Pervasive Computing: Migrating to Mobile Devices: A Case Study

The concept of pervasive computing is that computers and their applications will seamlessly integrate into our daily lives. There are many areas of research in pervasive computing such as context-awareness, device and network heterogeneity issues, power consumption, and connectivity. Each area intends to address problems such as how devices interpret their environment, and how devices communicate with each other. While there is much potential for developers to create pervasive applications from scratch, it is much more likely that they are able to reuse existing applications and documentation for mobile devices. This paper addresses the specific problems of porting pervasive applications on mobile devices in general as well as the unique problems presented by mobile devices which restrict implementation methods. It proposes a framework based on model driven engineering concepts for developing software for restrictive pervasive systems. The paper also considers the implications of the preliminary framework on the iPhone, which forces developers to work through its Safari browser.