Intel Predicts Ubiquitous, Almost-Zero-Energy Computing By 2020

MrSeb writes "Intel often uses the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) as a platform to discuss its long-term vision for computing as well as more practical business initiatives. This year, the company has discussed the shrinking energy cost of computation as well as a point when it believes the energy required for 'meaningful computing' will approach zero and become ubiquitous by the year 2020. The idea that we could push the energy cost of computing down to nearly immeasurable levels is exciting. It's the type of innovation that's needed to drive products like Google Glass or VR headsets like the Oculus Rift. Unfortunately, Intel's slide neatly sidesteps the greatest problems facing such innovations — the cost of computing already accounts for less than half the total energy expenditure of a smartphone or other handheld device. Yes, meaningful compute might approach zero energy — but touchscreens, displays, radios, speakers, cameras, audio processors, and other parts of the equation are all a long way away from being as advanced as Intel's semiconductor processes."

Re:nice (an nitpick)

[aNonnyMouseCowered]

"A backlit screen will use at the very least the power it emits in light, etc... It is not simply a matter of technological advances." Our technologically won't be sufficiently advanced unless it's as energy efficient as nature. How much energy does a bioluminiscent fish consume? I often read about the brain being compared to a light bulb, and not just because of the Edison "invention" connection. Cellphones already consume less energy than a 5W lightbulb but are nowhere near as powerful as the MacDonald's-powered supercomputer inside our heads. Maybe the trick isn't getting as near to zero energy as physically possible but making our information devices sophisticated enough to recharge itself using whatever "free" energy source is available, be that the heat and radiation of the sun, the kinetic energy of a jogger, or the mere act of carrying the cellphone in your pocket while walking on the way to the office.

Re:nice (an nitpick)

[kaiser423]

RF Engineer here. Let's put this in perspective. Your typical cell phone will receive somewhere around -50dBmW maximum. That's typically 4-5 full bars of reception. My phone is sitting next to me right now running -88dBmW, and that's two bars.

So, let's say that you're receiving that -50dBmW signal. -50dBm is -80dBW. Let's convert that straight to Watts now, so 10^(-80/10). That's 1e-8 Watts, or 80 nano-Watts. Good luck charging your phone with that.

That's also why you see RF being used everywhere. The dynamic range is huuuuuuuuge! Your cell phone can transmit +30dBm or more, and you can reliably receiving -80dBm. So, you're able to transmit Watts pretty easily, and receive nano Watts pretty easily. Yea, path loss can be a lot, but you've got a lot of headroom to deal with. That's just in the palm of your hand. Add in big, megawatt amplifiers and huge dishes with large, sensitive electronics and it's no wonder that we can reach out billions of miles. Really mind-boggling stuff if oyu stop to think about it.

Jevons paradox says

[doug141]

this may cause an increase in energy used for computations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox [wikipedia.org]

Think orders of magnitude...

[Esteanil]

Smaller. Smaller. Smaller.

Smart Dust, is what we're talking about - or at least the early iterations.

Weather sensors that flutter in the breeze and scavenge enough energy to remain active and transmitting at most times - and the swarm *always* transmits.
Flow control sensors that oil companies continually release into their pipelines to ensure that if there's a leak they'll know where it is in milliseconds - there's transmitting sensors outside the approved geometric area.
Microscopic "Sniffers" released into the wind, measuring and reporting the amounts of cannabis, cocaine, explosives, dangerous chemicals...
Sensors to detect fire. Sensors to find out if the gas tank in that burning building is leaking at all. Just point into an air current (strong fan or wind) and let them fly from your hands.
*True* microsatellites, measured in single-digit centimetres or even smaller. (I think there's a minimum useful size for a satellite, but it's greatly related to how many of them there are, also... You could have a continual swarm reaching through the low-energy planetary transfer network keeping in contact with quite small satellites in a mesh radio network).

Making Smart Dust *safe* might turn out to be more of a challenge, though... :-)

But "really-really-low-power computing"... Alongside bio/nano-tech convergence it's the beginning of the real microbots:
Invisible cameras, as a perfect 3D image of your head emerges from the small swarm of the tiniest insects you've seen hover around your head.
Robots navigating through your bloodstream, tiny as hell - yet you've somehow ended up with the processing equivalent of your (2012) mobile phone coursing through your veins and working on any health problems you have (mostly by monitoring, at least at first).

I'm sure you guys can come up with more stuff. Please reply if you've got any ideas :-)