·CNET
-- Intel delves into pervasive computing
·Semiconductor
Business News -- 'Proactive
computing' becomes Intel's new buzzword for the far-out future
·EE
Times -- Embedded projects
take a share of Intel's research dollars
·InfoWorld
-- Intel presents vision of proactive computing
·CRN
-- Intel Creates Largest Ad Hoc Network Demonstration underscores futuristic
look at technology
·Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette -- Intel,
CMU join forces on computer data storage
=========================================================================
CNET
Intel
delves into pervasive computing
By
Michael Kanellos
Staff
Writer, CNET News.com
August
27, 2001, 5:10 p.m. PT
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-6986050.html?tag=prntfr>
SAN
JOSE, Calif.--Computers are on desktops now, but in the future they will
be located on tectonic plates, inside of socks and in the middle of forest
fires, according to the director of Intel's research and development.
The
Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant will increasingly focus its research
on "proactive computing," or the creation of embedded mini-computers that
obtain sensory data from the physical world and shuttle it across networks,
David Tennenhouse, vice president and director of Intel Research, said
during a speech Monday at the Intel Developer Forum </news/0-1003-201-6981332-0.html>
here.
The
heart of these networks will be microelectromechanical systems (MEMS),
which are tiny computers with self-aware networking and, in many cases,
independent storage. MEMS already exist in antilock brakes and air bags.
In the future, however, MEMS will be attached to people to monitor skin
lesions or inserted in clothing to track people in case they get lost.
Sensors dropped on a forest fire will be able to form an ad-hoc network
and provide data about where the fire is burning the most fiercely.
"We
are working toward the point where computers are acting in advance and
anticipating our needs," he said.
The
project won't be an in-house effort. The company has kicked off a project
to create branches of Intel Research, the company's R&D unit, at engineering
universities.
Earlier
this summer, the company opened a research lab in conjunction with the
University of Washington to study so-called ubiquitous computing.
A
branch for studying "extremely" networked systems, or networks containing
numerous nodes that stretch over small and large geographic areas, has
just started at the University of California at Berkeley. In September,
another branch of the lab will be set up at Carnegie Mellon University
in Pittsburgh to study widely distributed storage, according to sources
at the company.
Another
five to eight satellite labs will be set up next year, sources said. Intel
spends about $50 million a year on university research but had not previously
set up satellite labs of this sort.
The
driving force behind MEMS lies in information overload, said Tennenhouse.
Simply put, the amount of data is far outstripping people's ability to
manage it.
"Not
only are we the input/output devices for (computers and handhelds), we
are the chauffeurs," he said, adding that machines "either work for us
or we work for them."
Micromachines
will rein in the data flood by being able to directly gather information
from the physical world and deliver it in real time when the data is wanted.
Humans won't be needed for data input.
Conceivably,
the micromachines can be placed in any environment. The University of Washington,
for instance, is planting networked sensors along a Juan de Fuca tectonic
plate in the northern Pacific Ocean to study earth movements as part of
the Neptune <http://www.neptune.washington.edu/> project. And NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory <http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/> put four nodes
on the surface of Mars.
Another
advantage of micromachines is that they do not have to be on constantly,
which would also lead to a flood of data. Although civil engineers might
embed sensors into a roadway, researchers don't need to activate them into
ad-hoc networks until, for example, an earthquake strikes.
Although
these machines perform functions similar to what ordinary network nodes
do now, Tennenhouse predicts that how they are used will alter how researchers
think of computing. Currently, computing is largely deterministic: Data
goes in, and an exact answer comes out.
In
the future, statistical probability will become increasingly important.
Machines will anticipate the type of data that a person will require. Some
search engines have already started to walk down this path by pre-caching
links that the reader will likely hit depending on the query, thereby cutting
down access time.
In
addition, people will have less control over the data being input because
it will come from sensors in the wild. In other words, answers will no
longer be exact, but likely.
"We
are going to start using statistical methods much more," Tennenhouse said.
"Computer scientists may be on the verge of what physicists went through
in the '20s."
David
Culler, a professor at U.C. Berkeley, said there is still a lot to learn.
"We
're only beginning to understand how these low-power networks work," Culler
said during a speech at the developer forum. "It is really important that
the network assemble itself." On Monday, Culler and a group of students
created an 800-seat ad-hoc network by having forum attendees help activate
sensors under their chairs.
Financially,
the growth of these devices could be a boon for Intel and the PC industry.
The sensor market will generate growth. But more importantly for the industry,
the data explosion will spur demand for servers and networking equipment.
The
traffic created by these devices, Tennenhouse said, could create a "100-times
increase above and beyond the growth of the Internet today."
=========================================================================
Semiconductor
Business News
'Proactive
computing' becomes Intel's new buzzword for the far-out future
By
Mark LaPedus, Semiconductor Business News
Aug
28, 2001 (10:07 AM)
URL:
<http://www.siliconstrategies.com/story/OEG20010828S0072>
SAN
JOSE -- How about digital firefighters? Digital socks? Or digital bandages?
