Mobile Internet : Testing of Internet services

Abstract: In addition to the problems that may occur in the Internet, the people who test mobile internet services confront additional challenges due to the wireless environment. If something goes wrong, it is very problematic for a tester to determine exactly where the error occurred and the reason why it occurred. Is it the software in the telephone that does not work properly, is the GPRS link stable, is the core network of the Internet working as it should, or is there something wrong at the server? The staff at Sony Ericsson has major difficulties determining where the origin of a problem is. They often simply know that something is not working. The major effort is often to detect the source of the actual problem rather than solving it. The PlayNow service provided by Sony Ericsson will be used as a reference service in this master’s thesis project. The PlayNow service is currently used for distributing ring signals. It is built on Internet standards, but depends on GSM’s specific features both for distribution and for e-commerce which makes it hard to test using existing web test tools. This Master’s Thesis examines the difficulties in establishing robust IP traffic links between a server and a mobile telephone. It examines the entire communication path between the mobile telephone and the server, and focus on how to detect (potential) errors. Within this project, development of a test tool is included. It supports features necessary for testing the reference service PlayNow. This report covers many different technologies within the mobile internet such as GSM, GPRS, and mobile IP. Moreover, the normal infrastructure of the Internet will also be considered; as well as how the different parts interact in an environment consisting of a mobile Internet with GPRS. A major part of the project has been evaluation of the communication link between a mobile device and a server. Additionally, some efforts have focused on developing the new test tool.