InfoPad—an experiment in system level design and integration

The InfoPad project was started at UC Berkeley in 1992 to investigatethe issues involved in providing multimedia information accessusing a portable, wireless terminal. It quickly became clear that a keydesign constraint was the energy consumption, which could best beaddressed through an integrated system approach. The project wastherefore organized to address all design levels, including the applicationsand user interface, backbone network protocols, software fordistributed network support, the wireless link, and the pad itselfwhich used a number of low voltage ASIC designs and a processorrunning embedded code. Tools were developed when not available(particularly in support of low energy design), as well as an interfaceto mechanical designers who created a custom injection moldedcase. The wide scope of the project presented a number of uniquechallenges for a research environment and the lessons learn will be presented.