RAMWS: Reliable approach using middleware and WebSockets in mobile cloud computing

The widespread usage of mobile applications with the limited resources of mobile devices pushed towards the investment in Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC). In MCC, web services are available on the cloud server and are invoked by mobile applications whenever and wherever needed via a hybrid wired and wireless networks. One of the most important issues in the mobile experience is the web service request Time-out problem. This problem is tightly coupled with the increase in the service response size, database query time, and the required computations on the server, which occurs because of the increased application usage. This paper proposes a Reliable Approach using Middleware and WebSockets (RAMWS) that overcomes the Time-out problem and achieves reliable web service consumption. The enhanced architecture is a hybrid between the middleware approach and the WebSocket open connection communication protocol. The RAMWS reduces the network usage time up to 7 times better than the direct-cloud approach (Invoking the cloud service directly from the mobile device), by using the shortest time response from two expected responses, and accordingly, enhances the mobile experience. (c) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).