Client-based wireless Hotspot Access Technology

Client-based wireless Hotspot Access Technology

Client-based wireless Hotspot Access Technology
ART/013CP
20070816 - 20080815
8738

Dr Shen-chang Chao
(1) Core technology modules for Client-based wireless Hotspot Access Technology platform As discussed in Section C, there are a number of technological challenges that have to be overcome in order for the WiFi access realization to meet the expectation of the market and the end users. To address these challenges, the following technology modules will be developed on top of a WiFi-enabled Voice over IP (VoIP) platform. There are three primary technology modules to be addressed in the project CHAT. i) Managed Access & Authentication Framework: This is an enhancement of the existing WiFi authentication schemes to address the access requirements of WiFi hotspots and to provide the managed logon and logoff functionality. ii) Power-optimized Keep-Alive Framework: This framework provides an optimized cross-layer integrated approach to handle all the keep-alive activities of the network stack in a power-efficient manner. iii) Inter-hotspot Session Management: This module enables SIP-based real-time applications to maintain session persistence across different subnets or domains. Furthermore, the existing WiFi phone forms the foundation of the CHAT project. There are certain core technology in the WiFi that requires further development to ensure the robustness, interoperability, protocol stack extensibility and commercial readiness. The relevant core components that require additional work include the SIP Stack, Configuration Management, and Man-Machine Interface (MMI). These components are further explained in the "CHAT Platform" in Section C. (2) WiFi-enabled portable platform prototype We will research and develop a WiFi-enabled hardware platform which is capable of executing all the core technology modules found in this project "CHAT". The hardware design primarily functions as a cost-effective embedded realization platform to illustrate the viability of all the essential CHAT modules and how they can be integrated with other communication system modules. The WiFi-enabled portable platform prototype will support the following key functional categories: • WLAN, • Networking, • Call features, • Audio processing, and • CHAT (3) Further exploration of other emergent challenges in WiFi hotspot access and related issues. As the number of WiFi hotspot grows, there will be a steadfast increase in both deployment coverage and density. New challenges will arise and in turn new opportunities will be uncovered.
BellTech Co Ltd Boingo [Sponsor] Freescale [Sponsor] Group Sense PDA Ltd

This R&D project is to develop the client-based wireless hotspot access technology which enables the communication devices equipped with wireless fidelity (WiFi) subsystem to manage hotspot log-in and to sustain the WiFi service under the constraints of embedded systems. WiFi is the dominant wireless access technology at home and at work. In public areas, the WiFi service is usually provided by the WiFi hotspot operators or aggregators. There has been an on-going exponential growth in WiFi hotspot deployment. The sharp increase applies to both the number of hotspots as well as the area of coverage. Unlike the home and enterprise WiFi deployments, public WiFi hotspots pose a number of technical challenges to the WiFi-enabled portable devices. This project aims to address several issues under the power consumption, computation, and memory constraints of typical embedded platforms. They include WiFi service discovery, enumeration and selection; WiFi network access and authentication; sustaining of WiFi service for accessibility and reachability; and enabling applications to increase service deployment and usage. WiFi has become a must-have wireless access technology and is common to all single-mode (WiFi only), dual-mode (WiFi + cellular), tri-mode (WiFi + cellular + mobile TV) mobile devices. Our technology platform will primarily focus on the software and firmware side of an embedded platform. Its design and implementation will be extremely portable so that it can be integrated into various WiFi-enabled multi-modal mobile devices easily.