NU JamLogger: A Study of User Activity and System Performance on Mobile Architectures

NU JamLogger is an important part of an exciting, ongoing research study at Northwestern University. Our goal is to understand usage patterns and system performance on mobile devices and then use this information to guide the design, evaluation, and optimization of future mobile platforms. To this end, we need to continuously collect REAL data from REAL users on REAL mobile devices. This, is exactly where YOU come in the picture!

With your participation and consent, NU JamLogger will monitor your activity and system performance, and then periodically upload data to our server.

Installing NU JamLogger
NU JamLogger can be installed through the Android Market under the tools section. The fastest way to find it is to just search for "NU JamLogger" using the search utility.

Using NU JamLogger
NU JamLogger starts you open the application, or immediately after your phone boots. It then runs in a background service and collects data as you use your phone. We have provided a Stop button in the Menu if you want to stop the logger.

In addition, please note the following:

• NU JamLogger is an evolving application. If there are new updates, please install them. The purple 'N' icon () will change to an alert icon () to alert you when there is an update available or if the experiment is over.
• By default, NU JamLogger operates without your intervention. We automatically log and periodically try to upload the logs to our server. An Upload button is also provided below to manually upload data. Not all uploads will succeed, but some should.
• For high quality useful data, we would prefer you leave the logger on to provide a continuous log of days, weeks, or more! However, the Stop button in the Menu will stop the logger should the need arise. Restarting this application will restart the logger. The status icon on the top bar indicates when NU JamLogger is actively logging.

Who are we?
We are the Empathic Systems Project, a collaboration between Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. We explore methods of incorporating the user to improve computer architectures and systems. Some of our recent work has shown that adjusting CPU frequency based upon user perception can significantly decrease power consumption of modern computer systems. We believe that studying user activity will be critical in improving mobile architectures. Thus, we have developed NU JamLogger.

What data is collected?
We collect any data that we believe may assist us understanding user activity and system performance on mobile architectures. A complete list of what we collect:

• CPU utilization
• System load
• Phone state (airplane mode, signal strength)
• Phone call state (ringing, call, idle)
• Display brightness and state (on/off)
• Data plan connectivity (i.e., EDGE)
• Phone/Wifi signal strength
• Wifi connectivity
• Network traffic (bytes sent/received)
• Location upon GPS triggering
• Battery levels
• SD Card traffic
• Statistical sample of commonly used apps

What about my privacy?
We do NOT inspect any of your personal information, data, or communication on your device. As an example, we DO log your phone service and network traffic, but DO NOT log phone numbers or the data or send/receive via the network. We DO log your location because we believe that we uncover some interesting properties of user activity based upon location.

To protect your privacy, all data is anonymized before each upload. Your data is identified on our server by an Android ID that is unique to each Android phone. We cannot use this ID to trace any log data back to a particular person.

By installing the logger and running the logger, you consent to enabling awesome academic research and providing us with data on your user activity. If you do not want to participate, it is easy to uninstall the logger. We have also provided a Stop button in the Menu for you to stop the logger should you have the need to.

Have another question?
Please feel free to contact us with any further questions at jamlogger *-AT-* gmail *-DOT-* com.