ABSTRACT
The next generation of the internet and intranets will see a wide variety of small low-power devices operating on board with high-end systems. With progressive improvements in technology and wideranginguser demands, these computers are nowbeing exploited toperformdiverse tasks in an increasingly distributed fashion. Mobile systems come in different flavors, including laptops, cellular phones, webphones, PDAs, pocket computers, sensors to name a few. All such devices have wireless communication capabilities enabling them to operate in distributed environments. Due to their modest sizes and weights, these systems have inadequate resources-lower processing power, memory, I/O capabilities, storage, and battery life as compared to desktop systems. These portable devices are mostly battery driven and oftentimes have to run on batteries for considerable time periods. Therefore, power management is a critical issue for these systems, and tackling power dissipation and improving service times for these systems have become crucial research challenges.
