Heikki Hämmäinen

A handset‐based platform for measuring mobile service usage

Purpose – The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the viablity of a handset‐based research platform in measuring mobile service and application usage through various descriptive empirical studies.Design/methodology/approach – A handset‐based research platform was used in measuring mobile usage in an international panel consisting of more than 500 mobile subscribers. The panel took place in 2005‐2006.Findings – The research paper finds various interesting data points which cannot be derived with any other method. In addition, the paper finds that there are significant differences in certain mobile service and application use cases between different demographic groups.Research limitations/implications – The main research limitations are the size of the sample and lack of clear business implications. The main idea of the paper was just to demonstrate the type of measurements and studies that can be done with the developed research platform.Practical implications – 3G technology drives packet data usage ...

Distributed form management

An open architecture for distributed form management is described. The model employs object-orientation in describing organizational units as well as individual users as entities with uniform external interfaces. Each entity is represented by an autonomous user agent which operates on local and migrating forms. The form concept encapsulates data, layout, and rules into a unified object which is the basic unit of presentation, processing, storage, and communication. All functionality of the system appears in rules of form classes and all data in instances of these form classes. This approach applies the techniques of computer supported cooperative work to provide a flexible mechanism for interpersonal, intraoffice, and interoffice procedures. The main challenge is to organize the collaboration without affecting the autonomy of individual user agents. In this respect, the contribution of the model is the mechanism for form migration. The dynamic integration of forms into different agents is solved with the coordinated interchange of form classes. A specific inheritance scheme provides the desired flexibility by separating the interrelated private and public form operations within each agent. The paper first describes the architecture by starting from a single agent and moving progressively towards a set of cooperating agents. Then an agent implementation called PAGES is described, experiences reported, and the open issues discussed. A typical distributed ordering procedure is used as an example throughout the text.

Scenario planning for emerging mobile services decision making: mobile Peer-to-Peer Session Initiation Protocol case study

Schoemakers scenario planning is a suitable method for decision making in the context of emerging mobile services. The main challenges in using the method are related to avoiding subjective bias, identifying the most relevant trends, uncertainties and stakeholders and building consistent and coherent scenarios. The method is a systematic way to assess possible future outcomes, but does not provide a detailed understanding of them. Scenario planning serves as a structure for brainstorming sessions, and as a basis for a more detailed analysis using quantitative methods. We applied Schoemakers scenario planning to the emerging mobile Peer-to-Peer Session Initiation Protocol (P2PSIP) communications services. According to our analysis, a potential P2PSIP stakeholder should seek settings where network and legal aspects are the most favourable: ad hoc and private environments without interconnectivity to the internet. A stakeholder considering global service provisioning should evaluate the semi-centralised public global scenario.

Scenario Analysis on Future Internet

The Internet has grown out of its original scope and scale while its importance for the society has increased. This has raised considerable uncertainties and concerns about the future evolution. We apply Schoemaker’s scenario planning method to identify and analyze the key trends and uncertainties and to create four alternative evolution scenarios for the Internet. The scenarios reveal that the challenges the Internet is facing can be solved in various ways, yet leading to different network and business architectures. The results are valuable in directing research efforts to the most relevant issues.

Scenario Planning of Mobile Peer-to-Peer Service Usage

Scenario planning is used in preliminary forecasting, especially in corporate and military strategy planning. Its purpose is to define the possible directions future may evolve regarding a specific phenomenon. We applied scenario planning to mobile peer-to-peer service usage in Finland during 2008-2012. Our objective was to understand the most relevant factors affecting mobile peer-to-peer service usage. Based on a literature study and a questionnaire study among subject experts, we determined stakeholders, trends and uncertainties relevant to mobile peer-to-peer, and developed scenarios summarizing mobile peer-to-peer service usage.

Object-oriented data communication for loosely coupled control

Abstract The following discussion and examples are based on an object-oriented model for distributed and loosely coupled information systems. The model is used as a framework for a form-based application generator. Capabilities for loose coupling between workstations are illustrated with application examples.

Peer-to-peer content delivery over mobile networks: a techno-economic analysis

The concept of peer-to-peer has been receiving greater attention in recent years. The initial surge in popularity among users is mainly attributed to free content delivery and easier availability. However, such services lack a profitable business model for the players involved. Moreover, it has been a phenomenon seen largely in fixed Internet. With the emergence of mobile data services, peer-to-peer has emerged as a possible candidate for content delivery over mobile networks such as GPRS and UMTS. In this paper, we study the case for peer-to-peer content delivery over mobile networks by finding answers to questions such as when, why and how. We analyse the conditions necessary for a mobile operator to achieve profitability using peer-to-peer mode of content delivery, the reasons why mobile networks are in a better position to exploit the benefits of this mode of delivery and the possible strategies for successful rollout of services using peer-to-peer mode of delivery.

Scenarios for Management of Digital Homes

The digital home environment creates business opportunities for various firms. However, the growing complexity and management workload of home systems is leading to degrading usability. In this paper, we discuss the business dynamics of the digital home environment. We suggest that lower usability will slow down the adoption of digital services, and therefore we present a novel view that focuses the attention on management of digital homes. We explain the management hierarchy of the home environment, and construct four scenarios that describe the possible directions of evolution. Throughout the paper, we pay special attention to broadband access operators, since we consider them strong candidates for becoming management service providers. Therefore, we present possible management-related business models that broadband access operators could use when formulating their business strategies. Our analysis shows that management service provision is an important business driver.

Roaming dynamics in GPRS and beyond: options and strategies

Roaming is a service that allows a subscriber of one operator to use the services of another operator when inside the latters coverage area. Over 20000 roaming agreements have made the GSM service available around the world; the same is expected also for GPRS, and further for 3G. Operators are now implementing GPRS roaming using so called home network model where traffic from visited network is routed back to home network using GRX networks. The model offers good service quality, security and control of customers, but some issues with content roaming still exist. While implementing roaming, an operator has to make several decisions that affect the operators business in various, complex ways. We provide an insight into the end-to-end roaming models in the mobile communications industry and identify the possible roaming business model scenarios for GPRS and beyond. We discuss the key business and technological triggers that would encourage an operator to adopt one of these identified models. We also highlight the major concerns an operator has while choosing a roaming model. The basic assumptions and constraints considered for our model have also been listed in this paper. Roaming dynamics has been explained based on MOB, a mobile business game being developed at Helsinki University of Technology.

A workbench for distributed production management systems

Abstract An end-user oriented workbench approach in the design of distributed production management systems (DPMS) is presented. We shall also deal with models and design of DPMS. Changes anticipated in design processes, roles and professionality required are discussed. In fact, complete structural rearrangements in the design of production management systems (PMS) are expected towards the end of this decade. The ideas presented are based on an on-going research project at Helsinki University of Technology (the so-called HUTDPMS project).