TABLE OF CONTENTS The power management spectrum covers process, design, architecture, and software and system elements. In the short term the trend in power optimization continues toward a holistic approach. An approach that tightly couples the hardware architecture, operating system, middleware, and application layers to achieve both a high performance user experience and device energy gains.
Many mobile devices today are comprised primarily of discrete electronic systems with mobile computers performing data computations, telecommunications devices providing voice-based communications, and mobile consumer products providing audio, video, and other functions in portable products.
An emerging trend in portable devices is referred to as "converged mobile devices" and is characterized by the convergence of computer, communications, and consumer, product functions into one device. Converged portable devices span consumer, infrastructure, and automotive, aerospace, and biomedical industries. Examples of next generation converged mobile devices include electronic products such as smart phones with cell phone, global positioning system (GPS), sensor, digital wallet, web e-mail access, and medical electronics such as smart medical implants with computing, sensing, imaging, and wireless communication characteristics.
The technologies required to accomplish this convergence of data, audio, speech, video, sensing, and other functions are digital, optical, RF (radio frequency), analog, MEMS (Micro-Electrical and Mechanical Systems), and sensors. Convergence is beginning to take place in the industry typically by discrete and bulky components which do not take advantage of the synergy between the process, System-on-Chip' s (SoC) and packaging technology.
Converged applications provide more value, but demand more from batteries. Battery technology...
