Providing Web Services over DVB-H: Mobile Virtual Web Services

In this paper we introduce our experiences in accessing Web services (WSs) from DVB-H terminals. Because of the reduced capabilities of the mobile devices, clients residing in these terminals should be as simple as possible. So, we propose to move their complexity to the service provider by defining virtual WSs. A virtual WS groups one or more WSs sharing a conceptual functionality, although they could be implemented in different locations and with different characteristics. Because of the WSs virtualization, the provider makes the mobile client independent of these implementation details as well as of their availability. Virtualization also gives the possibility of defining QoS-aware services as well as caching-based systems to process the responses of clients more efficiently. Finally, we propose how to broadcast the simple clients and the information needed to access the virtual WS by using the technology provided by the DVB-H network.