Mobile and Pervasive Computing in Construction: an Introduction - Mobile and Pervasive Computing in Construction - page 3

Table 1.1 Characteristics of mobile computing device capabilities (Wang and Dunston, 2006)

Device
capability

Descriptions “High” end

examples

“Low” end
examples

Technical
Functionality

Technical features such as limited
processing, memory and
communication capacities,
mobile communication,
personal touch, time-critical
services (Yuan and
Zhang, 2003)

Wearable computers,
bluetooth

PDA

Portability Devices differ in size, weight,

performance, storage capacity,
display and input mechanism,
and other form factors. As a
general rule, intuitive user
interfaces and simple menu
structures should be deployed
(Chan

Pocket PCs, head-
mounted
display, data glove

Laptop, keyboard,
mice

et al., 2002).

Situational
awareness

Includes location awareness and
identity awareness. Location
awareness refers to situations
where information about the
location of a user or
collaborators is important.
Identity awareness refers to
situations where the identity of a
user or collaborators matters
(Junglas and Watson, 2003).

GPS Paging system,

cell phone

* Adaptability
* Mobility management
* Information dissemination and management
* Sensor network
* Security.

1.2.1 Adaptability

As is widely known, living environments have the capability of adapting themselves
to the behaviors of human beings. Likewise, adaptability is an inherent feature of
mobile computing, because mobile computing devices serve the changing needs of
mobile users under varied conditions. Computer scientists, computer engineers,
and human factors researchers have long been concerned with how to embed this
notion of adaptability into mobile computing devices.
The basic mobile computing architecture is the client-server (CS) model.
Typically, servers provide services, such as data retrieval from a database and
upload of real-time data, to usually a large group of clients. Conversely, a client
dynamically selects the server from which to request the service. There are two
ways in which mobile devices can be made adaptable: functionality and data.
Adapting functionality means to dynamically change the functions on the