Features of modern notebooks

Evgenie Rudometov

Rudometov@rudometov.com

Now in the computer market the wide gamma of various models of the notebooks differing from each other constructive and functionality is presented

For some decades of development of computers is multiple their computing power has increased and their functionality has increased. There is no time the huge complexes demanding special conditions of service and maintenance, thanks to successes of solid-state technologies have step-by-step turned to compact, inexpensive, stationary computing systems. These systems have been named by desktop personal computers (Desktop PC). High efficiency and the big potential possibilities of the given arrangements have provided with it a wide circulation. Modern computers are applied not only in handle of productions and office operation, but also as a basis of audiocomplexes, house cinemas, beam coupling and access centres to informational resources of a wide-area network the Internet. Besides, the given arrangements are the powerful game systems providing leisure of hundreds millions of enthusiasts and prosperity to appropriate branches of the industry with a turn in ten billions of US dollars.

However, despite all advantages the given mass class of computers has the essential limitations of their usage following from features of their architecture. The matter is that dynamics of a modern life demands appropriate transportable arrangements for which role desktop computers because of their dimensions cannot apply, weight and a binding to stationary networks of power supplies and link. The considerable part of the users who are carrying on an active image, feels requirement for the constant contact electrode to the computer. And if on operation, together with houses, they can calculate for possibilities of stationary solutions in road, business trips and in rare instances rest this category of users quite often tests discomfort from absence of computers and e-mail. For this reason the alternative type of the computers, presented various type notebooks (Notebook) which differ from each other constructive, functional and consumer possibilities promptly develops.

The width of a band of features complicates a problem of a choice of model, optimal for solution of specific targets. However, despite rather considerable quantity of technical and consumer parametres, among them it is rather easy to select the most important.

For transportable arrangements time of offline work and weight concern them, first of all. Here at once it is necessary to mark, that tendency to increase the first parametre inevitably increases also the second. It affects mobility, therefore designers permanently search for various compromises. Thanks to resources energosberezhenija, inserted in the architecture transportable, and recently and the newest desktop systems, computers began to spend more economically the electric power. It provides for notebooks the raised operating time from accumulator batteries without increase in their size and weight.

Today to some extent all modern notebooks are supplied by the appropriate resources providing support energosberegajushchih of processing techniques. Offline work time depends on accumulator battery size (as a rule, the lithium-ionic, possessing a high metric size/weight), solved tasks and used modes. Usually this time for rather simple office tasks lays in a band from ones and a half till approximately five o'clock though there are models and more long time of the offline work, reaching, for example, ten hours.

Similarly business and with weight is. It is in a band from approximately 1,5 kg to almost 4 kg. On one end of a spectrum there are models of economic variants with small liquid crystal (ZHK) the screen in the size on a diagonal of 10-12 inches, with the accumulator battery of small size and the limited set of functions. On other — powerful, compact, transportable multimedia servers with ZHK displays (LCD) which size can reach 17-18 inches.

It is necessary to mark, powerful models of notebooks are often enough taken up a position recently as changeover of desktop computers. These models of notebooks are often supplied large-format LCD with a high-resolution reaching 1600х1200 of pixels though there are models values 1280х800 pixels is much more often. On such transportable computers conveniently and to work, displaying some documents and to have a good time, for example, to view large-format DVD, films from a videocamera, to play various dynamic and static games. Thus it is possible to hook up to a notebook and the external screen monitor through the standard 15-contact plug of VGA or the TV — through S-Video plug.

Photo 1. A multimedia notebook and the main plugs (from top to down and from left to right plugs are presented: the external screen monitor, S-Video, USB  2.0, the modem/fax, a local area network, IEEE  1394a, SPDIF and phones, a linear output, an external microphone, maps-readers)

For the extension of video possibilities powerful models of notebooks, unlike the economic clones with the integrated graphics resources, incorporate high-powered videoadapters of ATI corporations or NVIDIA, and also multifunctional drives of DVD/CD. Such drives, as a rule, are capable not only to play back, but also to write the information in different formats, for storage of program files, video and audio.

For support of audiopossibilities as a part of modern notebooks are available and the built in audiosystems, quite often multi-channel. For implementation of all advantages linked to presence of several sound channels, it is expedient to use the external amplifier which is hooked up to a notebook through special SPDIF plug. Quite often and own audio possibilities of powerful, transportable, multimedia arrangements can be rather quite good. For this purpose in similar notebooks two built in stereospeakers (there are models and with four), added sometimes desksize, but rather powerful speaker-subwoofer providing to audio system raised return on low frequencies usually use. And, of course, in such models there is an output on stereophones. And as addition to built in a construction of a laptop of a microphone the input terminal for external even more qualitative and sensitive microphone is usually provided.

