Runtime Adaptation of Applications Using Design Of Experiments: A Smartphone-Based Case Study

We consider the problem of adapting embedded software to heterogeneous devices where it is impractical to obtain a system-level power model for each target platform and operating environment. Our solution leverages the emerging capability of measuring power consumption at run-time using a built-in battery monitoring unit (BMU). We use a statistically rigorous design of experiments (DoE) methodology to efficiently characterize the power consumption configuration space of software online instead of constructing a system-level power model offline. This approach is simple, low-cost, and permits software to dynamically select suitable parameters at run-time to satisfy energy or performance constraints. We illustrate this approach using a camera trap application as a case study deployed on a Nokia N80 smartphone.