Introduction to Data

Management in Mobile
Computing

Shamkant B. Navathe and

Wai Gen Yee

© Shamkant B.Navathe and

Waigen Yee 1
Reference Papers

 Database System Issues in Nomadic Computing,

Alonso and Korth, SIGMOD Challenge Session,
1993
 Mobile Wireless Computing: Challenges in Data
Management, Imielinski and Badrinath, Comm.
ACM, 1994
 Mobile Databases : Chapter 29- Section 29.1 in
Fundamentals of Database Systems, R.Elmasri,
S.B. Navathe, Edition 4, 2004.
© Shamkant B.Navathe and
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What is Mobile Computing?

 Computing that uses portable computing

devices, e.g., laptops, PDAs, wearable
computers.
 Example applications include sales force
automation, order entry, e-mail, calendar
management. Others: financial, news services
 This presentation focuses on the impact mobility
has on data management.

© Shamkant B.Navathe and

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Characteristics of Mobile
Computing Devices

 They move
 They are Small
 Lower capacity to work due to
 less memory
 less computing power
 less battery power
 Physically prone to failure
 Therefore, they are typically associated with
fixed devices, e.g., desktop or server.
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Mobility : implications

 On the system level, there is configuration

management.
 How do you keep track of a moving object?
E.g., how do you find it?
 Where do you store data related to a moving
object?

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Mobility : implications 2

 On the application level, there is location

management.
 Location-dependent queries must reflect the
constantly-changing location of the client.
 Boundary / handoff problems are important
for applications

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Size

 Smaller size means greater portability.

 However, small size negatively impacts
the user interface.
 Small output devices make it difficult to
quickly scan large amounts of data.
 Small input devices make it difficult to do
things such as data entry (typing).

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Lower Computing Power

 Less hardware is put into portable

computing devices.
 Less hardware results in lower power
consumption.
 Less hardware also results in lower
computing power.

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Size, Power and Power
Consumption

 Chip makers are developing smaller circuits

(IBM and Intel are approaching 90 nanometers
vs. typical 130 nanometers).
 Chip makers are also developing low-power
chips (Crusoe, Intel Xscale, AMD, Infenion).
 Modern operating systems offer sleep modes,
especially small ones, e.g., Windows CE.

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Natural Power Limitations

 Small units make heat dissipation a

problem.
 As computing technology advances,
battery life remains low.
 Conclusion: Portable devices will always
lag comparably-priced fixed devices in
terms of performance.

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Reliability in Mobile
Devices

 More prone to failure due to:

 Greater exposure to diverse environments
 Rougher handling
 Limited power supply

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Architecture Encouraged
by Mobility

 Based on their characteristics, mobile

computing devices are typically associated
with more powerful and reliable fixed
devices called as Proxies.

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Architectural Overview
Mobile
Client
Wireless Cells

Wireless Fixed
Base Host
Station
server
Fixed Network
Wireless
Fixed Base
Host Station
Mobile
(Imielinski+94) © Shamkant B.Navathe and Client
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TERMINOLOGY

 Fixed Hosts and Base Stations: typically

connected through a high speed wired network.
Fixed hosts are general purpose computers.
 Base Stations: function as gateways to the
fixed network for Mobile Units
 Mobile Units: act like clients to the base
stations and interact via network access services

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Benefits of the
Architecture

 Work can be offloaded onto more

powerful, fixed devices.
 Fixed devices offer a well-known and
reliable repository for data.

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Wireless Communications

 Wireless Medium has much lower

bandwidth for communication
 10’s to 100’s kbps (2G cellular).
 Tens of Mbps (Wi-Fi, wireless ethernet)
compared to wired ethernet at Hundreds of
Mbps
 Features : cellular networks allow
seamless roaming, Wi-Fi networks
localized around base stations
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Wireless Communications
(contd.)

 Issues:
 Bluetooth etc. use unlicensed areas of frequency
spectrum- hence interference with other technologies
like cordless phones
 Modern wireless networks use packets for conserving
bandwidth Tens of Mbps (Wi-Fi, wireless ethernet)
compared to wired ethernet at Hundreds of Mbps
 Geographic Mobility domains are divided into
smaller domains called cells

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Wireless Communications
(contd)

MANET: Mobile Ad Hoc Network:

- clients communicate among themselves
- mobile units route their own data (as if they are base stns.)

