What's New in Networking for Windows Mobile 6

  • Article

4/12/2010

The following networking features are new in Windows Mobile 6.

Networking Features Description

Internet Sharing

The current Modem Link application is used to share a cellular connection with a PC/laptop. New NDIS-based radios cannot use the protocol that is used by Modem Link. Therefore, a new application, Internet Sharing, is now available. The following features included:

  • USB tethering or Microsoft Bluetooth stack support.
  • Connection sharing so that a mobile device and a remote device that is connected to the mobile device can share the connection to the Internet.
  • Radio features such as suspend/resume and simultaneous voice and data can be used.

Partner Requirements: The USB interface requires an INF file similar to the one that is used for Modem Link today. This INF file requires a unique ID to differentiate it from the ActiveSync USB connection. This application is an optional package.

Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)

Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) defines procedures and protocols for sending high-quality audio data to peer Bluetooth devices.

A2DP provides support for a Bluetooth-enabled Windows Mobile device to transfer an audio stream to Bluetooth headphones or speakers over an Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) connection. The audio payload is transferred over the L2CAP layer approximately in the range of 300-400 kbps.

Wireless Multimedia (WMM)

Wireless Multimedia, formerly known as Wireless Multimedia Extensions, refers to Quality of Service (QoS) over Wi-Fi. WMM prioritizes tagged traffic on basis of the following four options: Voice, Video, Best Effort and Bulk, listed in that order of priority. This results in better latency/throughput in congested network conditions. VoIP is competing to replace desktop phones in enterprises, and it must match the same level of audio and video quality. Packet tagging also allows some Wi-Fi hardware to enter special power-saving modes for VoIP profiles (for example, UAPSD). To achieve end-to-end QoS, IP QoS also is recommended.

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA2)

IEEE 802.11i, also known as WPA2, is an amendment to 802.11 that specifies wireless the encryption standard for wireless networks. The previous standard introduced by the Wi-Fi Alliance, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), was an intermediate solution to the security weakness of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). WPA implemented a subset of 802.11i. The implementation of the full 802.11i is known as WPA2.802.11i makes use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).

The following table shows WLAN-related recommendations for a VoIP-enabled Windows Mobile Standard.

Hardware item Windows Mobile Standard

WLAN radio support: Support for IEEE 802.11a or 802.11b or 802.11g

Required (New for VoIP)

Support for Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery (U-APSD), power save, and packet tagging and prioritization (IEEE 802.11e)

Recommended (New for VoIP)

Support for AES encryption (IEEE 802.11i) in WLAN hardware

Recommended (New for VoIP)

See Also

Other Resources

What's New in Windows Mobile 6