Mpp Api Formal Review

Formal Review of Mobile Phone API
The CE Linux Forum chartered the Mobile Phone Profile Working Group to address Linux issues specific to the mobile-phone domain. As part of its work, the group has been working since late in 2004 on a common API for mobile phone functionality. The goal is to allow applications consistent access to a wide range of standard functionality, to improve portability of applications across handsets. Having a standard API would make it easier to develop software that would run in more than one mobile phone environment. This would allow feature developers to spend more time on functionality development and less on porting from one phone to another. It would also allow handset manufacturers and carriers to more easily import software into their products.

The initial target for the API is a multimedia-centric phone, implemented either as a dual-processor or single-processor architecture. In the dual-processor model, a real-time operating system might run on the second processor, which would be dedicated to communications support.

Review Process
The Working Group has agreed to use the following process for the Formal Review of its specifications.


 * Issue call for reviewers
 * Invite CELF members, LiPS Forum members, OSDL MLI members
 * Public announcement on home page calling for reviewers
 * Press release
 * Six-week review period
 * For first specifications, 13 March 23 April
 * Reviewers submit comments (see below)
 * Reviewers are individuals not companies
 * Comments resolution period runs as long as necessary
 * Editor can request WG vote following review period, when comments have all been resolved or rejected
 * WG votes on approval of revised specification at request of Editor
 * One vote per WG-member
 * Two-week e-mail voting period
 * Approval requires at least 5 supporting votes, and at least 75% of votes cast
 * If approved, publish as Proposed Specification and send to Architecture Group for review
 * If approved by Architecture Group, forwarded to Board of Directors for approval as CELF Specification

The Specifications
For this first Formal Review, the Working Group has completed preparation of the following four specifications:
 * [Media:MppApiRefArch-FR1.pdf Reference Architecture] - a non-normative document describing the domain and the commonly followed architecture of Linux-based mobile phones; this document is intended to help put the APIs in perspective, but implementations are not required to conform to the reference architecture
 * [Media:MppApiPreface-FR1.pdf Preface and Common Elements] - presents an overview of the specification set, the common vocabulary used in the specifications, the call-back-based programming model used in the specifications, and the common data types and values used throughout the specifications
 * [Media:MppApiCs-FR1.pdf Circuit-Switched Communications Service] - The API for voice communications
 * [Media:MppApiPs-FR1.pdf Packet-Switched Communications Service] - The API for data communications

The links above will download the draft specifications as PDF files. The above versions will remain as-is through the review period. If updated versions are prepared before the end of the review period, that resolve issues raised by reviewers, those versions will be available below.

The comments received from reviewers are available on the Mpp Api Issues page.

First Resolution Revision
This set of revised specifications was posted prior to the Editors' meeting in Tokyo in June. It contains many updates to resolve reviewer comments.

Preface and Common Elements: [Media:MppApiPreface-FR2.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiPreface-FR2-markup.pdf (With Markup)] [Media:MppApiPreface-FR2-comments.xls (Comments Spreadsheet)]

Reference Architecture: [Media:MppApiRefArch-FR2.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiRefArch-FR2-markup.pdf (With Markup)] [Media:MppApiRefArch-FR2-comments.xls (Comments Spreadsheet)]

Packet-Switched Communication Service: [Media:MppApiPs-FR2.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiPs-FR2-markup.pdf (With Markup)] [Media:MppApiPs-FR2-comments.xls (Comments Spreadsheet)]

Circuit-Switched Communication Service: [Media:MppApiCs-FR2b.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiCs-FR2b-markup.pdf (With Markup)] [Media:MppApiCs-FR2b-comments.xls (Comments Spreadsheet)]

Second Resolution Revision
This set of revised specifications was posted following the Editors' meeting and prior to the MPPWG July meeting in Tokyo. It contains proposed resolutions to all the reviewer comments and should be the base for reviewer verification of resolutions.

Preface and Common Elements: [Media:MppApiPreface-FR3.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiPreface-FR3-markup.pdf (With Markup)] [Media:MppApiPreface-FR3-comments.xls (Comments Spreadsheet)]

Reference Architecture: [Media:MppApiRefArch-FR3.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiRefArch-FR3-markup.pdf (With Markup)] [Media:MppApiRefArch-FR3-comments.xls (Comments Spreadsheet)]

Packet-Switched Communication Service: [Media:MppApiPs-FR3.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiPs-FR3-comments.xls (Comments Spreadsheet)]

Circuit-Switched Communication Service: [Media:MppApiCs-FR3.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiCs-FR3-markup.pdf (With Markup)] [Media:MppApiCs-FR3-comments.xls (Comments Spreadsheet)]

Fourth Resolution Revision
This set of revised specifications was posted prior to the MPPWG November meeting in Santa Clara. It contains proposed resolutions to all the reviewer comments and should be the base for reviewer verification of resolutions.

Reference Architecture: [Media:MppApiRefArch-FR4a.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiRefArch-FR4a-markup.pdf (With Markup)]

Preface and Common Elements: [Media:MppApiPreface-FR4.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiPreface-FR4-markup.pdf (With Markup)]

Packet-Switched Communication Service: [Media:MppApiPs-FR4.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiPs-FR4-markup.pdf (With Markup)]

Circuit-Switched Communication Service: [Media:MppApiCs-FR4.pdf (Revised Specification)] [Media:MppApiCs-FR4-comments.xls (Comments Spreadsheet)]

Registering
We need a list of reviewers, so that we can provide updated information to them during the review and resolution process. We will also list reviewers and their companies in the published specification, unless asked not to.

Reviewers should register by sending the following information in e-mail to [mailto:Mpp Comments@list.celinuxforum.org]:
 * Name
 * Employer name (we will list reviewers and their employers in the published specifications)
 * E-mail address
 * Phone number, if willing to be contacted with questions
 * Any information that might be useful to the working group, such as membership in organizations that define other standards in the domain

Filing Comments
Reviewers should send comments to [mailto:Mpp Comments@list.celinuxforum.org] in one of the forms listed below:
 * A Microsoft document in [Media:CommentSheet.doc this form]. This form is easier for us to process and comments submitted this way will probably appear on the comments page sooner.
 * An XML document in [Media:template.txt this form](Linux/Unix) or [Media:ms-template.txt this form](Windows). Comments submitted in this form will require additional manual processing and may take a little longer to appear on the comments page.

Whichever form you use, do not change the format of the template (don't add columns to the Word tables, change the order of the elements in the XML objects, etc.). We will be processing these with simple tools and any format changes may result in the comments being sent back to you for reformatting. You may, of course, add additional rows to the comments table in the Word form or additional Comment objects to the containing CommentsList object in the XML form.