Optimising Thin Clients for Wireless Computing via Localization of Keyboard Activity

The thin client model is based on the classic client-server model with all client activity being processed at the server. Keyboard and mouse activities at the client are sent to the server, which processes the activities and sends the refreshed display back to the client. This model can be exploited for mobile computing by having powerful fixed servers serve mobile thin client devices with poor computing resources. However high latency in the wireless connection can lead to delay in display of keyboard and mouse activities, thereby affecting the performance of the thin client. This can be remedied by handling client activities locally, which will not only mitigate latency's ill effects but also reduce the volume of exchanged messages passed. This paper focuses on localization of keyboard activities in thin clients during periods of high network latency.