Architectural Support for Openness in Mobile Software Platforms

Abstract: Introduction: The answer to the frequently asked question “how open is a software platform” is not binary; especially when it comes to software platforms for mobile devices. The openness of these platforms is determined by the openness strategy of a software producing organization. The decision to open up a platform, however, determines the degree of freedom for third parties to adopt the platform for commercial opportunities. Objective: The aim of this thesis is identification of the openness strategies of the main mobile platforms based on their architecture. Methodology: The openness strategies are uncovered using literature review and several qualitative interviews with mobile application developers. Results: An architectural openness model, several architectural openness factors and identification of openness strategies in the main mobile platforms are results of this thesis. Conclusions: The proposed architectural openness model shows how the openness strategies of mobile platform suppliers affect the software architecture of the platforms. Architectural openness factors demonstrate how open the mobile software platforms are. Finally based on the model and the factors, the openness degree of five main mobile platforms is indentified. Audience: Researchers of the mobile software community, mobile software platform suppliers, application developers and architects could benefit from using the results of this thesis.