Abstract
With the vast advances of technologies, the storage and computing power of mobile phones have improved dramatically. More complex applications and services can now be executed on the mobile phones, and more people are using mobile phones for watching video, viewing pictures, listening to music, and sending messages or files. In addition, with build-in camera, more and more mobile phones become the primary tool for generating personalized multimedia contents and the main vehicle for sharing such contents. Currently, the primary method for transmitting files between mobile phones is via centralized servers provided by telecommunication companies. The sender first uploads the file to the server and then the server notifies the receivers to download the file. Is it possible that mobile phones transmit files directly between each other? With the 3G network, mobile phones will be assigned public IP addresses, and direct file sharing between mobile phones is feasible. With this capability, what is the difference between peer-to-peer file sharing in computers and that in mobile phones? In this study, we will discuss the issues involved in sharing files between mobile phones in a peer-to-peer manner. A practical method for transmitting files between mobile phones in 3G all-IP network will then be introduced, which uses proxy computers in the Internet to help the transmission. Implementation of this method on real mobile phones using current cellular phone system is presented and problems occurred in our implementation are discussed.