Certainly, the architecture of modern notebooks provides possibility of hooking up of various peripheral devices. For this purpose the special plugs realising various interfaces use. It usually USB  2.0 with a transfer rate to 480 Mbit/with and IEEE  1394а with a speed to 400 Mbit/with. Through these plugs, usually 3 USB  2.0 and 1 IEEE  1394a, it is possible to hook up peripherals. It can be, for example, external transportable disk drives on hard magnetic or optical disks, flash-memory charms, digital cameras, videocameras, MP3-arrangements, TV-tuners, controllers of wireless data transfer in an infra-red band and radio, printers, scanners and other arrangements. Quite often structure of notebooks are built in the maps-readers, ensuring functioning with maps of the flash-memory of SD/MS/MMC/MSPRO.

However it is necessary to mark, that it is necessary to pay off for width of functionality more with high levels of weight and energopotreblenija. The more the built in controllers, the above weight and energopotreblenie. Typical digits for powerful, multifunctional, multimedia notebooks are 3 kg and 3 hours of offline work. These values, by the way, were, practically, inaccessible metrics for the arrangements, released all several years ago, let alone the productivity which has increased several times and is multiple the expanded functionality.

However, despite permanently growing computing power, single arrangements are not always capable to solve tasks facing to them effectively. To expand possibilities it is possible at the expense of their multiplexing in a network. For this reason network tool presence is important. It is easy to guess their existence on the special (RJ45 plug which has been taken out in an end face of a notebook. One more plug is (RJ11 plug of the built in fax/modem providing both sending of e-mail, and Internet connection. Both these of the plug on a construction are very similar, though their assignment and differs, that allows to realise various communication functions of transportable computers.

Estimating potential possibilities of modern notebooks, it is necessary to mark, that overwhelming quantity (more than 80 %) models are created on the basis of processors and specialised chipsets of support (chip sets) of the company of Intel. Certainly, in the market are present not only the modern products created on the basis of the newest developments. Really, at sale still there are notebooks with transportable Intel of Pentium III, however only the newest processors allow to take advantage to the full of advantages of current technologies and functions, for example, effective energosberezhenija.

Here again there are two possibilities: or to select computers with transportable models of the processor of Intel of Pentium 4, or to prefer variants from Intel of Pentium M. The first provide high level of productivity at the expense of very high clock rates, the second — basically at the expense of features of especially designed, more difficult internal architecture of a processor kernel and a chip set.

Expanding possibilities of notebooks, experts of corporation of Intel the complex solution which has received the name of Intel Centrino was offered. The computer with this processing technique has three components: the processor of Intel of Pentium M, a chip set and the built in unit realising processing technique of wireless data transfer by means of radio.

Application of the powerful transportable processor of Intel of Pentium M allows to combine high values energoekonomichnosti and productivity. It is provided by the optimal architecture of processor kernel Banias (processing technique of 130 nanometers) and its replaced kernel Dothan (processing technique of 90 nanometers).

Considering features of implementation of the architecture of transportable systems, it is necessary to mark, that except transportable processors and the appropriate chip sets, some manufacturers have adjusted release of the products created on the basis of completing desktop solutions. Such pseudo-transportable computers are released only for changeover of bulky desktop systems. In the given compact computers high-powered processors IntelPentium 4 and desktop chip sets actively use. For such compact solutions the special name is created even: class computers «DeskNote. Often they are deprived standalone power supplies. In the same cases when in the architecture accumulator batteries are provided, the operating time of such computers makes quite often less than one hour. It is linked to impossibility of implementation energosberegajushchih processing techniques, as, for example, in notebooks with models of transportable processor IntelPentium M.

Operation of Intel of Pentium M is fulfilled in several frequency modes with respective alteration of levels of a supply voltage of a kernel that allows to reduce several times energopotreblenie. Frequency on which the processor works, automatically varies depending on working conditions. It decreases in case of performance of simple tasks and raises at the difficult. Besides, not involved units and subsystems of a kernel of the processor either are disabled, or are in a sleeping mode with minimum energopotreblenii. Such tactics saves a considerable share of energy of the secondary generator and provides increase in time of offline work.

Economic functioning is helped by chip set chips. They provide an optimum behaviour of operation of the transportable processor supported by them and will organise teamwork of subsystems of a notebook. These chips are specially developed for transportable solutions and provide usage of high-powered dynamic storage DDR SDRAM. By the way, memory cells and even is liquid-crystalline matrix of the built in screen monitor also as well as the processor work in energosberegajushchih the modes supporting special processing techniques. As a result of their implementation in each instant only the involved units actively function, the others are in a sleeping mode at minimum energopotreblenii.

