Intelligent file transfer for smart handheld devices based on mobile cloud computing

Most methods of file transfer between mobile devices have to take considerable time to obtain and input target identifiers. To speed up file sharing of mobile devices, an intelligent file transfer framework is designed based on mobile cloud computing. Only single-finger action is performed in the proposed framework, which just drags the file to the target face on the touchscreen of a mobile device. The dragged file can be transmitted to the target receiver who can either get the file immediately as her/his mobile device is online or receive the file later after connecting to the Internet. Our framework provides the following features: (i) users do not need to know the target identifier in advance; (ii) users do not need to input identity information by themselves; and (iii) users can select a specific target among multiple candidates from the camera of a mobile device. The intelligent file transfer framework reveals an efficient architecture and innovative user interfaces to transfer files between mobile devices, which can significantly reduce the complexity and difficulty of file sharing. An Android-based prototype is implemented to verify the feasibility and superiority of our framework. Experimental results show that our approach outperforms existing schemes and can save large amounts of time in file sharing for mobile users. Copyright (C) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.