A Programming Interface for Application-Aware Adaptation in Mobile Computing

Mobile clients face wide variations in network conditions and local resource availability when accessing remote data. Coping with this uncertainty requires the ability to retrieve and present data at varying degrees of fidelity. In this paper we present applicaton-aware adaptation as a solution to this problem. The essence of our solution is a collaborative partnership between applications and the operating system. We describe the Odyssey API for application-aware adaptation and demonstrate its use in accessing two types of data: video and maps.