ETSI GS MTC 008 V1.1.1 (2010-05)

Mobile Thin Client (MTC); Use Cases and Requirements

The work will identify the requirements and functionalities related to mobile thin client architecture by collecting and detailing comprehensive scenarios and use cases, deriving and analysing resulting requirements, and defining global functionalities of the system.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 06-May-2010
• Technical Committee: MTC - Mobile Thin Client
• Current Stage: 12 - Completion
• Due Date: 18-May-2010
• Completion Date: 07-May-2010

Standards Content (Sample)

ETSI GS MTC 008 V1.1.1 (2010-05)
Group Specification


Mobile Thin Client (MTC);
Use Cases and Requirements

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2 ETSI GS MTC 008 V1.1.1 (2010-05)



Reference
DGS/MTC-0001 Rqmts
Keywords

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Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 5
Foreword . 5
Introduction . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 References . 6
2.1 Normative references . 6
2.2 Informative references . 6
3 Definitions and abbreviations . 7
3.1 Definitions . 7
3.2 Abbreviations . 8
4 System overview . 9
4 Requirements . 11
4.1 Thin client device requirements . 11
4.1.1 High level requirements . 11
4.1.1.1 Device capabilities . 11
4.1.1.2 User Input Interfaces . 11
4.1.1.3 Display . 11
4.1.1.4 Power consumption . 11
4.1.2 Hardware Requirements . 11
4.1.2.1 Display . 11
4.1.2.2 Battery performance . 11
4.1.2.3 Wireless Communication Network . 12
4.1.3 Software Requirements . 12
4.1.3.1 System OS . 12
4.1.3.2 Mobile Communication Stack . 12
4.1.3.3 Resident applications . 12
4.2 Protocol Suite . 12
4.2.1 End-to-end requirements . 12
4.2.2 Delay and jitter . 12
4.2.3 Guaranteed delivery . 13
4.3 Server System / technology . 13
4.3.1 Application Image Server . 13
4.3.2 Data Storage Server . 13
4.4 Service Management Framework . 13
4.4.1 User Management . 13
4.4.1.1 Categories of Users . 13
4.4.1.2 User authentication. 14
4.4.1.3 Logging Users activities . 14
4.4.2 Infrastructure . 14
4.4.2.1 Infrastructure management . 15
4.4.2.1.1 Topology of infrastructure . 15
4.4.2.1.2 Status of infrastructure . 15
4.4.2.1.3 Software Level - Configuration on each server . 17
4.4.2.1.4 Software Level - Installed applications on each server . 17
4.4.2.1.5 Session Management . 17
4.4.3 Business Support . 18
4.4.3.1 Billing . 18
4.4.3.2 Reporting . 18
Annex A (informative): Examples of mobile thin client scenarios . 19
A.1 Scenario 1: Bringing the hospital to the patient's home . 19
A.2 Scenario 2: Getting in touch with Paris . 19
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A.3 Scenario 3: Keep scoring at school . 20
A.4 Scenario 4: Mobile thin office . 20
Annex B (informative): General aspects . 21
B.1 Social aspects . 21
B.2 Application aspects. 21
B.3 Technical aspects . 22
Annex C (informative): Information on parameters used in the present document . 23
C.1 Delay: . 23
C.2 Bandwidth . 23
C.3 Jitter . 25
Annex D (informative): Bibliography . 26
History . 28