These
are just some of the items that could reshape the meaning of computing
in the future, according to the head of R&D at Intel Corp., who was
speaking at the opening day of the Intel Developer Forum here.
At
the opening keynote speech on Monday, Intel's research director presented
a far-out vision of the future, dubbed "proactive computing."
"Proactive
computing" does not involve one computer per person, but rather "hundreds
of computers per person," explained David L. Tennenhouse, vice president
and director of research at Intel. "Proactive computers" include PCs, cell
phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and related devices. In the
future, Intel believes, end users could carry full-blown computers, which
are the size of a U.S. quarter.
These
systems, which will ostensibly be driven by high-speed processors, will
use sensor technology that can be linked over high-speed networks, according
to the "proactive computing" scenario.
"Proactive
computers," said Tennenhouse, will be able to anticipate the requirements
of an end user, and they will solve several problems all at the same time.
"Today,
we feel like chess players playing six games at once," he said. With "proactive
computers, we are not working for a computer. They are working for us,"
he said during Monday's keynote.
In
one example of this concept, Intel demonstrated what it calls the "Ad Hoc
Network" project, which is being researched at the University of California
at Berkeley.
The
project involves the concept of end users carrying a tiny system, dubbed
a "motes." Each '"mote" is linked to a wireless network, which collects
and gathers information to a main system.
Applications
include computing, science, and even firefighting. For example, firefighters
would wear "motes" in the field to help collect data and solve the problem
of putting out a blaze more rapidly, suggested Tennenhouse.
"Motes"
could also be used in other fields, including biotechnology and medicine.
"Motes" could be worn by hospital patients to track heart rates, blood
pressure, and other vital signs, Tennenhouse said.
And
these "motes" could be worn in various places, including the feet. In other
words, the chip-based "mote" will act as digital bandages or socks, suggested
the Intel research manager.
=========================================================================
EE
Times
Embedded
projects take a share of Intel's research dollars
By
David Lammers, EE Times
Aug
28, 2001 (1:33 PM)
URL:
<http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20010828S0090>
SAN
JOSE, Calif. - Intel Corp. has set its sights on tomorrow's embedded market,
with a significant portion of its $4 billion research effort committed
to projects that range far from the computer networks of today.
Self-assembling
"ad hoc" networks, sensing "motes" dropped from airplanes, even a four-node
IP network adapted for use on distant Mars are all on Intel's research
agenda.
David
Tennenhouse, a vice president and director of research at Intel, spoke
Monday (Aug. 27) in a kickoff presentation at the Intel Developer Forum
(IDF) here. Intel's goal is to evolve from a company that dominates the
PC processor space, which consumes about 200 million units annually, to
a major player in the embedded processor space, which accounts for 8.5
billion units a year, he said.
Some
of these research efforts are well known and are well on their way to becoming
real businesses. Four processors have already been developed for third-generation
cellular phones, and represent a huge opportunity, Tennenhouse said. The
digital products within the home are "dying to be networked," he said,
with wireless home
networking
"ready to pop" in terms of market acceptance.
Other
efforts are slightly further out, such as the sensors and actuators that
Intel plans to fabricate as part of its microelectromechanical systems
(MEMS) effort. Biochips are being studied as a way to "sense things that
are wet."
Many
of the projects are being conducted jointly with researchers at a variety
of blue-chip research centers. David Culler, a University of California
at Berkeley researcher who also heads up Intel's Berkeley research lab,
mounted an ambitious mini-event during Tennenhouse's presentation.
About
800 tiny networking modules, each about the size of a quarter, were hidden
underneath the chairs at the San Jose Civic Center. Culler asked attendees
to find the modules, turn them on and hold them aloft so that they could
"self assemble" into an ad hoc network. A majority of the modules - which
have a tiny processor, memory, sensor and wireless transmitter/receiver
- "woke up" and formed links, causing red LEDs on the thumbnail-sized modules
to light up.
Culler
asked the somewhat surprised IDF participants to keep the modules with
the expectation that some of would recognize each other and light up through
Thursday as they are carried about the main IDF venue.
"This
is the biggest ad hoc network ever to be demonstrated," Culler said, who
noted the challenge of assembling a network in "a noisy, uncontrolled environment."
Motion
monitors
Other
Intel-funded projects target more clearly-defined problems. A network of
widely-spaced sensing instruments is being built offshore by the University
of Washington to detect changes in tectonic plates. Another group is putting
sensors in San Francisco buildings to report damage from any future earthquakes.
Another
project conceivably could help to identify missing persons by sensing motion
within a network. In the first phase of that project, a research team dropped
a net of "motes" from an airplane into a secluded area in northern California.
Tennenhouse
said that one of the most important applications of such sensing networks
could help search for life on other planets.
