Every joule is precious

Abstract

By some estimates, there will be close to one billion wireless devices capable of Internet connectivity within five years, surpassing the installed base of traditional wired compute devices. These devices will take the form of cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDA's), embedded processors, and "Internet appliances". This proliferation of networked computing devices will enable a number of compelling applications, centering around ubiquitous access to global information services, just in time delivery of personalized content, and tight synchronization among compute devices/appliances in our everyday environment. However, one of the principal challenges of realizing this vision in the post-PC environment is the need to reduce the energy consumed in using these next-generation mobile and wireless devices, thereby extending the lifetime of the batteries that power them. While the processing power, memory, and network bandwidth of post-PC devices are increasing exponentially, their battery capacity is improving at a more modest pace.