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As the mobile phone market matures, operators and phone vendors are demanding more sophisticated software features from chipset manufacturers and device manufacturers. These new features enhance the mobile user’s experience but cause two key problems:  

(1)    How can the increasing bulk of personal data on the phone be accessed and modified remotely from a user’s PC, an in-car telephony unit, or a corporate back-office?

(2)    How can the phone’s various applications and configurations be updated and managed remotely?

Through a joint development effort, the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) created standard technologies and specifications that help resolve these problems, including Data Synchronization (DS), allowing information exchange between a device and a server, and Device Management (DM), allowing a server to upload new settings and software to a device. Additionally, OMA’s Client Provisioning (CP) specification helps to streamline the initial device set-up process by enabling the vendor to configure a mobile phone with the information and initial data it needs to activate DM and DS protocols at the point of sale.

PIM Synchronization History 101

Mobile device manufacturers first came together in 1998 to produce an open standard for synchronization of personal device information (PIM).  Early efforts at standardization within the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) produced the Ir Mobile Communications (IrMC) protocol, which specified four “levels” of synchronization stretching from basic object exchange to incremental synchronization using unique record identifiers.  Based on lessons learned while implementing this protocol, many of the same manufacturers later formed the SyncML Initiative.  This group was tasked with developing an open, extensible standard for data synchronization of any data type and any communications transport.  The result is the XML-based OMA Data Synchronization (OMA-DS) protocol, which has since seen widespread support from mobile device manufacturers and PIM synchronization technology providers alike since its release.

Yet, there’s another problem to resolve:  as the newest mobile devices incorporate more features, configuration and setup becomes more unwieldy.  The average consumer cannot be expected to manage the configuration of standard features, or to diagnose configuration problems, so carriers must be able to perform these functions remotely and also must support a variety of mobile phones from different manufacturers.  So, it’s no surprise that carriers began to push manufacturers to support a common mechanism for managing their devices.  Standardizing on a device management platform also appeals to carriers because it simplifies management of mobile device configurations both during and after their deployment into the network.

The SyncML Initiative, working from its experience and track record within data synchronization, took on the challenge of designing an open device management standard.  The result is the XML-based OMA Device Management (OMA-DM) protocol, which defines a protocol for use between a management server and a mobile device, as well as an access policy and tree-based management object model.  

While OMA-DM provides a solution for ongoing device management, brand new phones still require a minimal amount of bootstrap configuration known as “provisioning” before they can begin to communicate with a OMA-DM server.  This initial setup process is outlined by the OMA Client Provisioning specifications, which were first developed as the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Client Provisioning specifications.  Once a phone or device has been provisioned, it can be managed remotely on the network via a OMA-DM server because it is configured with a trusted relationship with one or more management servers.  Thus, client provisioning is truly an integral component of ongoing device management.

Device Management & Device Synchronization Specs

Of course, every major technology specification brings with it a spate of sub-components, and the suite of DS and DM protocols is no different.  Following are the four main sub-groups in this standard:

1)    XML documents for exchange of SyncML commands and information:

    a)    SyncML Representation Protocol document   
    b)    SyncML Meta Information document
    c)    SyncML Device Information document
    d)    OMA Client Provisioning document

2)    SyncML Standardized Management objects:

    a)    SyncML Device Information managed object
    b)    SyncML Device Detail managed object
    c)    SyncML DM Management object
    d)    Firmware update management object
    e)    Connection management object

3)    Specifications for exchanging SyncML messages over various transports:
   
    a)    SyncML OBEX Transport Binding
    b)    SyncML HTTP Transport Binding
    c)    SyncML WSP Transport Binding

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