A resource model for adaptable applications

Abstract

Adaptable applications are software applications that can be adapted with respect to the environment that will host their execution. In order to be able to perform an adaptation it is essential to provide an actual way to model the characteristics of both the application and the execution environment. In this paper we describe a resource model that is the basis of a framework for the development and the deployment of adaptable applications targeted to mobile and limited devices (e.g., smart phones, PDAs, etc.). By using this resource model we are able to reason about the resources required by an application (and its possible adaptations) and the ones supplied by the hosting environment. In this model we introduce the notions of compatibility and goodness. The first one is used to verify that the supplied resources are enough to satisfy the application needs (and thus to choose the correct adaptations). The second one provides a flexible mechanism that can be used to choose the "best" adaptation.