A Generic architecture for mobile commerce M-CUSP

Abstract

Mobile network operators are continuously introducing new products and services, to meet the ever growing demand for mobility in today’s fast moving world, while simultaneously attempting to make such services increasingly relevant to, and affordable by low income members of the society. Voice has become a basic commodity so product differentiation is achieved by value added services. These services are now the determining factor for the market ratings and revenue shares of mobile operators. Mobile Commerce is the ability to carry out transaction anywhere at any time. Mobile commerce is not only a promising revenue generator but also achieves the pinnacle of iii customer ease. The only obstruction in the way of m-commerce is the lack of a common standard. This project, developed in collaboration with Turno-Tech Solutions, aims to design a system that provides air time transfer facility over the existing GSM network provided by Mobile Network Operators, user authentication being the prime focus. As part of the project, a sample m-commerce application, a bus reservation system has been built upon the architecture. The system designed is generic and also serves as the building foundation for advanced applications from the m-Commerce field. It can be used by the travel industry to update customers on flight status, notify them when this information changes and will offer to make new arrangements based on preset user preferences requiring no input from the user. In the entertainment industry, m-commerce could be used for the reservation and purchasing of movie tickets. In short any merchant can provide the customer with the facility to pay by their mobile by uploading their service upon this architecture.