Saturday, December 6, 2008

Intel works on tiny devices for eco-technology

Some of Intel Corp.'s tiny devices could one day have a big impact on the environment.


The computer chipmaker on Friday offered reporters a glimpse of its
research into products such as chip-size sensors that monitor air
quality while riding piggyback on street-sweepers. Or cell phones that
recharge themselves with energy "scavenged" from the environment.

Don't expect them to hit the market just yet. But the ideas Intel's
Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner discussed Friday with reporters
in San Francisco show some of eco-technology's intriguing potential.


Sensing


Intel has designed tiny sensors that can continuously analyze
pollution. The company has tested a version of this technology in San
Francisco, putting the sensors in small boxes attached to
street-sweeping machines. A transmitter connected to the sensor relays
the data to whoever needs it. Distributed around the globe, these
devices could give scientists up-to-the-minute details of air quality
worldwide. "We could, in fact, litter the planet with these things,"
Rattner said. "Why can't we have these sensors on your cell phones?"


'Free' energy


Intel is developing devices that can tap the energy in the
environment around them. Sunlight is one possibility, but so are
television signals, cell phone towers and body heat. The amounts of
energy captured at any one time would be very small, so the devices
would need to act as "scavengers," storing up energy until they had
enough to perform a specific task.


Wireless Identification and Sensing Platform (WISP)


This concept merges sensing and energy scavenging. Intel is
researching sensors that would store up energy until they had enough to
run a built-in data transmitter. Again, because the amount of power
involved would be small, the transmitter would have very limited range.
But it could still be useful. Rattner gave an example of a medical
implant monitoring a patient's health and transmitting data to a doctor
by shipping that data to a cell phone near the implant.


Adaptive power


Energy demand in a computer or a data center isn't constant - it
increases or decreases depending on what tasks the gear is performing.
Intel is trying to develop processors that can follow changes in energy
demand microsecond by microsecond (one millionth of a second),
minimizing the amount of electricity lost to idling.

Source : http://www.sfgate.com/