What are typical server to client communication patterns?

Question

What are the usual patterns for bidirectional communication between a client and a server in a wlan environment. How is it possible for the server to push data to a mobile client over wlan after a connection has been established.

Lets say I have a webservice running on a server and the moblie cients in the wlan can use this webservice. Now the question is how can the server invoke methods at the client, or directly send data to the client. How is this handled usually?

I would apriciate some links to read about this topic. Is this a common problem or is it not that easy to solve?

Cheers

Answer 1

HTTP server push (also known as HTTP streaming) is a mechanism for sending data from a web server to a web browser. HTTP server push can be achieved through several mechanisms.

• More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_technology#HTTP_server_push

In web development, Comet is a neologism to describe a web application model in which a long-held HTTP request allows a web server to push data to a browser, without the browser explicitly requesting it. Comet is an umbrella term for multiple techniques for achieving this interaction. All these methods rely on features included by default in browsers, such as JavaScript, rather than on non-default plugins.

• More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_(programming)

Also there is a recent IETF draft on
Best Practices for the Use of Long Polling and Streaming in Bidirectional HTTP

• http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-loreto-http-bidirectional-01

Answer 2

Can answer your question with a question?