Software Selection and Configuration in Mobile Environments: A Utility-Based Approach

Users of low-power mobile computing platforms make ad hoc decisions when choosing software components among alternatives and configuring those components. We propose applying utility-theoretic models, which can help determine optimal allocation of scarce resources to applications given the user’s utility and application resource usage. We believe that taking into consideration resource consumption and applying microeconomic models has the potential of improving the user’s satisfaction with the system. In this paper, we formulate the problem, demonstrate the use of a microeconomics-based model on a simple version of the problem, and list possible solutions. Further, we identify issues typical of mobile environments that are not addressed by existing research, and propose ways of tackling these issues.