System design of low-energy wearable computers with wireless networking

Abstract

The paper describes a system level design approach to the wearable computers and wireless networks project at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Over the last almost ten years we have designed and fabricated twenty new generations of wearable computers, with most of them using wireless network infrastructure. We emphasize the importance of wireless communication and the amount of energy it requires. A system-level approach to power/performance optimization is going to be a crucial catalyst for making wearable computers an everyday tool for the general public.