. Long-running contributions have also come fromSun Microsystems,theUC BerkeleyDaedelus, andCarnegie Mellon Monarch projects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Berkeley_National_Laboratoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tclhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Microsystemshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Berkeleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Mellon_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Mellon_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Berkeleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Microsystemshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tclhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Berkeley_National_Laboratory

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ns-2

Presently, ns-2 consists of over 300,000 lines of source code, and there is probably a comparableamount of contributed code that is not integrated directly into the main distribution (manyforks

of ns-2 exist, both maintained and unmaintained). It runs onGNU/Linux,FreeBSD,Solaris,Mac

OS X and Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP. It is licensed for use underversion 2 of theGNUGeneral Public License.

ns-3

The two efforts combined, and discussions on the design of ns-3 started on the ns-developers

mailing list in February 2005. Some of the main goals included building better support for

network emulation and reuse of implementation code, to better integrate the tool with testbed-

based research. In the process of developing ns-3, it was decided to abandon backward-

compatibility with ns-2, mainly due to the high maintenance overhead that would have resulted.The new simulator would be written from scratch, using theC++programming language.

Current status of the three versions is:

ns-1 is no longer developed nor maintained, ns-2 is only maintained, and ns-3 is actively developed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_(software_development)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU/Linuxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSDhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_(operating_system)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_Xhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_Xhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License#GPL.2FLGPLv2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_Licensehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_Licensehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2Bhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2Bhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2Bhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2Bhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_Licensehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_Licensehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License#GPL.2FLGPLv2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_Xhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_Xhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_(operating_system)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSDhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU/Linuxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_(software_development)