Intel puts Xscale into Mira smart-display design

By
EE Times
(04/12/02, 10:33:19 AM EDT)

MANHASSET, N.Y.Intel Corp. has announced a reference design kit for a range of smart wireless displays that uses an Intel Xscale processor and Microsoft Corp.'s Mira technology. Mira, a suite of capabilities built into the Windows XP operating system, allows a display with wireless LAN connectivity to be moved about a home while maintaining full access to a PC.

"Mira is a big deal," said Martin Reynolds, a research fellow at Gartner Dataquest (San Jose, Calif.). "It's compelling because you have the applications running on the computer itself. There's no need for very fast processors on the Mira pad; that will just burn the battery." In addition, a display's performance is boosted when the computer is upgraded, Reynolds said. Such smart wireless displays are only in prototype at the moment, but "the fundamental technology is sound," he said.

The excitement generated by Mira is rooted in its ability to a system's Windows application interface onto a remote, wireless device, Reynolds said. It's full potential could be realized in three to five years, he said. "I expect them to add multimedia layers on top of this to allow multimedia and games. Plus, it's cheap."

Intel said its design kit is built upon the lessons of the past. "The old notion was that devices such as Web tablets had to replace the PC," said Mike Iannitti, director of extended computer operations at Intel. "No one saw the value in having a $500 device that just surfed the Web. This will do all the PC does, but be mobile." With Mira-enabled devices set to arrive in time for the Christmas shopping season, Iannitti said he expects the technology to add no more than $200 or $300 to the cost of a regular monitor.

The kit will use the Xscale architecture-based PXA250 processor, which Philips Electronics and Viewsonic Corp. will also use in Mira products. Others in the Mira camp include AboCom, Fujitsu, National Semiconductor, NEC, Matsushita, Sotec and Wyse Technology.

Serious move

"Intel is getting more serious about bring this wireless monitor technology to market," Iannitti said. The initial kit will connect a single Mira device to a single PC, "but a second version coming out next year will employ concurrency, such that you can hook a variety of wireless monitors up to a single PC," Iannitti said.

Intel's connectivity for Mira will be provided initially through an IEEE 802.11b wireless link, but the company will migrate to a dual 802.11a/b combination wireless connection next year as costs come down, said Iannitti. "However, once you start shipping video around, you're going to want [802.11]g," he said, referring to an IEEE draft standard that's expected to be finalized early next year. Along with .11g's higher 54 Mbits/second speed in the 2.45-GHz band, Iannitti is looking at the quality-of-service features being worked on by the 802.11e Task Group, which he believes will make 802.11-based wireless networks an effective video-transport mechanism.

In Intel's initial implementation, the .11b connection will only need to transport stripped-down screen-update information to a Mira display. Mira is "using RDP [remote desktop protocol] to open up a portal into the Windows XP desktop, and we're then using Xscale on the monitor to render the graphics locally," said Iannitti. Rather than transporting the entire screen, as with the SmartHome X10 approach, "we're doing the processing and rendering locally, hence the need for the performance of Xscale," Iannitti said. With Xscale handling the display-based processing, a use can expect five to six hours of remote use of a monitor before recharging, he said.

Intel sees a dual opportunity in Mira, first by providing a new end application for the Xscale architecture, and second by providing "a boon to Intel's PC architecture by taking the functionality of the PC to other rooms in the home," Iannitti said.

Mira-enabled displays will employ a touch-screen and pen interface, and will be used mainly for reading, Web surfing, and tele-Webbing, Iannitti said.

Going forward, however, Iannitti said Mira displays will appear in small, wireless handsets and PDAs that will also be able to access a PC through a wireless connection in the home. Eventually, farther-reaching wireless wide-area networks in the home will support virtual private networking or enterprise PCs, he said.

Mom meets Mira

But in the near term the focus is on improving the user's experience with Mira, he said. "We're trying to figure out easy mechanisms for setup and connectability for the wireless system," Iannitti said. "We want to make it so my mom can use it." Voice recognition capabilities are being considered for the display, but Iannitti said he doesn't expect that to emerge until the next version of Mira. Intel is also working with Microsoft to allow downloadable video to run in real-time on mobile displays, he said.

The Xscale PXA240 currently supports Mira displays with up to 1,024 x 768 resolution. Intel is also investigating the placement of its processors on other types of Mira displays, including organic LEDs, Iannitti said.

Intel will provide many elements of the reference design, including its StrataFlash memory and wireless LAN technology. The design will be focused on Mira monitors with 10.4-inch, 800 x 600 16-bit-per-pixel displays. Future platforms will support detachable monitors that function as at PC's primary monitor, Intel said.