TABLE OF CONTENTS The previous chapter was dedicated to supporting wireless technologies for implementing next-generation mobile services and applications. Those technologies could be used in a network infrastructure or on mobile terminals. Here, the notion of mobile terminal refers to any networked mobile device in the context of general communication systems. As explained in Chapter 1, mobile terminals operate on inherently resource-constrained devices, thus an array of design challenges confronts smart phones for next-generation mobile computing. In order to better understand and address these issues, we must first possess a clear understanding of the constraints and how they influence the role and functionality of mobile terminals such as smart phones; consequently, this chapter will focus on the hardware and software platforms for mobile terminals. Hardware components that make up mobile terminals such as mobile processors, storage and memory, display, battery, and network interface are discussed in detail. In addition, a high-level overview of competing software platforms is presented, including Palm, Symbian, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Linux, J2ME, and BREW. Readers who are familiar with these topics may skip this chapter and go directly to the next chapter.
As a small computer, a mobile device consists of integrated or interconnected hardware components and software. These hardware components include a microprocessor (referred to as processor hereafter), read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), expansion storage, network interfaces, an antenna, a battery, and a display. Some mobile devices also have a hard disk. Among these hardware components, we are particularly...
