Energy Efficient Operating Systems for Pocket Computers

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

Energy Efficient Operating Systems for Pocket Computers Dirk Grunwald, Dept. of Computer Science, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder Many techniques have been proposed to combat processor and system power demands. We propose to conduct a systematic investigation of power conservation mechanisms and policies. The research will construct an open-source, power-efficient operating system suitable for next-generation, powerful palm-top computers. Moreover, we will examine the possible energy reduction from application level energy management using a a variety of runtime environments that collaborates with the operating system to limit or control application-level resource usage, including threads memory management. The research will use existing high performance processors designed for mobile computing as well as simulator processor power models to assess how power demands can be reduced with minimal user intervention. This research is significant because it addresses one of the paramount issues hampering the widespread use of ubiquitous computing, the high power demand of such computers.