For the market of budgetary notebooks Intel company has released rather cheap transportable processors of Intel Celeron M. Their architecture practically repeats Intel of Pentium M and differs twice in smaller size of an internal storage (processor cache memory L2) and absence of support of some processing techniques energosberezhenija. As a result of the system, created on the basis of Intel Celeron M, save many advantages of the high prototype, however differ smaller productivity and smaller time of offline work, but also the smaller price. By the way, such notebooks by definition cannot have on tank a sticker «Centrino».

As to the units which are carrying out wireless data transfer in a radio band and known as Wi-Fi they satisfy to standards IEEE 802.11b (to 11 Mbit/with, it is real 3-5 Mbit/c) and IEEE 802.11g (to 54 Mbit/with, it is real 10-20 Mbit/c). In computers with processing technique of Intel Centrino such units are presented by appropriate hardware-software resources Integrated Wireless LAN (WLAN): Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 and Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 BG, realising interface Wi-Fi of standards IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11b/g.

Through these wireless resources access to the Internet, but only in allowed band of presence of special points of "hot" access (Hot Spot) is possible. Steady link is usually accessible on a distance in some tens metres, and on open space — to hundred metres.

It is necessary to add, that implementation of all enumerated possibilities explains popularity of Intel Centrino. This three-component development continues to develop in new models of processors, chip sets and Wi-Fi units which have found the incarnation in perspective platform Sonoma, which erraticly named Intel Centrino 2.

As answer step competitors offer the alternative solutions. However until recently alternative systems all the same strongly conceded in productivity and offline work time. So was, at least, before appearance of the newest developments of company AMD linked to the architecture of 64-bit calculations AMD64. Its transportable processors and perspective processing techniques, such as AMD Turion  64, provide high efficiency and energoekonomichnost, commensurable with components of Intel Centrino.

Estimating products from Intel and AMD, it is necessary to mark production of companies VIA and Transmeta, making own processors. Their support, as well as processors of leaders, transportable chip sets of companies VIA, SiS, ULi, ATI, NVIDIA provide. Unfortunately, functionality of the mentioned components concedes to products from Intel and AMD. However they are much cheaper, that provides with it the, rather small shares of the market: processors — 1­ %, chip sets — 25‑30 %.

Certainly, there are still the solutions created on the basis of RISC-processors, for example, notebooks Apple with processors of IBM. But they are rather expensive also their share in a lump is insignificant.

As to immediate prospects now the most perfect and popular transportable processors of Intel occupying more of 80 % of the market, are presented by the products created on the basis of kernel Dothan on processing technique of 90 nanometers. However already by the end of 2005 release of the processor possessing already two computing kernels and the cache memory considerably bolshej of size is planned.

This product from Intel has received name Jonah. Further, as it follows from substances IDF 2004-2005, on its basis release of products of following generation of multinuclear processors — Merom and Conroe is planned . They will be created on processing technique of 65 nanometers, and their appearance in the computer market is expected in 2006 . These processors will possess two, and 4 Mb of cache memory L2, support of 64-bit extensions and processing techniques of effective hardware enciphering LaGrande are possible also the big number of kernels. Further to the 32-bit architecture the expanded possibilities of hardware implementation of 64-bit calculations will be added.

Certainly, all these processors for implementation of the possibilities will demand appropriate chips of a surrounding which bessomnenija will be created. With the big degree of probability a basis the future desktop solutions will serve.

Will receive further development and wireless transmission media of data. Predictably, the next two-three years the place popular Wi-Fi will step-by-step occupy more perfect WIMAX therefore several times will increase range, dependability and a transfer rate. Traditional USB it will be pressed by the wireless clone providing speed of link to 0,5 Gbit/with on distance within three metres.

As to standalone power supplies their perspectives are not so optimistical though here again progress is available. Despite development of fuel units on the basis of oxidising metanola (methyl alcohol), recharged batteries continue to play a dominating role. On IDF 2005 engineers of Intel have shown the secondary generators providing on 30 % of more energy in comparison with traditional clones. A gain is received for the score bolshej density of the stored energy and deeper bit.

Estimating all enumerated schedules of Intel, it is necessary to mark, that, most likely, competitors of this company will not maintain aloofness from scientific and technical progress. Bessomnenija they will offer the variants of systems. Also it is possible to assert, that users from it only will win, having received bolshee a variety of solutions for the comprehensible prices.