Web Protocols

There are many web protocols, but the ones i will be covering in this essay will be:
- WAP
- GSM
- GPRS
- 3G
- Bluetooth
- Broadband
- VoIP (Voiceover Internet Protocol)
- HTTP

WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol and is mainly used for web access in mobile phones.
Most of today's mobile phones, smartphones and PDAs come with a built in WAP browser. With a WAP browser, you can access dedicated WAP pages while on the move.
As WAP phones have smaller screens, content is oftenly fairly basic, so pages are quite efficient and downloaded quickly.

GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications and is the most popular standard for mobile telephony systems in the world.
GSM differs from its predecessor technologies in that both signaling and speech channels are digital, and thus GSM is considered second generation (2G) mobile phone system.
GPRS is short for General Packet Radio Service it is also a way to enhance 2G phones to enable them to send and recieve data at an increased rate.
With a GPRS connection, the phone is "always on" and can transfer data immediately, and at a higher speeds. An additional advantage is that data can be transferred at the same time as making a voice call.

3G is also known as 3rd Generation, is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunicationsservices fulfilling specifications by the International Telecommunication Union. Application services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, mobile Internet access, video calls andmobile TV, all in a mobile environment. Compared to the older 2G and 2.5G standards, a 3G system must allow simultaneous use of speech and data services, and provide peak data rates of at least 200 kbit/s.

Bluetooth is an open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over a short distance (using short wavelength radio transmissions) from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs) with high levels of security. Created by telecoms vendor Ericsson in 1994, it was originally conceived as a wireless alternative RS-232 data cables. It can connect several devices, overcoming problems of synchronisation.

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal (and the broader the band, the greater the capacity for traffic). Different criteria for broad have been applied in different contexts and at different times. Its origin is in radio systems engineering, but became popularized after MediaOne adopted it as part of a marketing campaign in 1996 to sell their high speed data access. The slogan was "This is Broadband. This is the Way". The term has never been formally defined, even though it is used widely and has been the subject of many policy debates, and the FCC National Broadband Plan.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is any of a family of methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. Other terms frequently encountered and often used synonymously with VoIP are IP telephony, Internet telephony, voice over broadband (VoBB), broadband telephony, and broadband phone.

HTTP is short for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web. HTTP defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. For example, when you enter a URL in your browser, this actually sends an HTTP command to the Web server directing it to fetch and transmit the requested web page.