Intel
is already working with Internet pioneer Vin Cerf and staffers at the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, Calif.) with a goal of putting a four-node
Internet Protocol network on Mars, Tennenhouse said. The nodes would assemble
bundles of information using TCP/IP protocols. The project must take into
account the "very long delays of sending IP packets over the long distances
of the universe," Tennenhouse said.
=========================================================================
InfoWorld
Intel
presents vision of proactive computing
By
Paul Krill
August
27, 2001 04:07 PM
URL:
<http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/08/27/010827hnresearch.xml>
INTEL
RESEARCHERS AND various universities are working on technology to enable
deployment of ad hoc networks in such areas as public safety, health care,
and even outer space, speakers said during a presentation the Intel Developer
Forum in San Jose, Calif., on Monday.
Touting
the potential of embedded devices, software agent technology, and wireless
networking, Intel's David Tennenhouse, vice president and director of research,
noted the company is investing $4 billion in research and development this
year.
"This
group of people is about making the future happen," he said.
Intel's
vision entails having tens and then hundreds of computing devices per person.
"We need to put humans on top" to enable a hierarchy of devices, Tennenhouse
stressed.
Noninvasive
devices with sensor capabilities will be able to detect the needs of human
beings, ranging from at-home health care monitoring systems to searching
capabilities for lost and found efforts to even a network in outer space,
Tennenhouse and other speakers said.
"We're
talking about moving to the point where computers act in advance, anticipating
our needs," Tennenhouse said.
By
using the technologies described during Intel's presentation, a health
care monitoring system, for example, could keep health care providers informed
of patients' conditions at home, monitoring conditions such as sore throats
or skin cancers. Or, sensors could be dropped into a forest to locate a
lost person.
Intel's
vision pleased one show attendee, who found the company's efforts impressive.
"I
think the most impressive thing was the ability to use ad hoc networks
for public safety," using sensors to locate a lost child, for example,
said attendee Drew Force, principal and creative director of Portland,
Ore.-based graphics design company Blackfish Creative.
The
medical potential of this technology will be more of a challenge, since
it requires lay persons to, in effect, manage their own server, Force said.
"I think it's a little further away, building your own medical profile,"
Force said.
The
Internet, in Intel's blueprint, will serve as mobile database, maintaining
sensor information, Tennenhouse said.
In
addition to earthly endeavors, a four-node network is being planned for
Mars, Tennenhouse said.
"To
really get to the digital universe, we have to go beyond the Earth Internet
and [think about] the interplanetary network," said Tennenhouse.
Tennenhouse
and researchers from the University of California at Berkeley conducted
a demonstration in which approximately 800 members of the audience, instructed
to locate small devices under their seats, became part of an ad hoc network
in which the devices would light up at different times.
=========================================================================
CRN
- Computer Reseller News
Intel
Creates Largest Ad Hoc Network Demonstration underscores futuristic look
at technology
(URL:
<http://crn.com/sections/BreakingNews/dailyarchives.asp?ArticleID=29348>)
By
Edward F. Moltzen
CRN
San Jose, Calif. 9:35 AM EST Tues., Aug. 28, 2001
To
give a glimpse at the future, Intel sought to set a world record Monday.
The
Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip maker staged the creation of the world's
largest ad hoc network, by networking 800 tiny, coin-sized computers held
by attendees of its Intel Developer Forum, being held here this week.
In
a keynote address conducted by Intel Director of Research David Tennenhouse,
the demonstration performed the spontaneous networking of the devices via
wireless transmission--and underscored a theme of pushing digital networking.
Such
networks, which work with "sensors" and "actuators" and are based on new
statistical models, would make devices such as smart machines and appliances
ubiquitous and grow units of processor node shipments exponentially, he
said.
"In
a proactive environment, computers are out front, anticipating your needs
and sometimes acting on your behalf," he said.
In
an evaluation that examines all layers of computing, in all environments,
the resulting analysis shows a "100-[time] increase in the size of the
Internet," including computers that run PDAs, entertainment devices, cars
and home appliances, Tennenhouse said.
"We'll
probably ship on the order of 200 million [processor] parts this year,"
he said. But counting all the pieces to embedded systems, he said, that
number swells to 8.5 billion. That sort of evaluation would lead to the
development of "deep networking," he said.
The
record-setting demonstration was guided by David Culler, a professor at
University of California at Berkeley and director of the Intel Research
Laboratory at Berkeley. Stuck to the bottom of 800 seats throughout the
conference auditorium were the quarter-sized computers, equipped with a
processor, wireless transistor and red and yellow lights.
Attendees
were asked to hold the "tiny OS"-driven devices as they were each wirelessly
contacted from a central server and turned on, flipping the internal switch
for the red light and signifying its attachment to the ad hoc network,
or low-power wireless network.
"Without
question, this is the biggest ad hoc network ever built," Culler said.From
start to finish, the network was created in about three minutes.
The
conference, held at the San Jose Convention Center, is one of two the chip
maker holds each year to update developers on its technology road maps
and products. Several thousand people are expected to attend part or all
of this week's conference.