On disconnected browsing of distributed information

Abstract

The software and protocols associated with information browsing systems are largely designed with static access points and wired networks in mind; HTTP and the Web are a case in point. Static hosts are connected to wired, high bandwidth networks, and are capable of transmitting and receiving large amounts of data without significant delays. As such, the size and format of the data files being received by the browser/client has never been a concern. However, this causes problems when information access is desired on mobile hosts, since data transmission over a wireless network is much slower than on a wired network. Mobile computers are also relatively resource-poor, compared to their desktop counterparts. This fact is ignored by HTTP servers, and large data files are transmitted to computers that cannot properly display them. Also, mobile computers operate in constantly changing network environments. It is possible for a mobile computer to become temporarily disconnected from a network when it changes base stations or goes out of range of a base station. A mobile host may also doze off to preserve battery power and thus be disconnected. The information browsing system and protocol associated with mobile computers should thus be able to tolerate the fault of temporary disconnection. The article addresses these problems in the context of Web browsing from a mobile host. It investigates an efficient model for browsing and describes the design of a smart Web browsing application which performs transactions based on the user's available resources and manages disconnection.