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Intellectual Property Rights
IPRs essential or potentially essential to the present document may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (http://webapp.etsi.org/IPR/home.asp).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Foreword
This Group Specification (GS) has been produced by ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) Mobile Thin client
Computing (MTC).
Introduction
The present document defines a set of consistent and complete requirements for a future mobile thin client system. An
important consideration is that the mobile thin client system should work with the current available Internet and
wireless communication network infrastructure (including the access network, the aggregation network and the core
network). Requirements with respect to this network partitions are defined. Besides the network itself, additional
infrastructural components are important for the mobile thin client system. Their function and the rationale for
constructing the system out of these building blocks are described in the deliverable and requirements of the
components themselves are defined. Namely those basic building blocks are the thin client server, the application image
server, the data storage server, the thin client mobile device and the service management framework. The defined
requirements are categorised into mandatory and optional.
The present document is a requirement document only, and does not describe technical solutions.
Motivated by the fact that the issues of security, detailed AAA implementation, seamless handover and the optimization
of external resources (like application image server or data storage server) are amply addressed in other standardisation
effort; the present document does not address these issues.
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1 Scope
The present document is intended to define a set of consistent and complete requirements. Nevertheless, during the
ongoing discussion, new requirements can come up. Hence, from the start on, the requirements (as well as the initial
architecture) are intended to be relevant and adequate for future mobile thin client systems, while exhibiting the
necessary flexibility to cope with new requirements.
The basic idea considered in mobile thin client system concerns nomadic users and addresses remote application access.
User terminals considered range from laptops to smart phones, and applications should be delivered transparently (i.e.
without changing the application code itself). This basic setting is further developed in the present document into more
specific scenarios.
The following issues are excluded from the present document:
• Security;
• detailed implementations of AAA including billing mechanism;
• seamless handover;
• optimization of external resources, like application image server or data storage server.
2 References
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or non-
specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
Referenced documents which are not found to be publicly available in the expected location might be found at
http://docbox.etsi.org/Reference.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
2.1 Normative references
The following referenced documents are necessary for the application of the present document.
[1] DGS MTC 009: "Mobile Thin Client (MTC); Architecture".
2.2 Informative references
The following referenced documents are not necessary for the application of the present document but they assist the
user with regard to a particular subject area.
[i.1] Niraj Tolia, David G. Andersen, M. Satyanarayanan "Quantifying Interactive User Experience on
Thin Clients", IEEE Computer, Volume 39 - 3, pages 46-52, March 2006.
[i.2] Niraj Tolia, David G. Andersen, M. Satyanarayanan: "The Seductive Appeal of Thin Clients",
February 2005.
[i.3] Pantel, L.: "On The Impact of Delay on Real-Time Multiplayer Games. International Workshop on
Network and Operating System Support for Digital Audio and Video", 2002.
[i.4] Dick, M.: "Analysis of Factors Affecting Players" Performance and Perception in Multiplayer
Games", Proceedings of 4th ACM SIGCOMM workshop on Network and system support for
games, 2005.
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[i.5] Deboosere, L., De Wachter, J., Simoens, P., De Turck, F., Dhoedt, B., and Demeester, P.: "Thin
Client Computing Solutions in Low- and High-Motion Scenarios", in Proceedings of the Third
international Conference on Networking and Services (June 19 - 25, 2007). ICNS. IEEE Computer
Society, Washington, DC, 38.
[i.6] ITU Recommendation Y.1541 (February 2006): "Network performance objectives for IP-based
services".
[i.7] "VirtualGL - Background" [online].
[i.8] A.F. Wattimena, et al.: "Predicting the perceived quality of a First Person Shooter: the Quake
IV-model", 5th Workshop on Network & System Support for Games, Netgames 2006.
[i.9] C. Gutwin: 'The Effects of Network Delays on Group Work in Real-Time Groupware', Proc.
th
7 European Conf. Computer-Supported Cooperative Workshop, Kluwer, 2001, pp. 299-318.
3 Definitions and abbreviations
3.1 Definitions
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions apply:
application image server (see note 2): repository for application images
NOTE 1: When a thin client server does not have a certain application installed locally, it gets it from an
application server. This server does not run the applications but contains binary images and distributes
these to thin client servers. However, the application image servers are external resources and not covered
by the responsibility of the mobile thin client management framework.
NOTE 2: Distributed applications are supported as well. The client part is then transmitted to the thin client server
when necessary. The thin client server runs the client part of the application and the server part would run
on the original application server for that application.
application streaming: technology that virtualizes an application and splits it into blocks of executable code
NOTE: Only the required blocks of executable code are streamed from an application server to a client. This
allows saving both disk space and time when executing a new application.
data storage server: repository for data a user uses (not for data about a user)
NOTE: Since the clients are to be thin, data storage is shifted into the network. This data will be accessed during
mobile thin client sessions, or can be accessed independently: without the thin client provider. However,
the application image servers are external resources and not covered by the responsibility of the mobile
thin client management framework.
interaction delay or latency: in the present document, time between the generation of a user event (e.g. keystroke,
pointer movement) and the resulting update, including presentation on the screen
NOTE: A substantial body of knowledge about the impact of interactive response times on user satisfaction and
task productivity has been built up (see [i.1] and [i.2]). More information on delay can be found in Annex
C of the present document.
mobile thin client session: dialogue or conversation between two or more entities
NOTE: Entities might be devices, software services or users. A session starts at a certain time, and ends at a later
time. In terms of behavior, a session may be:
a stateless session, meaning that the conversation consists of independent requests with responses.
a stateful session, meaning that at least one of the end point parts should save information about the
session history.
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Regarding the OSI model, a session might be implemented as part of protocols and services at different
layers:
at the application layer, e.g. an interactive web session, a telnet remote login session.
at the session layer, e.g. a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) (Internet based phone calls).
at the transport layer, e.g. a TCP connection or an established TCP socket.

