CS710 – MOBILE AND PERVASIVE COMPUTING
ASSIGNMENT # 2
Required
Critically
analyze following aspects of Android and Symbian operating systems: Software Platform, Portability, Operating
System Security, GPS, and Supported Network Technologies. You are required to
provide conclusions on the basis of the critical analysis. Your points must be
supported by strong arguments and/or references.
Introduction
Mobile
devices have revolutionized the present era with advanced technology in the
field of operating system (OS) in a very short span of time. There are number
of mobile OS like Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, iOS, Firefox, Ubuntu Mobile,
Windows Mobiles and Phones, Bada, Palm, MeeGo etc. Among them few are obsolete
and discontinued platforms like Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm and MeeGo. Here
the requirement is to analyze two famous OS; Android and Symbian in detail and
deduce the facts that which one is better in different fields of operations. In
the subsequent paragraphs both the OS will be analyzed critically and
difference will be highlighted:-
1.
Software Platform
a.
Android OS. It is developed by Google, inc. and later
Open Handset Alliance for mobile devices which is based on Linux Kernel. An
open source project includes OS, middleware and applications. It works in a
virus free environment. It is basically designed for touchscreen mobile devices
like smartphone, tablets, Android TV, Android Auto, Android Wear etc. It uses
Linux for device drivers, memory and process management and for networking as
well. There are number of layers which run the system smoothly, these are:-
i.
Application Framework Layer. The uppermost layer carries the core
applications like web browser, calendar, maps, email and SMS program written in
Java. A simultaneous running of different application is possible like reading
a SMS and listening music at one time.
ii.
Libraries. Written in C/ C++ languages and called
through Java interfaces which are Surface Manager, 2D/ 3D graphics, Media
Codecs, SQLite and browsers.
iii.
Android Runtime. Includes core libraries set which carries
the Java programming language functionalities.
iv.
Dalvik Virtual Machine (DVM). This allows running of different
applications virtually. It is a register-based architecture which runs Java
applications and transformed in .dex format optimized for reduced memory
footprint.
v.
Linux Kernel. The security, memory and process management,
networking and driver handling is dependent on the Linux Kernel which is
between the hardware and software stack in the system.
b.
Symbian OS. It is developed by Symbian Ltd and maintained
by Accenture for mobile devices runs on ARM processors. Old version was
closed-source but current version is an open-source platform. One of the most
popular and in use smartphone OS till 2010 but Android has just crashed it due
its own properties. It is written in C++ language. It uses Linux for device
drivers, memory and process management and for networking as well. There are
number of layers which run the system smoothly these are:-
i.
User Interface (UI) Framework Layer. The uppermost layer carries
frameworks and libraries which construct the UI also includes the basic class
hierarchies for the controls of UI.
ii.
Java J2ME MIDP. The application services layer and UI
framework resides here which provide a platform for graphical and networked
applications.
iii.
Application Services. It supports the applications without any UI
framework help.
iv.
Middleware Layer. Provides services like generic, common
(communication framework, telephony, short link and networking) multimedia and
graphic and connectivity.
v.
Base Services. Include the user library and file server with
plug-in framework, DBMS, cryptographic services and functional port.
vi.
Kernel Services and Hardware
(HW) Interface. Provides other
HW abstraction with physical and logical device. Also cater for creating/
managing the OS kernel abstractions.
c.
Better One – Android OS. The above description of both the OSs
clearly indicate that Android OS has much more to offer as compare to the
Symbian OS. The DVM and Java programming allow android to operate at any
platform.
2.
Portability. It can be defined as a program’s
capability to run on multiple machine types easily. It is very important to
have such quality because an OS has to run on different devices manufactured by
different companies so the compatibility of OS is a must.
a.
Android OS. Following are the details:-
i.
Among all mobile OSs, there are
only two systems namely Android OS and Windows Phones OS which offer feature of
portability.
ii.
Android OS is highly portable
because the platform is Linux and Java based which permits it to be run on any
system.
iii.
The kernel and DVM make possible
as there are two layers of abstraction; layer between kernel and user space and
layer between kernel and HW.
b.
Symbian OS. It does not support the portability. In fact
Nokia Company has developed it for their manufactured mobile devices
hardware.
c.
Better One – Android OS. There is no need of comparison as Symbian
OS lacks portability.
3.
OS Security. The security of mobile OS is more important
as mobile devices are in use as never before. Since mobile devices used to get
application from the play stores therefore malware threat is confirmed. Details
of Android and Symbian are as under:-
a.
Android OS. Being modern and latest mobile platform faces
lot of security threats because of its popularity among the masses. A robust
and rigorous security architecture is required to safeguard this aspect. There
are three aspects which are to be secured; kernel, user and applications
security. Details are as under:-
i.
Linux Kernel Security. Linux kernel ensures that one user
can’t reach to other’s files, memory, resources, devices (GPS, Bluetooth,
telephony) etc. Thus provide a user-based protection along with running of
application in isolation. Following are the ways through which its security is
achieved:-
1)
Application Sandbox.
2)
System Partition and Safe Mode
3)
Filesystem Permission
4)
Security-Enhanced Linux
5)
Cryptography
6)
Rooting of Devices
ii.
User Security Features
1)
Filesystem Encryption
2)
Password Protection
3)
Device Administration
iii.
Application Security. Application written in Java programming
language and running environment is DVM require protection. Following are the
ways to provide security:-
1)
Accessing Protected APIs. Only the trusted application can be
operated in it. These protected APIs are location area, camera, bluetooth,
telephony, SMS, network functions.
