Titulo Estágio
On the incorporation of energy efficiency information in an Android marketplace
Áreas de especialidade
Engenharia de Software
Local do Estágio
DEI-FCTUC
Enquadramento
The importance of which mobile devices have on our lives is such that it is hard to imagine our daily activities without them. The use of smartphones, tablet computers and, more recently, of wearables such as smartwatches, has changed and simplified not only the way we communicate with each other, but also, e.g., the way we individually or collectively have fun, and the way we work or do business.
Ultimately, the number and scope of mobile applications seem unlimited, with users actually expecting more and more from them each day. The distribution of such applications is highly facilitated by app stores such as Google Play store or Aptoide’s marketplace, which also democratize the opportunity to commercialize software for mobile devices. In 2017, the number of downloaded mobile applications was estimated as 178 billion, and this number is expected to grow to 258 billion in 2022.
While the app market targets mobile devices, which by nature most often run on batteries, the fact is that current marketplaces do not provide any indication on the absolute or relative energy efficiency of the applications they host.
In this project, we will study how to integrate an energy efficiency perspective within a mobile app marketplace so that mobile device users can make informed decisions when, e.g., choosing to install an app over another.
Objetivo
The interested candidate will work in close collaboration with Aptoide, a marketplace for Android applications founded in Portugal. The overall goal is to realize how/which data can be collected from the applications being submitted for publication on the marketplace so that their energy efficiency can be inferred and compared with others.
An important characteristic of this project is that a significant part of the computation should be delegated to the computational edges such as the machines of the developers themselves.
More concretely, the main goals to achieve within this project are:
- to study the state of the art of mobile application analysis, both static and dynamic, with a focus on energy efficiency;
- to propose a model to inspect the energy efficiency of an Android application;
- to implement the proposed model and make it available as a plugin for an IDE commonly used to develop Android applications;
- to collect to the Aptoide infrastructure, and to make it available to its users, the information on the energy efficiency of an application.
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 1
- Trimester 1: Study the literature, the tools and the frameworks that are available for analyzing mobile applications with a focus on their energy efficiency.
- Trimester 2: Design a model to inspect the energy efficiency of an Android application; Write an intermediate report.
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 2
- Trimester 3: Implement the proposed model and make it available to run as a plugin on an IDE such as Android studio;
- Trimester 4: Implement the collection to the Aptoide infrastructure, and its publication to mobile device users, the information on the energy efficiency of an application. Thesis writing.
Condições
The eligible student will have at disposal all the necessary computational platforms, tools and devices.
He/she will work within a research team that is working on related issues.
Orientador
João Paulo Fernandes, UC (jpf@dei.uc.pt) e João Casal, Aptoide (joao.casal@aptoide.com)
pf@dei.uc.pt 📩