Figure 1: Visualisation of different definitions of "session" terms
packet delay: the delay a packet may experience on its transfer through the network
NOTE: This metric is particularly relevant for thin client environments, as every user input must be first
transferred to the server before it can be processed. The packet delay has a huge impact on the user
experience [i.6].
packet delay variation (jitter): the upper bound on the 1 - 103 quantile of the packet delay minus the minimum packet
delay [i.6]
packet loss ratio: the upper bound on the packet loss probability
NOTE: In a thin client environment, packet losses might cause visual degradations or the loss of user events,
leading to an unresponsive user interface [i.6].
session migration: situation or context when a given session shifts from one serve to another server
session mobility: situation or context when a given session shifts on a seamless way from device to device
throughput: the mean bit rate, averaged over some time interval, observed at the application level [i.6]
3.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
AAA Authentication, Authorization and Accounting
BER Block Error Ratio
E2E End to End
GPS Global Positioning System
LTE Long Term Evolution
MIBS Management Iinformation Base
MTC Mobil Thin Client
MTS Mobil Thin Server
RDP Remote Desktop Protocol
RFB Remote Frame Buffer
SMF Service Management Framework
SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol
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TC Thin Client
TCS Thin Client Service
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
VNC Virtual Network Computing
4 System overview
The purpose of this clause is to provide a rough description of each component of the system in order to make the
requirements comprehensive. This clause does not address a complete description of the system architecture. The
system architecture will be treated in DGS MTC 009: "Mobile Thin Client (MTC), Architecture" [1].

NOTE: This figure only shows an example of a network configuration but is not intended to suggest allocation of
infrastructure. There could be more than one instance of all types and some could be aggregated into the
same physical machine or spread over multiple machines.

Figure 2: Network configuration
The Mobile Thin Client solution should work with the current available internet and wireless communication network
infrastructure. This network basically consists of three main parts: the access network, the aggregation network and the
core network. The thin client architecture uses this division as a basis too, as shown in Figure 2. The components shown
are briefly explained below:
1) Core Network: the central part of the network, supporting high bandwidths. It is built and controlled for fast
and efficient switching of data streams.
2) Access Network: the part of the network between client and base station
3) Aggregation Network: the network between base station and edge router, interconnecting the access network
and the core network. It is an inter-working architecture bundling traffic of different users and handling the
mobility of devices as they move from on access network to another. The aggregation network is potentially
managed by another organization than the one of the core network. The aggregation network may also include
roaming network infrastructures. Multiple aggregation networks exist simultaneously.
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Besides the network itself, Figure 2 presents the infrastructural components that constitute the mobile thin client system.
Their function and the rationale for constructing the system out of these building blocks are described in this clause,
other sections in this clause elaborate on the requirements of the components themselves.
1) Thin client server: It is a physical machine that runs the applications of the user session. It receives user input
and returns graphical output.
2) Application image server (see note 1): a repository for application images. When a thin client server does not
have a certain application installed locally, it gets it from an application server. This server does not run the
applications but contains them and distributes them to thin client servers.
NOTE 1: Distributed applications are supported as well. The client part is then transmitted to the thin client server
when necessary. The thin client server runs the client part of the application and the server part would run
on the original application server for that application.
3) Data storage server: a repository for data a user uses (not for data about a user). Since the clients are to be thin,
data storage is shifted into the network. This data will be accessed during mobile thin client sessions, or can be
accessed independently: without the thin client provider.
4) Thin client device: the mobile device through which users consume the thin client services.
5) Service management framework: this framework manages the network and the services. When a user logs in to
consume thin client services, the framework searches an appropriate thin client server to connect to. Some
functions of the service management framework are resource management, application management, load
balancing, resilience, session management and business support such as billing and logging. The framework
also provides hooks for security mechanisms. An important aspect that is also covered by the service
management framework is Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA).
NOTE 2: The application provider, data storage provider and thin client provider may be separate network elements
as this is likely to improve manageability. The possibility exists, however, that these functions are merged
in a practical setting. Also: multiple instances of these components could exist for scalability.
A small step-by-step example might provide better insight into the functions of the presented components:
• A user turns on his mobile thin client device. Access to the Internet is acquired. The user starts the thin client
environment, which connects to the service management framework over the network.
• The service management framework checks the credentials of the user. If they are correct, the framework
connects the thin client device to a well chosen thin client server (well chosen for load balancing, short
network path, subscription information, etc.). Setting up this connection happens through the network
provider.
• In the thin client environment, the user starts an application. If this application is already installed at the thin
client server, it is simply started on that server machine. Otherwise, the thin client server connects to the
service management framework to be connected through to an application image server. The desired
application is transferred from the application image server to the thin client server, where it gets installed and
executed.
• The user input is sent over the network to this thin client server, which executes the application and handles
the user input, and eventually returns the graphical output.
• The user stores the documents that have been generated by thin client applications. Therefore, the thin client
server requests a connection to a data storage server from the service management framework. The user
documents get stored in his personal space reserved on the data storage server.
• The user shuts down the thin client environment (running on the mobile device). This causes a trigger to the
service management framework to close the user session on the thin client server. As a final step the network
connections between the user and the thin client server and service management framework are closed.
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4 Requirements
4.1 Thin client device requirements
4.1.1 High level requirements
4.1.1.1 Device capabilities
No Requirement
1 Device capability information SHALL be made available to the thin client framework.

4.1.1.2 User Input Interfaces
No Requirement
2 The mobile thin client framework SHOULD adapt to the Thin Client device user input interfaces
(keyboards, pointing & clicking device, shortcuts…) to increase the range
...