SyncML
SyncML is an open industry initiative for developing and promoting a common data synchronisation protocol. The SyncML protocol has been developed by some of the leading companies in their sectors, Ericsson, IBM, Lotus, Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Motorola, Nokia, Palm Inc., Psion and Starfish Software; together with over 600 SyncML Supporter companies.
The SyncML 1.0 specification [3] was published in December 2000 and has since then been endorsed by several other standardisation forums as their preferred choice of synchronisation technology. The first products passed the rigorous SyncML conformance and interoperability testing processes in April 2001.
What Is SyncML
SyncML is a synchronisation protocol that can be used by devices to communicate the changes that have taken place in the data that is stored within them. However, SyncML is capable of delivering more than just basic synchronisation; it is extensible, providing powerful commands to allow searching and execution.
SyncML uses mark-up language documents to exchange information about the changes, as well as the changed data itself. These documents are transferred in a sequence defined by the SyncML specification. Typically, one of the devices is a mobile terminal, and is called the synchronisation client, and the other is a server. The mobile device and the server can communicate the changes that have occurred since the last time that they synchronised.
The capabilities of the mobile client and the server may be very different. It is not unusual, due to the limitations of the mobile device, for the server to contain more data fields per item than the client. SyncML will make the data as identical as possible on the devices.
What are the Main Benefits
The main benefits of using SyncML as a synchronisation protocol are:
· Since it is based on XML, there are no operating system or programming language constraints.
· SyncML is a future proof choice. It is easily extensible to respond to the future data synchronisation needs.
· As the synchronisation solution for major wireless device manufacturers, SyncML enabled devices will quickly reach mass volumes.
· Many different transport bindings are available, so this means the same synchronisation technology can be used for both local and remote synchronisation utilising whichever connection is most suitable.
· 3GPP have adopted SyncML as the standard for wide area synchronisation in Release4. IrDA have adopted SyncML as the synchronisation solution for their next evolution of IrMC. WAP Forum is also considering adopting SyncML. This will increase interoperability between devices as the same synchronisation standard will be used everywhere.
SyncML Using Bluetooth
SyncML is a transport independent technology, thus it can support most of the currently used wireless and cable based transports. As SyncML is commonly used over session level protocols, an OBEX-based or IP-based transport solution can conveniently be utilised when running SyncML over Bluetooth. The OBEX binding for SyncML specification [1] defines how SyncML is mapped onto the OBEX layer. This specification contains the details that are normally contained in a Bluetooth profile. The SyncML specification also defines how to run SyncML over HTTP and WSP. In this case, the transport solution would smoothly work over the TCP/IP protocols e.g., using the Bluetooth PAN profile.
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An abstract from the web resources.
SyncML is an open industry initiative for developing and promoting a common data synchronisation protocol. The SyncML protocol has been developed by some of the leading companies in their sectors, Ericsson, IBM, Lotus, Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Motorola, Nokia, Palm Inc., Psion and Starfish Software; together with over 600 SyncML Supporter companies.
The SyncML 1.0 specification [3] was published in December 2000 and has since then been endorsed by several other standardisation forums as their preferred choice of synchronisation technology. The first products passed the rigorous SyncML conformance and interoperability testing processes in April 2001.
What Is SyncML
SyncML is a synchronisation protocol that can be used by devices to communicate the changes that have taken place in the data that is stored within them. However, SyncML is capable of delivering more than just basic synchronisation; it is extensible, providing powerful commands to allow searching and execution.
SyncML uses mark-up language documents to exchange information about the changes, as well as the changed data itself. These documents are transferred in a sequence defined by the SyncML specification. Typically, one of the devices is a mobile terminal, and is called the synchronisation client, and the other is a server. The mobile device and the server can communicate the changes that have occurred since the last time that they synchronised.
The capabilities of the mobile client and the server may be very different. It is not unusual, due to the limitations of the mobile device, for the server to contain more data fields per item than the client. SyncML will make the data as identical as possible on the devices.
What are the Main Benefits
The main benefits of using SyncML as a synchronisation protocol are:
· Since it is based on XML, there are no operating system or programming language constraints.
· SyncML is a future proof choice. It is easily extensible to respond to the future data synchronisation needs.
· As the synchronisation solution for major wireless device manufacturers, SyncML enabled devices will quickly reach mass volumes.
· Many different transport bindings are available, so this means the same synchronisation technology can be used for both local and remote synchronisation utilising whichever connection is most suitable.
· 3GPP have adopted SyncML as the standard for wide area synchronisation in Release4. IrDA have adopted SyncML as the synchronisation solution for their next evolution of IrMC. WAP Forum is also considering adopting SyncML. This will increase interoperability between devices as the same synchronisation standard will be used everywhere.
SyncML Using Bluetooth
SyncML is a transport independent technology, thus it can support most of the currently used wireless and cable based transports. As SyncML is commonly used over session level protocols, an OBEX-based or IP-based transport solution can conveniently be utilised when running SyncML over Bluetooth. The OBEX binding for SyncML specification [1] defines how SyncML is mapped onto the OBEX layer. This specification contains the details that are normally contained in a Bluetooth profile. The SyncML specification also defines how to run SyncML over HTTP and WSP. In this case, the transport solution would smoothly work over the TCP/IP protocols e.g., using the Bluetooth PAN profile.
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An abstract from the web resources.
