Low power requirements for future digital life style

Abstract

Rapid advancement of semiconductor, personal computing, and mobile communications technology during the last few decades has been transforming lifestyle into "digital lifestyle", in which one can create, share, and enjoy multimedia information in a personalized virtual space in a mobile environment. There are, in general, three key enabling factors to realize the future digital lifestyle: easily accessible multimedia contents for diversified user applications, communication and information infrastructure to support such access from the user, and intelligent user devices to deliver such digital contents in a user friendly manner. In this talk, future prospects of user devices in consumer electronics space and associated technological challenges, especially low power aspects, are discussed. A brief overview of the current status of low power technology employed by many portable devices and wireless data collection systems is followed by the suggestion of future research areas for low power user devices in the areas of portable power sources, components, software architecture, and SOC (system-on-chip) technology. Finally, Samsung's R&D strategy in low power technology is discussed.