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EVOLUTION OF WIRELESS APPLICATIONAleksejs JurenoksRiga Technical University,1, Kalku Street, Riga LV-1658, LatviaE-mail: ajurenoks@rsdc.lvKEYWORDSWireless network, mobile solution, quality of serviceABSTRACTThe introduction of wireless communication isdramatically changing our lives. The ability tocommunicate anytime anywhere increases our quality oflives and improves our business productivity. The recenttechnological developments that allow us to executebandwidth-hungry multimedia applications over thewireless media add new dimensions to our ability tocommunicate. This opens an array of excitingopportunities in business, residential, healthcare,education, leisure, and many other areas. Wirelessvideoconferencing will connect us with business partnersand family members. Remote video medical consultationwill enhance care in rural areas and at the accident scene.Interactive games that include video and graphics withpartners over the globe will add new dimensions not onlyto our leisure opportunities but also to provisioning of aneffective remote learning environment.INTRODUCTIONOver the last ten years, the impact of wirelesscommunications on the way we live and do business hasbeen surpassed only by the impact of the Internet. Cellphones, pagers, and wireless Personal Digital Assistants(PDAs) have become so commonplace in our lives that itis easy to forget that ten years ago, they were a rarity. Butwireless communications is still in its infancy, and thenext stage of its development will be in supplementing orreplacing the network infrastructure that was traditionally“wired” as well as enabling network infrastructures thatpreviously could only be imagined. From local coffeeshops to commercial inventory control systems, withinrestaurants and throughout public airports, accessingcentral pools of information and communicating directlybetween users and among the devices themselves,wireless commerce is beginning to challenge theexchange system that our modern world currentlyembraces.No longer are we restricted by the shortfalls ofprocessing and battery power, operating systemefficiencies, or heat dissipation within the small footprintof the mobile device. Rather, we are limited only by thepractical application of these technologies. How will weaccess information? How will we integrate multiplehardware and software technologies into intelligent anduseable form factors? Not all business models necessarilyimply the use of a single terminal to supply the user withvoice, video, and data services. Ergonomic factors maydictate that voice services are maintained privately whiledata exchange and video information is easily viewablefrom a specified distance, perhaps on complementarydevices.EVOLUTION OF WIRELESS MULTIMEDIAAPPLICATIONThe landscape of Internet usage is dramaticallychanging because of the rapid evolution of access towireless communication with its associated mobility.Consumers in both business and residential markets arebecoming increasingly dependent on ubiquitous access.Such access is enabled by the proliferation of wirelesscommunication. Consumers realize the benefits of manynew business applications such as those in e-commerce,collaboration, supply chain, and telemedicine. They alsostart to appreciate the benefits for their family andpersonal needs such as communication with friends,entertainment, gaming, and location and safety services.As the speed and quality provisioning of wirelesscommunication increase, consumers' dependency onapplications delivered through the wireless media willincrease. They will also enjoy improved graphics as thewireless media will be able to deliver content-richapplications through their higher speed wirelessnetworks.This new era of ubiquitous wireless communicationwill provide an array of applications supported by theability to access the Internet everywhere and anytime.Wireless communication will be available at home and atthe office. Other types of global networks are envisionedonce high-speed 3G cellular phones become available byTELE2 (Latvia) company.Some of the applications that currently use wirelessnetworks as their transmission media were previouslyavailable via wired media and some applications are new.Here is a partial list of these applications:• Streaming videoAnnual Proceedings of Vidzeme University College “ICTE in Regional Development”, 2006124