The Symbian OS Architecture Sourcebook: Design and Evolution of a Mobile Phone OS (Symbian Press)

The current Symbian Press list focuses very much on the small scale features of Symbian OS in a programming context. The Architecture Sourcebook is different. It's not a how-to book, it's a 'what and why' book. And because it names names as it unwinds the design decisions which have shaped the OS, it is also a 'who' book. It will show where the OS came from, how it has evolved to be what it is, and provide a simple model for understanding what it is, how it is put together, and how to interface to it and work with it. It will also show why design decision were made, and will bring those decisions to life in the words of Symbian's key architects and developers, giving an insider feel to the book as it weaves the "inside story" around the architectural presentation. The book will describe the OS architecture in terms of the Symbian system model. It will show how the model breaks down the system into parts, what role the parts play in the system, how the parts are architected, what motivates their design, and how the design has evolved through the different releases of the system. Key system concepts will be described; design patterns will be explored and related to those from other operating systems. The unique features of Symbian OS will be highlighted and their motivation and evolution traced and described. The book will include a substantial reference section itemising the OS and its toolkit at component level and providing a reference entry for each component. The Symbian OS Architecture Sourcebook......Page 4 Contents......Page 10 About this Author......Page 16 Acknowledgements......Page 18 Glossary of Terms......Page 20 Introduction......Page 22 Part 1: The Background to Symbian OS......Page 26 1.1 The Origins of Mobile Phones......Page 28 1.2 From 2G to 3G......Page 30 1.3 Mobile Phone Evolution......Page 31 1.4 Technology and Soft Effects......Page 32 1.5 Disruption and Complexity......Page 34 1.6 The Thing About Mobile Phones......Page 35 2.1 The State of the Art......Page 40 2.2 In the Beginning......Page 42 2.3 The Prehistory of Psion......Page 45 2.4 The Beginnings of Symbian OS......Page 47 2.5 The Mobile Opportunity......Page 51 2.6 Background to the First Licensee Projects......Page 52 2.7 Device Families......Page 56 2.8 Operating System Influences......Page 62 3.1 Design Goals and Architecture......Page 70 3.3 Why Architecture Matters......Page 74 3.4 Symbian OS Layer by Layer......Page 77 3.5 The Key Design Patterns......Page 81 3.6 The Application Perspective......Page 90 3.7 Symbian OS Idioms......Page 96 3.8 Platform Security from Symbian OS v9......Page 108 4.1 Background......Page 112 4.2 The Big Attraction......Page 113 4.3 The Origins of Object Orientation......Page 115 4.4 The Key Ideas of Object Orientation......Page 117 4.5 The Languages of Object Orientation......Page 125 Part 2: The Layered Architecture View......Page 134 5.2 Basic Concepts......Page 136 5.3 Layer-by-Layer Summary of the Symbian OS v9.3 Model......Page 142 5.5 History......Page 144 6.1 Introduction......Page 146 6.2 Purpose......Page 147 6.4 Overview......Page 148 6.5 Architecture......Page 149 6.6 A Short History of the UI Architecture......Page 153 6.7 Component Collections......Page 154 7.1 Introduction......Page 158 7.3 Design Goals......Page 159 7.4 Overview......Page 160 7.6 Architecture......Page 162 7.7 Component Collections......Page 174 8.1 Introduction......Page 190 8.2 Purpose......Page 191 8.3 Design Goals......Page 193 8.4 Overview......Page 195 8.6 Generic OS Services Block......Page 196 8.7 Multimedia and Graphics Services Block......Page 202 8.8 Connectivity Services Block......Page 217 9.1 Introduction......Page 224 9.2 Purpose......Page 226 9.3 Design Goals......Page 229 9.5 Architecture......Page 231 9.6 Comms Framework......Page 235 9.7 Telephony Services......Page 245 9.8 Networking Services......Page 255 9.9 Short-link Services......Page 270 10.2 Purpose......Page 280 10.3 Design Goals......Page 281 10.4 Overview......Page 282 10.5 Architecture......Page 283 10.6 Component Collections......Page 295 11.1 Introduction......Page 304 11.2 Purpose......Page 305 11.3 Design Goals......Page 306 11.5 EKA1 and EKA2......Page 308 11.6 Singleton Component Collections......Page 309 11.7 Kernel Architecture Block......Page 310 11.8 Kernel Architecture Component Collections......Page 320 12.1 Introduction......Page 326 12.3 Design Goals for the Java ME Subsystem......Page 327 12.4 Evolution of Java on Symbian OS......Page 328 12.5 Architecture......Page 331 12.6 Component Collections......Page 336 13.2 Summary of Symbian OS v6 Releases......Page 344 13.3 Summary of Symbian OS v7 Releases......Page 346 13.4 Summary of Symbian OS v8 Releases......Page 349 13.5 Summary of Symbian OS v9 Releases......Page 351 Part 3: Design Case Studies......Page 356 14.1 Introduction......Page 358 14.2 Pioneering the Object Approach in Psion......Page 359 14.3 A Thoroughly Object-oriented Operating System......Page 378 15.2 Anatomy of a Phone......Page 392 15.3 The Phone Operating System......Page 393 15.4 Telephony......Page 403 15.5 Messaging: It’s Different on a Phone......Page 411 16.1 Introduction......Page 422 16.2 Background to the Eikon GUI......Page 427 16.3 Eikon Design Point......Page 429 16.4 The Device Family Strategy......Page 435 16.5 Quartz......Page 441 16.6 Pearl......Page 442 16.7 Nightingale......Page 443 16.8 How to Develop a World-class GUI......Page 445 16.9 Symbian OS User Interface Architecture......Page 450 16.10 Future Directions......Page 451 17.1 Introduction......Page 454 17.2 Design Lifetime......Page 455 17.3 Renewal in Symbian OS......Page 459 17.4 Evolution in the Kernel......Page 461 17.5 Telephony Evolution......Page 465 17.6 Sound and Vision Evolution......Page 468 17.7 Defining the Skin......Page 469 17.8 Moving Towards Standard C++......Page 471 18.2 The Software Problem......Page 478 18.3 Too Many Dragons......Page 480 18.4 Software Development Approaches......Page 481 18.5 What Making Software Is Really About......Page 484 Appendix A: Symbian OS Component Reference......Page 500 Appendix B: Interviewee Biographies......Page 598 References......Page 604 Index......Page 608

