Supporting user mobility

The availability of wireless network connections to laptop computers and PDA’s has created interest in the issues surrounding mobile computing. However, enabling users to be genuinely mobile in their work requires more than a wireless connection. Distributed system services are needed to support the locating of people, equipment and software objects, and, especially for mobile multimedia applications, network transport protocols which can adapt to a wide range of networking conditions must be developed. This paper reviews some important mobility issues, looks at some of the systems requirements raised by user mobility, and describes some practical experiences with mobile applications at Olivetti Research Ltd. (ORL)