Mobile Peer-to-Peer (P2P) computing applications involve collectionsof heterogeneous and resource-limited devices (such as PDAs or embeddedsensor-actuator systems), typically operated in ad-hoc completelydecentralized networks and without requiring dedicated infrastructuresupport. Short-range wireless communication technologies togetherwith P2P networking capabilities on mobile devices are responsiblefor a proliferation of such applications, yet these applicationsare often complex and monolithic in nature due to the lack of lightweightcomponent/container support in these resource-constrained devices.In this paper we describe our lightweight software component modelP2Pcomp that addresses the development needs for mobile P2P applications.An abstract, flexible, and high-level communication mechanism amongcomponents is developed via a ports concept, supporting protocolindependence, location independence, and (a)synchronous invocations;dependencies are not hard-coded in the components, but can be definedat deployment or runtime, providing late-binding and dynamic rerouteabilitycapabilities. Peers can elect to provide services as well as consumethem, services can migrate between containers, and services are rankedto support Quality-of-Service choices. Our lightweight containerrealization leverages the OSGi platform and can utilize various P2Pcommunication mechanisms such as JXTA. A “smart space” applicationscenario demonstrates how P2Pcomp supports flexible and highly tailorablemobile P2P applications.