Minimizing energy consumption for handheld computers in Moby Dick

In this report we propose a number of techniques to reduce energy consumption for mobile computers. We use extra dedicated low-power modules to cut on processor cycles of the main CPU, i.e. hardware and software decomposition. These modules are autonomous and can be powered down individually. Furthermore, as networking consumes a large part of a mobile system’s battery resources much effort is put in reducing energy consumption in this part. We use intelligent network interfaces with a power aware network protocol, and a MAC protocol that minimizes the ‘on-time’ of network interfaces to reduce energy. There is a direct link between QoS and energy consumption. Therefore we move power management into the QoS domain.