Overview of Mobile Phone Software Development

1
Overview of Mobile Phone Software Development

• Architectural Overview of Smartphone
• Hardware
• Software
• Architecture of Symbian OS
• Layering within the OS, and different platforms
• Mobile Phone Application Development
• Mobile Phone Application Types
• Typical Symbian OS Based Software Development
  Cycle
• Development
• Signing
• Deployment

2
Architecture Of a Smartphone
Baseband Processor (Embedded OS)
Radio Hardware
Application Processor (Symbian OS)
Peripherals
Memory
3
2 Operating Systems One Device

• Generally 2 independent Operating Systems in a
  single device.
• Application Processor Running Symbian OS
• Rich Feature Set
• Reasonably portable across processors
• Responsible for operation of non-telephony
  related hardware
• Earlier versions Soft Real-time (pre EKA 2)
• Real-time OS for handling GSM/3G stack.
• Hard Real time requirements

4
Symbian OS Structure
20
Symbian Application Engines
20
Symbian Middleware (System Libraries System
Servers)
Symbian OS
gt55
Symbian Base
lt5
5
Symbian-Based Platforms
6
Mobile Phone Applications

• New set of design challenges
• Designing in the Small
• Limited Resources (Memory, Power, CPU, Screen
  Real-estate)
• Rapidly moving underlying platform
• Conflicting technologies
• Time to Market critical
• Emerging Market Solution looking for problems
  
• Every increasing set of capabilities on device
• Clients often new to Mobile Device Market
• Especially large corporates
• Devices Often Seen as little PCs
• Good for salesmen, a challenge for engineers!

7
Types of Development Projects

• Standalone Applications
• Often porting from a different platform.
• Games, Tools etc.
• Often making use of Bluetooth, IR, WiFi etc.
• Client Applications
• Allow access to a remotely provided service
• Often combined with UI development projects
• UI Applications
• Branding opportunities wrapped around small
  areas of functionality
• Simplifying capabilities of phone, eg. making
  MMS easier to use
• Enterprise Applications
• Generally a combination of making a back-end
  service available on device and integrating that
  service into the rest of the device
• HARD!!