Just what is "power management," exactly? For all the talk about this technology, no one has defined it in practical terms. Maybe I should, in the context of a new feature that we have launched within this section of Product Week, a column of news briefs called "Managing Power."
Not a week goes by that I'm not bombarded with announcements of new integrated-circuit devices, boards and box-level products that come with claims of managing power consumption in notebook PCs, PDAs and all sorts of other portable electronic systems.
Indeed, "management" implies an active hand. At the chip-device level, for example, it means controlling power through a logic line or corresponding procedure-adding circuitry to control any parameter that in turn regulates power draw. Devices that use such tricks are often called battery managers or thermal supervisors. More broadly, the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) says a power-management system can also be software-based, so the roads to power management are many.
The breadth of the definitions is why "Managing Power" will bring you all manner of news and information. There will be chip-device announcements, to be sure. But the column will also contain breaking news on such items as efficient, slim-line battery technologies and thermal-management components. It will report on upcoming conferences with a power-management section or slant, and on business activities. And we'll bring various white papers to your attention.
In that context, the column might occasionally transform itself into a clearinghouse of sorts to address technical and nontechnical issues of the day. What's more, given EE Times' weekly schedule, we'll be covering the products, news, events and issues in essentially real-time. You'll see the column at least every other issue, and every issue as warranted during times of peak activity.
Ultimately, though, the editors' success in foraging for new editorial foods depends on you. Beating the bushes to bring our readers new information hinges as much on your cooperation as it does on our aggressiveness as newshounds. So, vendors are invited to send their latest power managers, whatever the category, to me at 103520.355@compuserve.com.
Readers, if something new comes down the pike relating to power management that you want to share, let me know.
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