Mobile Cloud Computing

Mobile Cloud Computing at its simplest, refers to an infrastructure where both the data storage and the data processing happen outside of the mobile device. Mobile cloud applications move the computing power and data storage away from mobile phones and into the cloud, bringing applications and mobile computing to not just smartphone users but a much broader range of mobile subscribers.

Types of Mobile Application

Offline Applications:
Fat Clients with presentation and business logic processed locally.
Data downloaded from backend.
Advantages:
Well Integrated, Optimised Performance, Availability :even without network connectivity.
Disadvantages
No Portability, Complex Code.
Online Applications:
Only presentation layer at the client. All processing done online.
Assume constant connectivity with backend.
Platform issues; Web Technology to rescue.
Advantages
Multiplatform, Direct and Instantaneous Accessibility
to better services.
Disadvantages
Excessive latency for real time responsiveness, no access to device features, sometimes difficult to maintain sessions for a long time.

Industry Challenges and Issues

• Existing cloud computing tools consider process parallelising on massive data volume, large data storage and flexible VM management.
• Mobile Cloud Computing requires computation and storage offloaded to the crowd respecting user interactivity in every possible way.
• Addressing mobile constraints is the only way to move forward.
• How to abstract complex underlying heterogeneous technology.
• How to model parameters like low energy capacity and intermittent dis-connectivity that influence performance and interactivity of the application.
• Integrate processing and storage on cloud considering privacy and security.
• Low Processing Capabilities, Less available energy, Low Memory, Data rates and plans, Intermittent Dis-connectivity, Smaller Display etc.

Topics for Exploration

• Trust, Security and Privacy: Low control over data, potential data loss.
• Programming Abstraction: Hide Complexity of Cloud, or have middleware in place.
• Adaptation: Two extreme approaches; Laissez-Fair Adaptation and Application Transparent Adaptation.
• Cloud Integration: Data Persistence vs Data Availability.
• Unlimited Computational Resources to non- trusted elements.
• Unlimited Computational Resources to non- trusted elements.

Offical Facts:

Mobile Media Time Is Now Greater Than Desktop and Other Media. The latest data shows that we are now well past the tipping point mentioned at the top of this post. Mobile digital media time in the world is now significantly higher at 51% compared to desktop (42%).

50% of millennia’s use their smartphones to research products or services while shopping, and 41% have made purchases using their phones.

Local mobile searches (85.9 billion in 2013) are projected to exceed desktop searches (84 billion) for the first time in 2015.

By 2015, mobile marketing in the U.S. will generate $400 billion compared to $139 billion in 2012.

External Info Links:

Survey Mobile Cloud Computing