System for analyzing mobile browser energy consumption

1. A system for measuring power consumption by a mobile device corresponding to access of web pages, the system comprising:

the mobile device, configured to access web pages via a wireless network;

a power measurement device connected to a battery of the mobile device, configured to measure parameters related to power consumption; and

a server, in communication with the mobile device and the power measurement device, configured to control the mobile device's access of web pages and control the power measurement device's measurement of parameters, to receive measurements from the power measurement device, and to process the received measurements;

wherein the server is further configured to determine an amount of power consumed by the mobile device with respect, to an individual web element of a web page by:

generating a copy of the web page at the server;

instructing the mobile device to access the copy of the web page at the server and determining an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the copy of the web page at the server;

generating a modified copy of the web page at the server missing the individual web element;

instructing the mobile device to access the modified copy of the web page at the server and determining an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the modified copy of the web pane at the server; and

determining a difference between the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the copy of the web page at the server and the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the modified copy of the web page at the server.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is configured to access the copy of the web page at the server with a clear cache.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server is further configured to:

instruct the mobile device to cache the copy of the web page and the modified copy of the web page; and

obtain an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached copy of the web page from the power measurement device;

obtain an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached modified copy of the web page from the power measurement device; and

determine a difference between the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached copy of the web page and the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached modified copy of the web page.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is configured to access the web page via an Android browser and is further configured to execute a browser profiler application to manage a cache of the mobile device.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the Android browser is configured to cache all components of the web page.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein the Android browser is configured to clear the cache programmatically.

7. The system of claim 4 , wherein the Android browser is configured to ask for user permission to start loading a web page, and the power measurement device begins measuring after the Android browser receives user permission.

8. The system of claim 4 , wherein the Android browser stores a list of component URLs that are downloaded over the wireless network as part of rendering the web page.

9. A method for measuring power consumption by a mobile device corresponding to accessing an individual web element of a web page, the method comprising:

generating, by a server, a copy of the web page;

instructing, by the server, the mobile device to access the copy of the web page at the server;

obtaining, by the server, a measurement of an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the copy of the web page at the server from a power measurement device connected to a battery of the mobile device and configured to measure parameters related to power consumption;

generating, by the server, a modified copy of the web page missing the individual web element;

instructing, by the server, the mobile device to access the modified copy of the web page at the server;

obtaining, by the server, a measurement of an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the modified copy of the web page at the server from the power measurement device; and

determining, by the server, a difference between the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the copy of the web page at the server and the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the modified copy of the web page at the server.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the mobile device accesses the copy of the web page at the server over a wireless network.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:

instructing the mobile device to cache the copy of the web page and the modified copy of the web page; and

obtaining an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached cony of the web page from the power measurement device;

obtaining an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached modified copy of the web page from the power measurement device; and

determining a difference between the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached copy of the web page and the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached modified copy of the web page.

12. A server for measuring power consumption by a mobile device corresponding to accessing an individual web element of a web page, the server having a non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer-executable instructions stored thereon, the computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:

generating a copy of the web page;

instructing the mobile device to access the copy of the web page at the server;

obtaining a measurement of an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the copy of the web page at the server from a power measurement device connected to a battery of the mobile device and configured to measure parameters related to power consumption;

generating a modified copy of the web page missing the individual web element;

instructing the mobile device to access the modified copy of the web page at the server;

obtaining a measurement of an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the modified copy of the web page at the server from the power measurement device; and

determining a difference between the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the copy of the web page at the server and the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the modified copy of the web page at the server.

13. The server of claim 12 , wherein the instructions for instructing a mobile device to access a web page are instructions for instructing a mobile device to access the copy of the web page over a wireless connection.

14. The server of claim 12 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further comprise instructions for:

instructing the mobile device to cache the copy of the web page and the modified copy of the web page; and

obtaining an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached copy of the web page from the power measurement device;

obtaining an amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached modified copy of the web page from the power measurement device; and

determining a difference between the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached copy of the web page and the amount of power consumed by the mobile device corresponding to the mobile device's access of the cached modified copy of the web page.