Performance Tuning in the MacauMap Mobile Map Application

With the increasing popularity of mobile computing platforms such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smart mobile phones, applications originally designed for higher-performance devices are moving onto these resource-constrained mobile devices. Given that these devices have severely restricted processing power, memory, and user interface capabilities, applications intended for these devices have to be carefully designed and implemented to achieve acceptable performance. In this paper we report on our experience with the development of the MacauMap application, a mobile digital map application that runs on PDAs and smart mobile phones. Memory requirements were kept low through a special data format. The main challenge of satisfactory map drawing speed was addressed through a variety of techniques developed for this application. We present the MacauMap application, introduce its design, and conclude with lessons learned from its development