IDF Fall 2003: Intel demos Personal Server prototype

 

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 16 Sep 2003 at 09:16

Imagine if your whole life was recorded on a device. This could be the future according to Ray Want, a Fellow of Intel Research, as he introduced a prototype of the Intel Personal Server platform.

He calculated that 80 years of audio (based on 16 hour days, with 16Kbit/sec compression) could be recoded as 3TB of data. Given that disk storage density is doubling each year - IBM's Microdrive with 1Gb disk of Compact Flash appearing in 2000, and 4GB CF-Flash in 2003 - he anticipates 1TB disks by 2011. Which is not too far away. (Incidentally, he reckoned a lifetime of video recording - requiring 67TB based on 512Kbit/sec recording - should be feasible by 2017.)

The projections applies to the lifetime of devices themselves. Roy Want envisaged video cameras, for example, having the capacity to store the data of all their working lives. Such a device would be able to contain a full record of its own existence (raising the notion of always-on imaging devices - editing rather than recording becoming the most important functional concern.)

Where does the concept of a Personal Server fit in? High-density mobile storage (along with greater wireless bandwidth and low-power short-range radio support) opens up new possibilities for mobile devices.

No larger than a pack of cigarettes, the prototype Personal Server - dubbed 'Ubiquity' - could sit in your pocket or bag. It would manage your personal data while you were in transition between home and office environments (where more traditional computing infrastructure will manage your data).

Want pointed out that PDAs are too small for our full data needs and laptops still too large for full mobile usage. The resolution is to divorce interface mechanisms from the device itself.

Essentially, the surrounding infrastructure would discover the presence of the personal Server. The interface presented would then be dependent on the particular access point. Imagine, for example, public kiosks or computing screens being available near bus stops. When approaching such a display, the device in your pocket would be recognised and then some suitable interface could be drawn. The device itself does not need to carry any input mechanisms, such as keypads or even a display....

The underlying concept is that 'any computer becomes your computer through the personal server platform'. Other examples given were that multimedia devices would be capable of playing pieces of music from your own personal collection, or that Smartphones would recognize your address books and speed dial keys.

Employing IP connectivity on top of Bluetooth connectivity, the device would operate in the context of a public network of sensors, beacons and gateways that would relay the personal data involved.

Of course the device would also be capable of docking and synchronising with PCs. In the demo, we saw a little icon appearing in the taskbar to indicate that the Server was attached, a browser window displayed content from the Server, and the device was navigable (as drive x:) in an Explorer window...

Don't get carried away though, that Intel Personal Server will soon be coming to a shop near you. It is only just beyond the proof-of-concept stage and Roy Want stated that it would be four or five years before any Personal Server-like device would actually appear.