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Home : Community : Ask An Expert : Archive : May 2005   May 2005     Inside Look at WAP Push 2.0 May Issue Roxanne "The Expert" Singleton With spring breaking out all over, I wanted to bring you something fresh and interesting that gaining a lot of momentum in the mobile market: push messaging. Finally, the big brands are figuring out this is a great way to market and promote and as a result, the demand for good solutions is increasing. I sat down with Fergus Wills, a fellow Openwaver who happens to be the Chair of the OMA Push Group. He had a lot to say about happening with push today, how it's evolved and where it's headed. The History of Push The push framework has been available in open standards for some time now. Openwave has been very involved in push technology - we've taken the lead in push standardization. Currently, push is broken into two parts: the developer interface (Push Application Protocol [PAP]) and push over-the-air toward the mobile user. The balance between application server and over-the-air is managed by the Push Proxy Gateway. The primary focus of push has been embracing the increasing diversity of devices and applications on those devices while retaining developer investment in access protocol. There are three main kinds of push service: WAP 1 Push: it delivers push over a WAP 1 stack and is primarily used for service indications. WAP 2 Push: delivers push over a WAP 2 stack by pushing to a HTTP server in the device and includes a wider variety of content types (MMS, provisioning, email notification, etc.). HTTP push offers greater bandwidth on push as well as an active feedback channel. Push Version 3: currently being developed in the Open Mobile Alliance. The primary focus is push in IMS (IP Multimedia System). In this case a PAP submission is mapped to a SIP interface (RFC3261). In each case, the evolution of the developer interface has been separated from the changes and additions to the push-enabled devices. This is good because it protects developer investments in PAP. What's New for the Push Access Protocol? The PAP has a new version, which permits the following functions: One Shot Push. In the PAP quality of service element, the request can be made to the push proxy infrastructure to make a single delivery attempt for the push content to the device. This is suitable for time sensitive content when an application wants the Push Proxy infrastructure (SMSC, etc.) to retry. Content Return. Arbitrary content may be returned from a mobile device in WAP 2 Push. This allows for experimental applications and testing (e.g. a service may want a specific user response). Opening Up Push? Openwave is committed to using the push framework to enhance and perfect the user experience. Openwave's Push Proxy provides many operator-friendly features to ensure application service quality, including: Delivery confirmation: notification to the application via PAP's result notification that content has been delivered to the device. Interoperability testing: Openwave is working with other vendors on the interoperability testing of version 2 push over HTTP to devices, while continuing to develop push services on its browsers and infrastructure. Openwave is committed participating in the OMA Test Fest - a "bake-off" for OMA Service Enablers. Push security: addresses user concerns about exposure to unwanted push messages and messages from unregistered sources. Openwave has been at the forefront of the standardization effort in this space. Application addressing: there is an active registration system for new push applications with the OMNA - OMA Naming Authority. These are supported by Openwave Push http://www.openmobilealliance.org/tech/omna/omna-push-app-id.htm. The URN for application addressing will change to reflect its evolution into OMA, but the active registration list below is illustrative the activity on Push. The full list of registered application identifiers is repeated is openly available at the OMA website. VOIP Location Instant Messaging Splash screens Broadcast services The key takeaway here is that push services are opening up in a controlled manner and should be considered as much more than merely a notification service. Making Push Easier to Use? In using push, Openwave has actively promoted its push developer library and toolkit and is considering new ways of opening the push interface to make it even simpler to use. The PAP DTD will be revised to evolve it to the new features available in the OMA. And the good news is that version 1 PAP is will be supported and a version negotiation mechanism has been built into the standards so that new versions of PAP will be mapped to existing services in an Openwave Push Proxy. As we finished talking, I realized that using push holds they key to overcoming one of the hurdles for uptake of mobile data services: discovery. Are you working on ways to bring your applications to your users rather than relying on them having to discover you? If so, I would love to hear about it! Drop me a line. Roxanne has been working as an application developer for over 10 years. Her goal is to successfully write this column without having to join the marketing team or sit on the top floor with the execs. Roxy recently sold her vintage Motorola brick phone on eBay for $15. If you have a general question you'd like answered or just want us to know what's on your mind, let her know. Or, for more detailed or specific technical support questions, please visit ODN Developer Support.