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A Hyper Graphics Markup Language for optimising WWW access in wireless networks
Reynolds PL, Furnell SM, Evans MP, Phippen AD
Proceedings of Euromedia 99, Munich, Germany, pp136-144, 25-28 April, 1999

Browsing the World Wide Web (WWW) via cellular-radio communications equipment and other narrow-band wireless technologies is now technically feasible. However, the usability of the resulting service is limited by the fact that much web content is represented in graphical form, which requires significant bandwidths and impedes downloading over the wireless medium.




This paper presents the conceptual design and basic specification for a Hyper Graphics Markup Language (HGML), providing a graphically-oriented alternative to HTML specifically designed for use in wireless contexts. HGML offers three key features that enable it to reduce / replace the use of conventional bitmap images in WWW pages: namely drawing primitives, pre-stored image themes and image manipulation.




The implementation of and findings from a prototype implementation and field trial are described, indicating that the HGML approach can deliver dramatic savings on both overall file size and download time when contrasted with a traditional HTML approach.




The paper concludes that a full implementation of HGML would offer a number of practical benefits for mobile web access over narrow-band wireless networks.

Reynolds PL, Furnell SM, Evans MP, Phippen AD