Apps: Connection
Mobile Unit

Shared data

Distributed
Radio signal
calendars,
multi-user
games,
battlefield info
sharing © Shamkant B.Navathe and
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Outstanding Issues

 Connectivity
 Division of labor
 Security

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Connectivity

 Connection options:
 Constant connection—done with wireless
LANs (Bluetooth, 802.11). Fast (up to
10Mbps), but currently impractical for wide
areas due to cost and technological issues.
 Intermittent connection—done typically via
modem or docking station. Wireless modems
are slow (19.2 Kbps) and unreliable. Regular
modems are a little faster (57.6 Kbps).
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Connectivity

Latency makes scalability a problem

 Broadcasting : sending data to all clients
meeting all requests in one commun iaction
 Multicasting : Doing a selective transmission
to a group of clients that may find the data
useful
- less load on server
- clients need not be constantly connected

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Division of Labor

 Lazy device: Do as little as possible, ideally

acting as in I/O device. Reliable option if data is
available from server readily.
 Workaholic device: Do as much data processing
as possible locally, relying on fixed devices for
reliability and data sharing. Client may function
independent of server. Good performance if
there is low connectivity.

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Security

 Authentication, Authorization and Auditing

must happen on both the portable and
fixed computing resources.
 Security is complicated because:
 The portable device is highly exposed.
 The fixed resources are shared and managing
constantly moving devices is more difficult.

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Mobile Computing as a
distributed database application

 Entire DB distributed among wired components

with full or partial replication.
 Base station : has a DBMS functionality, can locate
mobile units, additional query and transaction mgmt
capabilities for mobile clients
 Distribute data among wired and wireless
components. Data management shared between
base stns, fixed hosts and mobile units

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Research Areas

 Query Processing
 Allocation of shared, limited transmission medium.
 Querying broadcast data and streams.
 Managing location-dependent queries
 Dealing with cell-boundary issues in giving complete and
correct results.
 Managing moving objects metadata.
 Communicating over slow, unreliable networks.
 Optimizing queries based on costs of resources –
which themselves are dynamic.

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Research Areas 2

 Security
 Mobile data less secure than fixed data
 Securing replicated data.
 Securing wirelessly transmitted and volatile
data.
 Securing connection points of mobile clients.

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Research Areas 3

 Interface Design
 No one-size-fits-all solution because mobile
devices come in different shapes and sizes.
Leads to, for example, multiple markup
languages for browsers, like XHTML and
cHTML.
 Optimal utilization of available “real estate”

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Research Areas 4

 Handling Intermittent Connectivity

 Replication
 Synchronization of replicas
 Update Installation and Propagation
 Scalability and efficient bandwidth utilization

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Research Areas 5

 Recovery and fault tolerance

 Handling planned and unplanned failures in
terms of site, media, transaction and
communication failures.
 Battery power limited – site failure common;
voluntary shutdown and site failure should be
treated differently
 Transaction failure is common during
“handoff” at cell boundaries

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Research Areas 6

 Data Modeling and Design

 Modeling of data and clients that can change
locations.
 Metadata design is critical – constantly
changing
 Design of server databases with partitioning
 Global name resolution problem

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Research Areas 7

 Data Distribution and Replication

 Uneven distribution of data within the
architectural components
 Cache management and consistency
management difficult
 Design of server databases with partitioning
 Global name resolution problem

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Research Areas 8

 Transaction Models
 Transaction correctness and fault tolerance
issues are aggravated
 Single transaction executes on multiple units
– mobile and fixed
 Lack of central transaction coordination
 Need for sacrificing strict “ACID”
requirements and allowing “weaker”
transaction models
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Postscript: Mobile Versus
Distributed Computing

 DC assumes a fixed network topology.

 DC tacitly assumes that network partitions
are infrequent.
 DC models typically model the network as
a single number, the bandwidth.

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