Mobile Operating Systems

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A number of OSs with small footprints and reduced storage capacity have emerged to support the computing-related functions of mobile devices. Research In Motion, Ltd's BlackBerry' 7290 smart phone uses RIM 3.6 OS and provides Web access, as well as wireless voice, address book, and appointment applications. Because the handheld device is small and has limited power and memory, the mobile OS's requirements are significantly less than those of desktop OSs.

This figure shows a typical mobile operating system, which can be visualized as a six-layer stack. There are several differences between mobile and desktop operating systems:

• The real-time kernel manages the phone communications links and is not found on the standard desktop OS.
• The power management component is also not found on the standard desktop OS.
• Communication infrastructure includes wireless infrastructure for wireless communication.
• Applications use the API to display information on the GUI, which is more limited in a mobile OS than in a desktop OS.