Low power electronics

Description

Increasing the CPU speed, memory bandwidth etc. could increase the consumption of energy use by the mobile device. Power consumption may thus be the limiting factor for the functionality. Power consumption drives the important mobile device characteristics of stand-by time and operational time. It also has impact on the radius of action through the reach of the transmission and the operating/standby time before the battery needs to be recharged.

Enablers

• low voltage semi-conductors
• asynchronous circuits
• dynamic power management (frequency scaling, voltage scaling)
• higher integration
• efficient antenna's
• low power RF protocols

Inhibitors

• increasing pollution of the radio spectrum
• increasing clock frequencies for the processor in the mobile device
• increasing bandwidth required
• Increasing integration of functionality on a chip
• increasing complexity of the user interface (screens, colors, ...)
• increasing flexibility requires more software solutions which use more energy

Paradigms

The availability of low power electronics has an impact on the level at which the mobile device is experienced as seamless integrated part of your behavior. Every time you need to charge the mobile device reminds you that in fact the mobile device is a piece of electronics which needs special attention.

Timing

• 1997 foundation of E.INK (http://www.eink.com/company/index.html)
• 1998 asynchronous implementation of MIPS R3000, dubbed MiniMIPS
• 2000 low voltage processors (e.g. Low Voltage Mobile Intel® Celeron™ Processor (500 MHz))

Web Resources

• http://www.mobilehandsetdesignline.com/howto/207100001
• http://www.selftimedsolutions.co.uk
• http://www.islped.org]
• http://www.darpa.mil/DARPAtech2007/proceedings/dt07-mto-fritze-ultra.pdf
• http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16503007

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