2)
Inter-Process Communication
(IPC). Without the permission of
Linux no process can communicate with other process.
3)
SIM Card Access. Third-party applications can’t access to
the SIM card.
4)
Android OS Permission Check. No application can reach to the
personal information, sensitive input devices and device metadata without the
permission.
5)
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
Framework. It allow the
applications according to their license constraints.
6)
Application Verification.
User has the capability to verify any application before installation.
7)
Updating Facility. Over the air (OTA) and side-loaded are
two ways of updating the security system. OTA is on-line updating system at
once and side-loaded is a zip file can be downloaded and used in near future.
8)
Security Enhancements. With every new release of android
version security enhancements are added to protect the devices.
b.
Symbian OS. Symbian OS security is based on following three
trust tiers model:-
i.
Trust Computing Base (TCB). The most important tier which keep
all those elements which are responsible for security of OS. It has OS kernel,
file server (F32) and software installer. Kernel manages all processes assign
required privileges to them whereas file server loads for process running and
software installer installs the applications from packages. It is also known as
Gatekeeper of mobile device.
ii.
Trust Computing Environment
(TCE). There are number of
system servers which run with different privileges. UI platform provider,
mobile device manufacturer and few other trusted software resides at TCE. Since
system servers are less trusted therefore have limited privileges, Symbian
ensures that failure of one server should not be a threat to another server
security.
iii.
Applications. These are not highly trusted therefore can only access the services
which do not pose any security threat. There are two types of application;
signed and unsigned. Signed one can use a service after prior approval of TCE
which runs the service for it and unsigned one can perform some operations
without TCE permission because they can perform those operations which are not
security concerned.
c.
Better One – Symbian OS. Android OS has lot of vulnerabilities as
compared to Symbian OS which do not allow any interference from outside and all
applications work with permission grants.
4.
Global Positioning System (GPS). It is a system which gives out the
location and time of user through number of satellites placed in the outer space
of planet Earth. There are 24 satellites in the Earth’s orbit which do this
task. It was primarily used by military purpose but now very famous in
automobiles and smartphones. The mobiles devices uses GPS or Assisted-GPS
(AGPS), GPS gives information directly through at least 4 satellites and in
AGPS cell phones share GPS receiver component with cellular component. AGPS
gets information from Cell Phone Company, switch from cellular to GPS receiver
get raw data then switch back and send data to phone company. Company process
the data and send location to phone. Symbian and Android also enjoy this
facility, details are as under:-
a.
Android OS. There are number of navigation application
available in the Google play store of android like GPS Essentials, GPS Navigation
BE-ON-ROAD, Google Maps and so on.
b.
Symbian OS. There are number of navigation application
available in the Nokia play store of Symbian like ForAnn GPS, NDrive
Navigation, Map Vivo, Birkett Phonelocator and so on.
c.
Better One Both have almost the same capability once
comparison is drawn in this field. Both have a variety of applications
available which keep them at par.
5.
Supported Network Technologies. The network is basically the connectivity
of mobile devices to the internet that may be wired or wireless. Since mobiles
devices are not static therefore usually wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) is the mode
of connectivity. There are other means as well like Bluetooth, virtual private
network (VPN) etc.
a.
Android OS.
i.
It has got standard Java network
package which is utilized to access network resources.
ii.
Internet is accessed after android
permission and there are number of open source libraries available like Volley
and OkHttp which perform network operations on android.
iii.
To access the resources over a
net, Java provides a lightweight HTTP client API via HTTP / HTTPS.
iv.
To check the availability of
network access network state permission is required.
v.
It has the features of GSM
telephony, Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE and Wi-Fi.
b.
Symbian OS.
i.
All Nokia mobile devices (Symbian
OS) have in-built wireless networking.
ii.
The function of connectivity is
almost the same like Android with some variations.
iii.
It has the features of GSM
telephony, Infrared, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
c.
Better One. Both have almost the same capability once comparison
is drawn in this field. Both have the capability of connectivity with some variations
which make them at par.
6.
Popularity Graph. Apart from above discussion one can see
the people’s choice as an indicator towards the selection of Android over Symbian.
As of the survey carried out by comScore,
Inc. (US survey company), Android ranked as top smartphone
platform in July 2014 with 52.5% of market share as compared to Symbian with
just 0.2%[1] .
Google play store is a storage of over 1 million applications and people
downloaded over 50 billion application till July 2013[2].
7.
Conclusions. After having gone through the details of
both the OSs following have been concluded:-
a.
Upgrading of OS is possible in
android and not in Symbian
b.
Appearance wise android have attractive
looks, drop down options. But Symbian has the same old menu styles, phone book,
music library etc.
c.
Symbian is better in energy
consumption as android applications remain active even at idle position.
d.
Privacy an important factor,
Symbian platform is used without disclosing its private information but Android
provides normal applications of company.
e.
Processors of Android provide much
better performance like 3 to 4 times better than Symbian.
f.
There are a lot of Android
applications available at Google play store as compared to Nokia play store.
g.
Both are at par in the fields of
GPS and networking matters.
h.
Symbian OS is a better option once
security and privacy aspects are considered.
i.
Java programming language and DVM
made Android OS must better and like by the masses.
Conclusion. Nexus to above, it is observed that at some
places Symbian still have an upper edge over Android operating system but
Android has taken the lead over it in terms of software development and
portability. The carried out surveys also indicate the liking of people all
over the world.
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