6 Future work
In this overview we described several methods to decrease the size of the code image. In section 4, we discussed a diff-like approach and several module-based approached. However, these could also be combined to only send changes in a module [Han05]. Another optimization could be to compress code using lossless data compression [Dun06].
Several of the operating systems and virtual machines discussed in this paper have room for optimizations and feature enhancement. An optimization can be to reduce the power consumption. A feature enhancement would be to implement a garbage collector. [Bal06]
Many of the proposed methods are untested in large networks, as these are simply not available. Power and profiling measurements in real situations can help to improve these methods.
Using both native code with interpreted bytecode can offer both speed and flexibility. Future research can focus on finding the optimal ratio between native code and bytecode.