The Nokia 9500 enterprise device is one of the first but there will be more. We are talking about smart phones which have both high speed wide area wireless, GPRS and EDGE in the case of the Nokia 9500, and wireless LAN access (IEEE 802.11b or WiFi). The challenge with these devices is how to seamlessly or intelligently make the optimal or best use of the available networks.

Birdstep’s Mobile IP client is a solution to this problem.

The Mobile IP client is one of three main elements in a mobile IP solution. The elements are:

• the home agent, which manages the information from the application servers to the client, and usually resides at the home network.
• the foreign agent (not a necessary component, but a very helpful element for seamless mobility) which resides on the foreign networks, and negotiates the connection and communication to the home agent while mobile.
• the Mobile IP client, residing on the device, which selects and switches between networks.

The home and foreign agents are part of the existing network infrastructure which is why, according to Stefano Holguin, VP Marketing at Birdstep Technology ASA, "we work closely with network vendors such as Cisco, Nortel, Alcatel and others to make sure that our Mobile IP client works with their infrastructure components."

The Mobile IP client therefore is responsible for finding the optimal network to connect to. Within this role the Birdstep Mobile IP client also looks after security issues. "A customer may want to use SIM authentication and then protect traffic with a VPN," says Stefano. "The Birdstep client makes sure that, as the user moves from one network to another, the security elements move with them, so the user does not need to re-authenticate as the VPN tunnel moves from GPRS to CDMA or wireless LAN."

"The goal of our client is that the user should be able to work without needing to consider the available networks, the system will find the best, whether that be the fastest or the cheapest or the best signal," says Stefano. "Then as the user moves they are switched transparently between the networks."

However while seamless connectivity may be highly desirable the ability to modify application functionality based on the capabilities of the connected network is also a valuable tool. "Imagine a user taking part in a conference call, they are in a hotspot and have video access," says Stefano. "Now the user moves out of the Hotspot into an area where they have less bandwidth, say on a GPRS connection. They would want to stay on the voice call but would be happy to drop video to keep their access. Our Mobile IP client provides the necessary information for developers to build applications which make these intelligent decisions." This is achieved through an open API supplied with the Mobile IP client that allows third party developers to access information on network connectivity and network attributes such as speed, signal strength and costs.

This technology is however not yet available on Symbian OS, but Birdstep’s announcement that they are opening a technology site in Cambridge focusing on Symbian OS deployment means it will be available soon. Birdstep are looking at three distribution channels, operators, handset manufacturers and Symbian. "Our Mobile IP technology could easily be added as an aftermarket addition, by an Operator who wants to offer an additional mobility service to their customers," says Stefano. "But our focus at present with the Symbian initiative is on the handset manufacturers." Even so it is operators and enterprise users who are currently most familiar with the technology. Birdstep’s technology has been available though its infrastructure partners for some time and as a result there have been numerous trials based on laptop and PDA deployments. The majority of current commercial deployments are within the enterprise where the Mobile IP client has been found to address some of the issues encountered in moving from LAN to WLAN. "A number of operators also test our technology in house with their own staff," says Stefano. "As a precursor, we think, to offering it to their enterprise customers."

The reason for moving the technology to Symbian OS is based on the way Birdstep believe users, particularly enterprise users, will be deploying mobile technology. "We believe that the enterprise user will use the laptop as their workhorse and compliment it with a smart phone not a PDA," says Stefano. "As the PDAs simply has not proved itself as the complementary device. And Symbian OS is clearly the predominant smart phone platform."

Stefano expects that the Cambridge office will be staffed with its initial complement of four technical staff by June with additional support and business development staff joining later as the technology nears deployment. When we see Birdstep’s Mobile IP client deployed will depend largely on the availability of devices to run it. Several devices, along with the Nokia 9500, with multiple network support are due for release before the end of this year.

Web: www.birdstep.com