Smarter Smart Phones

A mechanism that accelerates personal computers’ performance might work wonders if placed inside new cell phones, according to a European Union funded research team, eMuCo Project.

The multi-core processing unit, as the mechanism is called, consists of a computer chip that has two or more processing cores, which calculate data. Multi-core processing units are common in desktop computers today since they have double the power of their single-core predecessors. The eMuCo Project hopes to give the same upgrade to smart phones, the highly popular category of cell phones that feature Web-based amenities like Internet access and MP3 players. The finished products might give consumers more features while requiring less battery power.

“With the recent advances in wireless networks and the exponential growth in the usage of multimedia applications, multi-core platforms point to be the solution of future mobile devices. With them, a new paradigm has emerged,” says Maria Elizabeth Gonzales de Izarra, a researcher with the eMuCo Project.

Unlike present-day smart phones, whose single-core chips all work overtime to power both the phone and its Web-browser applications, the multiprocessors’ cores split up work — one core will maintain phone service while another enables Web browsing, and each powers down when not in use.

There are currently many Web pages that smart phones are just not powerful enough to display, notes Jason Parker, senior project manager for smart-phone manufacturer Symbian.

“Take a typical MySpace home page as an example,” says Parker. “It will probably include a number of plug-ins for media that have been designed for a desktop environment. As a result, a PC may easily use half its CPU capacity to display some seemingly trivial item of content.” A multiprocessor-equipped smart phone will not run into this problem; it will be using the same systems that desktops use.

Cell phones have been a tough sell in the past year due to the recession, but smart phones were one glimmer of hope, according to market-research firm IDC. Their sales shot up by 22.5% from 2007 to 2008 worldwide, and by 70% in North America. It seems that cell phones can retain their market shares if they offer new products with good enough features. Multiprocessors may be the power-up that the cellphone market needs.

“As long as developers continue to enhance applications, then this segment will be a silver lining in an otherwise gloomy market,” says IDC senior research analyst Ramon Llamas.— Rick Docksai

Sources: Ruhr-University Bochum, www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de . Symbian, www.symbianone.com . “Smartphones offer hope in declining cell phone biz” by Marguerite Reardon. CNET News, http://news.cnet.com .