Super-capacitor batteries to shrink weight of laptops
By Barry Collins in Brussels
Posted on 4 May 2010 at 17:26
Intel claims a new type of "super-capacitor" battery could help make laptops lighter.
Speaking at Intel's European Research conference here in Brussels, company vice president Dr Wen-Hann Wang said current laptop batteries were larger they need be because they are required to retain enough wattage for the most demanding applications (such as 3D rendering), even though only a fraction of that power draw was required for most tasks.
Instead, Intel is proposing to introduce so-called super-capacitor batteries that consistently deliver a relatively low power of, say, 10 watts. When the laptop requires less energy, the battery continues to deliver 10 watts but puts this excess power into reserve for the times when the PC is performing more demanding tasks.
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Intel shows off first Light Peak laptop"This technology opens a lot of possibilities," said Dr Wang. "You can either have a smaller battery or a better [longer lasting] battery."
Low Power ProxZzzy
Intel is also working on a second power-saving technology, called Low Power ProxZzzy. This aims to reduce the amount of time computers spend idling, waiting for internet traffic to arrive.
Instead of leaving the PC idle, a small piece of circuitry running on the ProxZzzy protocol is integrated into the PC's network interface card (NIC). The circuit decides whether internet traffic is important enough to bother waking the PC, buffering non-critical data until the PC finally needs to be powered up. "This little guy can do a lot of work without waking the big guy," was how Dr Wang characterised it.
Wang said Low Power ProxZzzy could generate enormous power savings, given that the average PC idles at 22 watts, compared to the 0.8 watts required to keep the small piece of NIC circuitry ticking over.
The technology could find its way into both PCs and servers, reducing annual electricity bills by as much as $6 billion globally, according to Intel.
From around the web
Um, no!
"Instead, Intel is proposing to introduce so-called super-capacitor batteries that consistently draw a relatively low voltage of, say, 10 watts."
Surely, low power of 10 Watts.
By 959ARN on 4 May 2010 
Maybe Barry doesn't know watt he is talking about? (Ho-ho!)
By JohnGray7581 on 4 May 2010
Um, no!
"Instead, Intel is proposing to introduce so-called super-capacitor batteries that consistently draw a relatively low voltage of, say, 10 watts."
Surely, low power of 10 Watts.
By 959ARN on 4 May 2010
I Think it's Amperes not watts were after.
All batteries have an internal resistance (esr)which both limits maximum current drain but also dissipates heat which is lost energy. By adding a super-capacitor short peaks of current can be supplied by the energy stored in the capacitor. High power car sound systems can use super-caps to increase peak power for short periods of time (drum beats).
By milliganp on 4 May 2010
But I think...
..it's an apostrophe "were" was after.
Dr. Wen-Hann Wang is quoted as saying "wattage", so I think one can assume it's supposed to be power drain (in watts) and not amps or volts.
By lokash20 on 4 May 2010
Science Education - Sorely Lacking in Journalism!
Capacitors store - not "draw" - and what they store is energy (unit: Joule) or, perhaps, charge (unit: Coulomb). They do not store power (Watts), Volts or Amps.
So many 'scientific' articles, in newspapers, magazines, etc., are written by people who, clearly, either do not understand basic science or are incapable of writing coherently about it. (A former science teacher's lament!)
By dwrobinson on 4 May 2010
It was always so
I was at school in 1970 when Apollo 13 happened. Our physics teacher pinned up on the notice board a newspaper article that stated something like "When the Apollo 13 capsule splashed down their batteries only had 10 amps of power left."
The teacher overdid the puns though by headlining the article "Watt price current journalism".
By rbamforth on 5 May 2010
Power critics!
Thanks to all who pointed out the terminology mistakes in this article. We've corrected them.
We'll be sending Barry on a GCSE Physics refresher as soon as he comes back from Brussels.
Tim Danton
Editor, PC Pro
By TimDanton on 5 May 2010
But with the current state of a GCSE education, might it be possible that he comes back "less knowledgeable" on the subject, rather than more?
By mdoragh on 6 May 2010
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