The current Symbian Press list focuses very much on the small scale features of Symbian OS in a programming context. The Architecture Sourcebook is different.

It's not a how-to book, it's a 'what and why' book. And because it names names as it unwinds the design decisions which have shaped the OS, it is also a 'who' book. It will show where the OS came from, how it has evolved to be what it is, and provide a simple model for understanding what it is, how it is put together, and how to interface to it and work with it. It will also show why design decision were made, and will bring those decisions to life in the words of Symbian's key architects and developers, giving an insider feel to the book as it weaves the "inside story" around the architectural presentation.

The book will describe the OS architecture in terms of the Symbian system model. It will show how the model breaks down the system into parts, what role the parts play in the system, how the parts are architected, what motivates their design, and how the design has evolved through the different releases of the system.

Key system concepts will be described; design patterns will be explored and related to those from other operating systems. The unique features of Symbian OS will be highlighted and their motivation and evolution traced and described.

The book will include a substantial reference section itemising the OS and its toolkit at component level and providing a reference entry for each component.

Author biography. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Part 1:The Background to Symbian OS. Why phones are difficult. History and pre-history of Symbian. Introduction to the Symbian OS Architecture. A short introduction to Object Orientation. Part 2:The Layered Architecture View. The Symbian OS layered model. The UI framework. Application services. OS Services: Generic, Graphics & Multimedia, and Connectivity Services. Comms Services. Base Services. Kernel Services & Hardware Interface. Symbian J2ME subsystem. Notes on the Evolution of Symbian OS. Part 3: Design Case Studies. Case Study: The Use of Object-oriented Design in Symbian OS. Case Study: Just Add Phone: The Phonification of Symbian OS. Case Study: One Size Does Not Fit All: The Radical UI Solution. Case Study: System Evolution and Renewal. Case Study: Slaying the Dragon: Creative Zoo or Software Factory? Part 4: Symbian OS Component Reference. Symbian OS Component Reference. Appendix "The author describes the OS architecture in terms of the Symbian System Model. He highlights how the model breaks down the system into parts, what role the parts play in the system, how the parts are developed, what motivates their design, and how the design has evolved." "Key system concepts are described; design patterns are explored and related to those from other operating systems. The unique features of Symbian OS are highlighted and their motivation and evolution traced and described. The Symbian OS Architecture Sourcebook is a must-have, technical introduction for the next wave of technical decision makers, seeking to evaluate and understand Symbian OS."--BOOK JACKET