Mobile Computing and Wireless Technology
Introduction by Guest Editors
Jeff Correia, Jim Howland, and Anita King
 |
Jeff Correia, Jim Howland, and Anita
King |
This issue of The Edge is dedicated to Wireless
and Mobile Computing. Mobile computing encompasses the core
enabling technologies of mobile data delivery, infrastructure,
and quality of service, as well as the associated security
issues. The convergence of wireless communication and Internet
protocol technology provides endless possibilities for mobile
computing applications and usage. However, the basic question
remains: Is the Mobile Revolution here or still just around
the corner?
The commercial world has done an effective job of making
mobile devices such as cellular telephones, personal data
assistants, and laptop computers smaller, faster, and cheaper.
First- and second-generation wireless networks have proven
capable of providing voice and low-rate data services. These
advances, combined with the explosive growth of the Internet,
were expected to produce a tremendous increase in the demand
for wireless multimedia services. Surprisingly, this demand
has been slow in coming. Current air interfaces are inadequate
for satisfying users’ expectations for data access.
Coverage is not ubiquitous. Security concerns are rampant.
The user interface for most applications is challenging at
best. And where is the “killer” application?
Just as the commercial world has been struggling with these
issues, MITRE has been working with our customers to overcome
them. A few of those struggles are documented here. Three
basic themes resonate throughout the articles in this issue:
security, capacity, and availability.
The Department of Defense (DOD) openly acknowledges that
information superiority wins wars. The tenet upon which that
realization is founded can motivate nefarious tactics that
may transcend the military domain, such as corporate espionage
or wiretapping. The government has coined the term “information
warfare” (IW) and has created organizations and programs
to detect and prevent IW attacks. Our first article, “Information
Warfare: The Role of Wireless Communications,” gives
insight into the fundamental concepts and intricacies of IW
as it affects wireless and mobile systems.
Emergence of the wireless ethernet (802.11) standard has
enabled the military to deploy ad hoc networks rapidly either
where no wired infrastructure currently exists or where none
is feasible. Two articles in this issue address the 802.11
standard. The first describes a MITRE effort to assess its
applicability for use in Navy environments both onboard and
between ships in a carrier group. The second discusses lessons
learned in a MITRE pilot effort to implement a secure, 802.11b-based,
wireless network.
Compared to their wired brethren, the information transfer
rates that we can expect from mobile devices can be quite
unimpressive. Further, these mobile devices, while riding
the curve of Moore’s Law, are inherently limited in
data storage capacity, display size, and battery life. MITRE’s
Information Interoperability Lab is addressing the solutions
that need to be put into place at the information management
layer to address the fundamental limitations of link capacity,
display capacity, storage capacity, and other challenges of
a collaborative wireless environment.
Similarly, special techniques are often required to address
the fundamental capacity limitations within the military communication
infrastructure. An article on voice-driven access to databases
describes how MITRE has applied modern voice recognition technology
to yield a human-friendly solution in an environment of diminished
link capacity.
Last, no link is more important to present and future DOD
concepts of operations than satellite communications (SATCOM).
The conundrum faced by the DOD SATCOM community at large can
be summed up as whether to lease or whether to buy SATCOM
capability. Our final article digests this enormously complex
and controversial issue, highlighting important aspects of
strategy as well as lessons learned regarding security, capacity,
and availability.
We hope you enjoy these articles. Like you, we look forward
to the time when we will live, work, and roam in a truly ultraportable
world one we are sure is just around the corner!
For more information, please contact guest
editors Jeff Correia or Jim Howland or Anita
King using the employee directory.
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