3.1 Develpoment Environment
3.2 Software and Hardware
3.3 Development and Deployment

3.1 DEVELOPEMENT ENVIROMENT

Diagram 3.1 Project Development Environment

Diagram 3.1 illustrates the development environment that has been set up for this project. The main development platform is a workstation installed with Windows 2000® operating system. The development software components include Microsoft Visual Studio .Net Suite®, Microsoft ActiveSync®, Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 SDK®, etc. The Pocket PCs communicate with WorkStation through a cradle, either using serials port or USB port. Using the Cradle, compiled final executable files with decency files can be installed on the Pocket PC through Microsoft ActiveSync. Multiple Pocket PCs can synchronize with the Workstation through setting up partnership. During the testing stage, different Pocket PCs communicate with each other through Compaq wireless WLAN card's 802.11b P2P capability. In order to distinguish different Pocket PCs, different IP addresses were used to assign to Pocket PCs, as well as the IDs (A, B, C, D), thus simplifying the testing stage. No access point is required in the system setting.

3.2 SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE

Table 3.1 lists the hardware used in the project. In table 3.2, the technical specification of the Compaq iPaq® also was detailed. Diagram 3.2 displays the Pocket PC hardware.

The following is the main technical specification of Compaq iPaq 3870 Pocket PC:

Below are the images of Compaq iPaq hardware used in the project:

Compaq iPaq 3800	Compaq WLAN Card	Compaq PC Card Expansion Pack
Diagram 3.2 Pocket PC Hardware (Source: www.compaq.com)

Table 3.3 illustrates the software used in the project. Below are the steps to set up the development environment on the Workstation:

1. Install Microsoft Visual Studio .Net on the development Workstation and make sure that the Workstation is installed with Window 2000 or XP.
2. Install Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 SDK on the Workstation; it is free to download at Microsoft MSDN site.
3. Install Microsoft Smart Device Extension for .Net (Compact Framework). We obtain the beta 1 version of the software through Microsoft school program. Currently beta 2 is available in the developers' community.
4. Install Microsoft ActiveSync 3.5 from the Pocket PC CD, or download it from Microsoft MSDN site. Test and make sure that Pocket PC can synchronize with workstation.
   

On the Pocket PC, we need to installed the Compaq Wireless LAN (WLAN) PC card's driver and management client software on the Pocket PC. The driver can be found on the CD that comes with Compaq WLAN PC card. Pocket PC needs to connect with PC using Compaq Dual Slot PC Card Expansion Pack. Make sure that both PC card and Pocket PC securely stay in the Expansion Pack. After you install the driver, reset the Pocket PC, after which we can configure the 802.11b setting on Pocket PC as follows:

1. Go to "Start->Settings", then select "Connections" tab, select "Network Adapters", then choose "COMPAQ WL110 Wireless Client", click the "Properties" button;
2. In "IP Address" tab, check the "User specific IP address" radio button to set up IP address for each Pocket PC. For example, in the "IP address" field, type in "192.168.0.24" and "Subnet mask" as "255.255.255.0", and leave the "Default gateway" empty. Don't put in anything for "Name Servers" tab. We finish assign the IP address for this Pocket PC.
3. Then, go to "Start->Settings", select "System" tab and click on the "Wireless Network" icon. We can add a profile for the wireless networking by click on the "Add" button, give the "Profile Name" a value as "vtcs1"; Click on the Combo box filed for the "Network Type" and set the selection as "Peer-to-Peer Group", then click 'Next" button.
4. In this "Add/Edit Configuration" step, assign the "Network Name" as "vtcs1", all Pocket PCs must have the same "Network Name" as "vtcs1"; "Channel" selection is not very important since it will change itself during the network session and find the available channels for Pocket PC. Click "Next" for next step.
5. We can skip "Enable Data Security" for this project. Just keep the default setting. Click "Finish" to complete setting for wireless 802.11b.
6. Repeat the same steps for all four Pocket PC in our case, and give them different IP addresses. Assign them to the same Peer-to-Peer group. After installation, go to "Start->Compaq Wireless Client" to use the software check network status.

3.3 DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT

We now briefly describe the steps to create a software application for Pocket PC using Microsoft C#. Launch Microsoft Visual Studio and Click "File->New->Project". As illustrated in the Diagram 3.3, choose "Visual C# Projects" and select "Smart Device Application" to begin a new Pocket PC application.

Diagram 3.3 Create a New Smart Device Application with C#

Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 SDK comes with a Pocket PC Emulator® (Diagram 3.4) that developers can use to debug and test application. It will make testing a lot quicker since we don't need to install the testing software on a real Pocket PC.

Diagram 3.4 Microsoft Pocket PC Emulator

After compiling the C# project, we can build a "Cab" installation file (Diagram 3.5) for the project. It will make the deployment of project much easier, since it will include all executable and decency files in one Cab file and install it on the Pocket PC. We can just copy the Cab file to Pocket PC using Microsoft ActiveSync software. When Pocket PC is connected to Workstation, go to Workstation's "My computer->Mobile Device", and then just copy the cab file from the project release folder to "Mobile Device" any subfolder. Open the subfolder in the Pocket PC, click the Cab file, and it will install all the files to Pocket PC platform. If the Pocket PC has not been installed with Microsoft Compact Framework, it will also install the software on the Pocket PC.

Diagram 3.5 Build Cab File for Deployment of Application