Configuring and Updating Mobile Terminals without User Intervention
Both network operators and end users find themselves in an increasingly complex world of mobile communications. Mobile terminals provide more and more features using a number of access technologies and a wide variety of mobile terminal applications. However, most users don’t want to alter complex and time-consuming handset settings – they demand ready to use and reliable services. Supplying those services prevents end users from being frustrated and confused and considerably increases customer satisfaction – which in return generates revenues for both network operators and equipment manufacturers.
The key to this new and customer-oriented service level is called Device Management – or DM in short. The following article not only outlines the benefits of DM but also looks at the technical aspects of Device Management and its historic development.
Benefits of using DM
Modern wireless communication devices are increasingly complex and feature-rich systems, utilising a number of access technologies (including GSM, W-CDMA, CDMA2000, WiFi, or WiMAX) to provide applications such as MMS, VT, PoC, eMail and Web Browsing. The increasing pace of development during the past few years, however, has led to a situation were both private and business customers are finding it complicated to configure their mobile terminals. At the same time, it is difficult for service providers to ensure that all applications are working correctly and that the latest software versions are used on all mobile terminals connected to the network. The latter is an important prerequisite for satisfied customers since older software versions may cause an application to work unreliably or even fail completely. In return, customers receive a poor user experience and the workload in the customer call centres increases as quickly as the revenue with new applications dwindles.
It comes as no surprise that network operators have been investigating methods and implementing solutions to eliminate this problem. One of the most widely used solutions is called Device Management or DM in short. Its main advantage is that it avoids manual configuration and manual software update of a mobile device.
More generally, DM provides the following features that maximise the user experience for network operator customers:
- remote configuration of mobile terminals over the air interface,
- installation and update of mobile application software over the air interface,
- update of the device’s firmware over the air interface,
- detection of device problems, ideally before the user is aware of them,
- no user-intervention is required at any stage.
A typical example of the benefits DM provides to both service providers and end users is a mobile customer using an IMPS client via an IMPS server provided by the network operator. At some point, the provider of the IMPS server will update the server software – which will require different configuration settings on the mobile devices in order to ensure continued reliable operation. Historically, the network operator would have had to contact every service subscriber with the risk that the required changes in configuration will be performed incorrectly or not at all. In most cases, the consequences will be a loss of IMPS service and unhappy customers.
However DM features an automated download of the correct settings. No user-intervention is required and correct settings will be downloaded and activated correctly. The user will experience an enhanced level of IMPS service, through the server update, and in most cases will not even realize that the settings in their phone were altered by the network operator.
A further example would be the network operator’s server detecting that a new firmware version has just been released for the customer’s device. Through a firmware update management object (FUMO), installed on the mobile device, the network operator can update the device’s firmware over the air (FOTA) without any interaction being required from the user.
Due to the many undisputed advantages of DM, several companies have been developing their own, proprietary DM solutions. However, with no core specification for DM available, these solutions were partly incompatible, resulting in interoperability problems. As a consequence, the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) released the OMA-DM specification, defining a standard for the implementation of Device Management.
Technical aspects of DM
As previously mentioned, DM aims to fulfil the following needs:
- bootstrap provisioning,
- remote maintenance,
- upload of configuration data to a device,
- device diagnostics and fault management,
- software/firmware installation, update and management
Based on the previous V1.1.2 OMA-DM specifications, the current V1.2 release of OMA-DM was approved in early February 2007. It comprises the Enabler Release Definition for OMA-DM, eight technical specifications and four support files. The Enabler Release Definition mainly describes the scope of OMA-DM and lists the requirements for both servers and clients in order to conform with OMA-DM.
The OMA-DM specification is based on a so-called management tree, containing all elements and parameters of a wireless device that can be managed remotely.
Each element of this tree can be accessed either via a direct path also called URI. For example, the path to address the Device ID (DevID) is ./DevInfo/DevID.
The management tree consists of nodes; the top-level node is called the root node. The level below the root node is called the interior nodes level; DevInfo or DMAcc are interior nodes. Subordinated to the interior nodes are the leaf nodes.
Before any configuration can be uploaded, a DM connection needs to be established. Therefore, any DM session consists of a setup phase and one or several management phases. During the setup phase, the mobile performs a server log-in and authentication process, sending log-in information as well as its device info to the server.
During the management phases, the server carries out operations on the client. OMA-DM defines a number of commands the server may execute on the client, for e.g. GET (reads out data from the device), ADD (creates a new node), COPY (used for duplicating or moving data on the device directly), DELETE (removes a node including the entire subordinated tree) and others.
Current DM Implementations
The OMA-DM specification is widely accepted and most of the initial DM suppliers are now supporting this common specification of OMA Device Management.
Network operators are in the process of deploying OMA-DM compatible servers. As a consequence, mobile terminal manufacturers have begun to launch devices, featuring OMA-DM compatible remote management services. There is no doubt that OMA Device Management will considerably enhance the spread of new mobile terminal applications and thus will lead to increasing revenues for all suppliers to the wireless market.
Testing DM Implementations
To test the conformity of mobile devices with the OMA-DM specification, 51 test cases have been developed. These test cases verify various aspects of the mobile terminal’s functionality, including the commands GET, COPY, DELETE and ADD. Furthermore, features such as access control lists (ACLs – they specify what actions a user is allowed to perform on a node and its data or subnode) and authentication schemes are tested as well. Recently, all 51 test cases have been defined as priority 1 test cases by the global certification forum (GCF).
The setcom comprehensive wireless applications testers, S-CAT 5010 and 5020, support both the development and conformance testing of OMA-DM. These modular testing platforms not only offer comprehensive coverage of all conformance test cases required for OMA-DM, but also support other mobile applications including MMS, VT, PoC, IMPS, eMail, DRM and Browsing.
Summary
OMA Device Management (OMA-DM) is a generic term used for a technology that allows third parties to carry out the lengthy procedures of configuring mobile devices on behalf of the end customer. Third parties would typically be wireless operators, service providers or corporate information management departments.
OMA-DM is a milestone in the direction of automated processes being carried out on a mobile device without user involvement. This application will considerably improve customer satisfaction, will help the spread of mobile applications and thus will make new target groups accessible for these applications.
OMA-DM paves the way for further important features such as smart card provisioning (DMSmartCard 1.0), Device Diagnostics and Monitoring, enabling third parties to proactively detect and repair device issues over the air (DiagMon 1.0) as well as Software Component Management, providing remote installation, update or removal of software components from a mobile device (SCOMO 1.0).
OMA-DM is one of the first steps towards ensuring the wireless customer receives a higher qualified user experience when commissioning new or enhanced mobile applications. This in turn will lead to a rapid increase in the acceptance and use of revenue-generating applications to the benefit of all suppliers to the mobile communications industry.
Picture:
Testing OMA DM 1.2 Test Case using the S-CAT 5020 Conformance Test Tool.
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