i.MX515 Project
Persistent Computingin category Applications & Software
proposed by WakeArray on 8th March 2011
Project Proposal
In my Utopian future I see phones that become full computers or thin clients for super computers stored at home, everything is persistent and never dies. Information is never lost, power outage only means it's harder to access your digital data, not that it's impossible. However current hardware is not yet capable of such feats(Though the Motorola Atrix certainly does try admirably!). While my sci-fi dreams aren't quite in reach it is possible to come close.That's where the Efika MX Smartbook and Smarttop come in. While based on low power Freescale architecture the product is small, lightweight, and high on battery life. With the proper remote viewing software installed one could use the small Smartbook as a full desktop. However that right software doesn't yet exist. In it's current form all the remote software available is sluggish using an antiquated method called 'screen-scrape'. Those that do provide the necessary power and multimedia capabilities are proprietary and typically tied down to specific hardware(like OnLive and EveryAir).
It is my goal to find, alter, or straight out make a remote desktop viewer and server system that provides what I need. It's requirements include upwards of 30fps while remoting on the same network and similar frame-rates when on WiFi out on the town, remaining opensource, and capable of running on popular low power hardware like the Freescale i.MX515 and the Tegra 2 chipsets. It should support high security standards, such as VPN tunneling and encrypted LVM so that companies concerned with the safety of their data can be assured nothing will happen to it. The OS running must also be stripped down so that the remote software can run without fear of interruption, this will also help create the illusion that you are indeed sitting in front of your home or office desktop PC. For these reasons and more I will be basing this on the Debian Linux distribution.
Primarily primed at small companies, this idea could help anyone, from the least tech savvy individual to the largest corporation on the planet. Less size, less weight, more battery, more power. Imagine sitting down in front of a Smarttop at work and doing real time video editing on the firm's servers in the next room. Taking the Smartbook with you on Vacation and yet still able to play WoW or Starcraft on your home PC. And when you run out of battery, when you turn off your terminal, when your internet randomly drops, everything is still running on the remote PC. No worries about data loss.
This is my goal. To create a system that lets someone pick up and go without ever worrying about syncing files, without worrying that they won't have the kind of power needed to complete their task, and if they did have the power that it would induce back strain or quickly lose battery.
A persistent usable PC is not just my dream, but a very possible reality. If you wish to join me on this journey I'll be updating this page every step of the way. :)
Project Blog Entries
