Introduction to Mobile Devices, Evolution, Features and Developement

Introduction to
Mobile Devices
System & Programming
Fall 2025
Wissam Hlayhel

Introduction to Mobile Devices : System & Programming by Wissam H. Fall 2025 Page 2
What is a Mobile Device ?
— A kind of embedded systems

Embedded Systems : What ?
◦ a computer system designed for specific control functions within a larger
system, often with real-time computing constraints
◦ Large Varity of Devices including :
– Consumer electronics : personal digital assistants (PDAs), mp3 players, mobile
phones, videogame consoles, digital cameras, DVD players, GPS receivers, Sat
receivers
– household appliances : microwave ovens, washing machines and dishwashers,
Home automation
– stationary installations : traffic lights, factory controllers, systems controlling
nuclear power plants
– Transportation : pilot & safety systems, ticketing systems
◦ Development :
– a Host computer is used to develop the target code (with a emulator for testing).
Release code is then uploaded by cable to the embedded system

Embedded Systems : where ?
A mobile device is a kind of embedded system used primarily for
information consuming (rather than producing)

Mobile devices : Some History
◦ PDA
◦ Smartphones Generation 1
◦ TabletPC
◦ Smartphones Generation 2
◦ Tablets
◦ Smart TV
◦ Smart Watch

Mobile devices Applications: Some History
— PDA : Pocket PC

Mobile devices Hardware
— SoC Architecture (System on Chip) : an IC that integrates all
components of a computer/electronic system into a single chip.
– Examples: A16 Bionic by Apple, Exynos 2200 by Samsung, Snapdragon 888 by
Qualcomm, Thor by NVIDIA, …
— Processor (ARM RISC Assembly) :
– Example of CPUs: Cortex A720, Cortex A78
– ARM sell licenses for others to build and customize CPUs of their design and
architecture
— GPU
– PowerVR, MALI, ADRENO…

Cortex ARM CPU’s
— Cortex-A Series : Highest performance Application Processors
– Models :
– Applications : Smartphones, Netbooks, eReaders, Digital TV, Home Gateways, Servers & Networking
— Cortex-R Series : Real-time Embedded Processors
– Models : Cortex-R8, Cortex-R7, Cortex-R5, Cortex-R4
– Applications : Automotive braking systems, Mass storage controller, Networking & Printing
— Cortex-M Series : Smallest & Lowest Power Processors
– Models : Cortex-M7, Cortex-M4, Cortex-M3, Cortex-M1, Cortex-M0+, Cortex-M0
– Applications : Microcontrollers, Smart sensors, Automotive body electronics and airbags

Cortex A720 CPU Architecture

Mobile devices dismantled : iPhone 13 Pro

Mobile devices Operating systems
Apple
Google
Nokia
2014
RIM
2016
Microsoft
2017

Modern operating systems features
— Touch based & optimized GUI
— Advanced control (gestures, sensors, motion)
— Interconnected services (Facebook, Dropbox…..)
— Documents/Information Sharing easiness
— Advanced notification of events
— Multitasking option for large screen devices
— Applications store, simplified applications Management
— Integration with Cloud Services (Apple iCloud, Google Apps, Microsoft OneDrive )
— Health/Fitness Management (Based on wearable devices)
— Voice assistants (Apple Siri, Windows Cortana, Android Google Now )
— Home automation Framework (Apple HomeKit)
— Augmented reality Framework

Mobile devices : Applications & Market Share

Device specific Operating systems :
◦ Smart TV
– Google : Android TV
– Apple : tvOS
◦ Connected Cars
– Google : Android Automotive OS i
– Apple : CarPlay
◦ Digital Glasses
– Google : Android for Google Glass ??
– Apple : Vision Framework
◦ Smart Watches
– Google : Wear OS
– Apple : watchOS

Android OS generations
— Android Generations
◦ V2.3.x Gingerbread
◦ V3.x Honeycomb
◦ V4.0.x Ice cream Sandwich
◦ V4.1.x/V4.2.x Jelly Bean
◦ V4.4 KitKat
◦ V5.0 Lollipop
◦ V6.0 Marshmallow
◦ V7.0 Nougat
◦ V8.0 Oreo
◦ V9.0 Pie
◦ V10 Q
◦ V11 Red Velvet Cake
◦ V12 Snow Cone
◦ V13 Tiramisu

Native
• code is executed natively by the
underlying hardware and
operating system
• It depends on CPU binary
language & OS API
Cross
Platform
• code run on multiple operating
systems or platforms
• Uses programming languages,
libraries, and tools that are
compatible with multiple platforms
Application
Development
Application Development : Choice ?

Application Development : Native
Pros

Application Development: Cross Platform

Application Development in Native : Android vs iOS

Application Development Cross Platform

Application Development Cross Platform Market

Android Development in Native : Kotlin vs Java

The End

Introduction to Mobile Devices, Evolution, Features and Developement

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