Unified Link-Layer API Enabling Wireless-Aware Applications

Present mobile devices often support multiple communication technologies. If software developers want to control the configuration or monitor the characteristics of active links their applications will have to use different programming interfaces for each technology and supported platform. We propose an architecture for a unified link-layer API (ULLA) to abstract common metrics and introduce a single interface for retrieving link-layer information. ULLA offers a flexible query interface and a powerful notification mechanism that enable applications to become link-aware. Additionally, special attention was paid to keep the framework extendible for emerging networking technologies. We have implemented prototypes for a Linux notebook and a Windows CL PDA in order to prove the feasibility of the approach. Memory footprint, query duration, and power consumption tests show that ULLA can also be deployed on mobile, resource limited devices