Optimizing mobile software with built-in power profiling

Abstract

Software development for battery-powered mobile devices is tricky business because they are constrained platforms. Mobile applications are typically developed using development kits and emulators and later tested on a real device. Generally, developers are mainly concerned about correct application behavior. Badly designed software can easily impact the standby and active use-time of mobile phones, but power consumption profiling needs a costly and cumbersome measurement setup. In this chapter we describe S60 software profiling tools that allow every developer to measure power consumption without any external equipment. Measurement analysis is carried out either on the mobile device or a PC. In addition, we present a set of guidelines and good practices that energy-conscious developers should follow to maximize application use-time. © 2007 Springer.