Pervasive adaptation for mobile computing

Mobile computing platforms such as mobile phones, PDAs or wearable computers operate in a much more volatile and limited environment than their stationary counterparts. Such platforms are inherently resource poor and subject to highly changeable resource availability. Applications for mobile computing require adaptation for best performance under such variable conditions, to make best use of available resources without assuming the minimum set. This paper details a framework developed by the authors for developing and deploying mobile applications. Current systems are able to notify an application to adapt but fail to say how. The application author must provide the actual adaptation mechanism. The authors aim to provide automatic adaptation to suitably constructed mobile applications. The adaptation mechanism is pervasive through the application and system layers providing tight integration of adaptation both vertically (through an application) and horizontally (between applications).