Component-Centric Mobile Cloud Architecture Performance Evaluation: an Analytical Approach for Unified Models and Component Compatibility with Next Generation Evolving Technologies

Mobile cloud architectures (MCAs) and their components have become significant contributors in executing resource-demanding mobile applications. Selecting the most appropriate components is vital and more challenging in designing MCAs for their developers, even with the rapid growth in components and emerging computing paradigms. However, there are neither standard agreements nor unified policies for selecting, adopting, and adapting pertinent components on building MCAs. This study investigates many state-of-the-art architectures and identifies inconsistencies around MCAs. It innovatively presents a unified approach that includes component classifications, component adoption policies, and three unified MCAs. It also evaluates the components’ contributions to the architectures, implements the proposed approach on the existing architectures, and determines components’ compatibility for next generation evolving technologies. Indeed, this study recommends that the developers should consider the introduced unified approach and the suggested future research directions while designing the MCAs and application-execution models. Graphical abstract