A Framework for Analyzing Mobile Transaction Models

Abstract

Currently, mobile technology is undergoing a high growth stage, allowing an increasing plethora of mobile devices (handheld PCs, handsets, etc.) to access daily-distributed resources and information. This availability entails the requirement for transactional capabilities adapted to the specific characteristics of the mobile environment, without losing the consistency and reliability guarantees of traditional OLTP systems. This chapter surveys the definition and extension of transactional models to a mobile environment, starting with an explanation of this environment and a review of transactional systems applied to mobile computing. Afterwards, a framework for analyzing competing mobile models is defined. This framework allows for different constraints to be imposed on the most general “motion independence” requirement. Finally, existing mobile transaction proposals are assessed against the framework and classified, highlighting their relative strengths and weaknesses in different situations.