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DSDP/TML/TmLInitialProposal

< DSDP‎ | TML
Revision as of 21:53, 21 November 2006 by Cgk.eclipse.gmail.com (Talk | contribs)

Tools for mobile Linux

The Tools for Mobile Linux (TmL) project is a proposed open source project under the Device Software Development Platform project.

This proposal is in the project Proposal Phase as defined in the Eclipse Development process document. It is written to declare the intent and scope of the project and to solicit additional participation and input form the Eclipse community.

You are invited to comment on and/or join the project. Please send any feedback to the eclipse.dsdp.tml newsgroup.


Background

The largest volume segment of the consumer electronics industry is mobile phones, delivering 800 million units a year. Those phones have become increasingly powerful and complex, demanding an ever increasing set of applications and features.

Linux is an emerging mobile OS being adopted by mobile device manufacturers. The development of end-to-end services for Linux-based mobile phones spans a wide range of applications, including enterprise web services, location-based-services, 3D multiplayer gaming, and mobilized corporate data. Unlike JavaME, which is used most commonly for gaming applications, mobile Linux can provide a much larger, more powerful set of APIs to address the needs of these more sophisticated service deployments.

Using Linux also not only leverages a large array of existing desktop applications, but it also taps into a large ecosystem of skilled Linux developers in the Open Source and commercial developer community. Another often overlooked benefit of using Linux is the large ammount of existing Development Tools, from the GNU compiler toolchains to profilers and emulators.

How TmL fits into the Eclipse Ecosystem

The Eclipse DSDP and Tools projects already contain many projects applicable to the development of mobile Linux applications. The goal of the "Tools for Mobile Linux" project is to complement those existing projects (like e.g. CDT, TM, TPTP) and extend Eclipse into an end-to-end development environment for mobile Linux-based devices.

The goal is to create a development platform that can drive the developer through the application lifecycle from design (modeling tools), development (C/C++ crosscompiling), testing (Linux OS emulators & frameworks), and deployment (application signing tools).

Scope

As descibed above, many existing Eclipse projects are very applicable to the area of Mobile Linux application development, although for some projects, additional "extensions" are needed. Examples include "Target Management" agents specialized to mobile Linux applications, or DD extensions tailored for mobile requirements.

One task of TmL will be to act as an Umbrella Project to seed ideas in the relevant sub projects and drive prototyping.

The other task of TmL is to identify missing functional areas specific to applications in the Mobile Linux space and develop Eclipse Plug-In's and Features for those usecases. Examples include:

  • Emulators for Mobile Devices
  • Simulation of a Mobile End-to-End environment
    • SMS backend simulation
    • Location based services simulation

The TmL Emulator

The most immmediate need for a successful mobile Linux application development environment is a emulation environment to execute on the development computer.

The proposal is for TmL to develop a

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