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Migration of existing software systems to mobile computing platforms: a systematic mapping study

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Abstract

Mobile computing has fast emerged as a pervasive technology to replace the old computing paradigms with portable computation and context-aware communication. Existing software systems can be migrated (while preserving their data and logic) to mobile computing platforms that support portability, context-sensitivity, and enhanced usability. In recent years, some research and development efforts have focused on a systematic migration of existing software systems to mobile computing platforms.

To investigate the research state-of-the-art on the migration of existing software systems to mobile computing platforms. We aim to analyze the progression and impacts of existing research, highlight challenges and solutions that reflect dimensions of emerging and futuristic research.

We followed evidence-based software engineering (EBSE) method to conduct a systematic mapping study (SMS) of the existing research that has progressed over more than a decade (25 studies published from 1996–2017). We have derived a taxonomical classification and a holistic mapping of the existing research to investigate its progress, impacts, and potential areas of futuristic research and development.

The SMS has identified three types of migration namely Static, Dynamic, and State-based Migration of existing software systems to mobile computing platforms. Migration to mobile computing platforms enables existing software systems to achieve portability, context-sensitivity,and high connectivity. However, mobile systems may face some challenges such as resource poverty, data security, and privacy. The emerging and futuristic research aims to support patterns and tool support to automate the migration process. The results of this SMS can benefit researchers and practitioners-by highlighting challenges, solutions, and tools, etc., -to conceptualize the state-of-the-art and futuristic trends that support migration of existing software to mobile computing.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been funded by Research Deanship in University of Ha’il Saudi Arabia through project number RG-20155.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, 2440, Saudi Arabia

    Ibrahim Alseadoon, Aakash Ahmad & Adel Alkhalil

  2. College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Salmiya, 13034, Kuwait

    Khalid Sultan

Authors
  1. Ibrahim Alseadoon
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  2. Aakash Ahmad
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  3. Adel Alkhalil
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  4. Khalid Sultan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aakash Ahmad.

Additional information

Ibrahim Alseadoon is currently an assistant professor at the University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia. He is an author of more than 5 articles in the field of Computer Security and Users Behaviour. He has served as general chair and program committee chair for several conferences.

Aakash Ahmad has received his PhD degree in Software Engineering from Dublin City University, Ireland in 2015. He has worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the IT University of Copenhagen and as a software engineer at Elixir Technologies. He is serving as an assistant professor at the College of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia. His research interests include software architecture and software evolution for mobile and cloud computing systems.

Adel Alkhalil has received his PhD degree from Bournemouth University, UK under supervision of Dr. Reza Sahandi and Dr. David John. In September 2016, Dr. Alkhalil joined the faculty of computer science and engineering at the University of Hail, Saudi Arabia as an assistant professor. His research interests include software evolution for mobile and cloud computing systems, decision support systems, knowledge-based systems.

Khalid Sultan is an assistant professor at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, American University of Kuwait (AUK), Kuwait. He received his MSc and PhD degrees from Concordia University, Canada in 2007 and 2015, respectively. Prior to joining AUK, he worked for three years as an assistant professor at University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia. He is currently serving as a reviewer, track chair, and program committee member for several peer-reviewed journals and prestigious international conferences. His research interests include, but not limited to, mobile computing, software engineering, multi-agent systems, and formal verification (model checking).

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Alseadoon, I., Ahmad, A., Alkhalil, A. et al. Migration of existing software systems to mobile computing platforms: a systematic mapping study. Front. Comput. Sci. 15, 152204 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11704-019-8166-5

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