View Full Version : Pocket PC Cluster Consisting Of 12 Linked Devices
Ed Hansberry
10-08-2003, 10:00 PM
<a href="http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/dev/articles/pocketcluster/index.html">http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/dev/articles/pocketcluster/index.html</a><br /><br />"As a part of our continuing research at Spb Software House, we have assembled and tested a computing cluster based on Pocket PC devices. Twelve Pocket PC devices have been joined in a cluster to perform distributed calculations - the devices share the load of a complex calculation. The concept was to compare the performance of several Pocket PC devices linked into a cluster with the performance of a typical Pentium II-class desktop computer." 8O <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2003/20031008-cluster.gif" /><br /><br />They used IR because all Pocket PCs had that and the tests being performed were processor intensive, not network intenstive. They could have used TCP/IP but that would have meant additional hardware and expense. Pretty cool, but why would anyone do this? <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7144">W?BIC!</a> :D
royisher
10-08-2003, 10:04 PM
Isn't this cool? maybe I will use some Pocket PC's for a new server for my company :D
Pretty cool, but why would anyone do this?
Hmm .. beats me :)
How about:
1. Boredom
2. Nothing on TV
3. Trying to get an XScale to go faster :)
Dom
GoldKey
10-08-2003, 10:26 PM
:jawdrop:
Don Tolson
10-08-2003, 10:48 PM
What I found kind of interesting and a little unexpected, was that (what is it? 10 years later?) that a dozen Pocket PC's with all that new processor technology and higher speed memory, could only pull out the processing throughput of a Pentium II!!!
Makes you really wonder whether we're progressing or just adding a whole bunch of 'stuff' to what is essentially the same decorator crab at the core.
Janak Parekh
10-08-2003, 10:50 PM
What I found kind of interesting and a little unexpected, was that (what is it? 10 years later?) that a dozen Pocket PC's with all that new processor technology and higher speed memory, could only pull out the processing throughput of a Pentium II!!!
At a fraction of the power utilization and size. Technology gets faster and/or smaller.
--janak
JonnoB
10-08-2003, 11:04 PM
What can I say that others have not? When you have so many Pocket PCs laying around and can really only use one at a time normally - this is just a real cool and geeky way to use them!
When you have so many Pocket PCs laying around and can really only use one at a time normally - this is just a real cool and geeky way to use them!
That's why they invented Ebay ;)
guinness
10-08-2003, 11:54 PM
What I found kind of interesting and a little unexpected, was that (what is it? 10 years later?) that a dozen Pocket PC's with all that new processor technology and higher speed memory, could only pull out the processing throughput of a Pentium II!!!
At a fraction of the power utilization and size. Technology gets faster and/or smaller.
--janak
But the cost is prohibitive, you could probably pick up an old PII desktop for $50-100, whereas 12 PPC's would still cost you a fair amount of cash, neat idea anyhow.
Jason Dunn
10-09-2003, 12:06 AM
What I found kind of interesting and a little unexpected, was that (what is it? 10 years later?) that a dozen Pocket PC's with all that new processor technology and higher speed memory, could only pull out the processing throughput of a Pentium II!!!
It goes to show that the 400 mhz we're getting from the Xscale is really more like 50 mhz on a PII - but it likely draws 50x less power (or more). It's all about the power consumption with mobile devices, but I do crave some real processing power now and then...
JonnoB
10-09-2003, 12:19 AM
It goes to show that the 400 mhz we're getting from the Xscale is really more like 50 mhz on a PII - but it likely draws 50x less power (or more). It's all about the power consumption with mobile devices, but I do crave some real processing power now and then...
Which amazes me is the performance that some are getting out of the XScale CPU. I have been playing around with FPSE (a PS1 emulator) for the Pocket PC with legally acquired ROM and ISO and some games are or nearly playable. It shows me that PPC native games still achieve even better quality than they are already.
bljarv
10-09-2003, 12:44 AM
My initial reaction was similar to other people - that it was only the equal to the processing power of a PII???
The follow up thought was, "What could microsoft do if they wrote Windows XP to be as efficient as PPC 2002 or 2003? I don't know about the rest of you, but my PPC seems to be much more efficient than any PII I ever had. I think the applications and the O/S itself just carry less overhead and were written from the ground up to be as efficient as possible.
Makes me wonder...
danmanmayer
10-09-2003, 01:12 AM
I know there is really no reason to do this but i really have loved the idea of clusters for a long time. So this is just incredibly cool. I would love a P2P bluetooth 80211 that allowed users around each other to share spare mobile cycles... think of how cool that could be...
danmanmayer
10-09-2003, 01:18 AM
I dont know of many pentium twos that could do all that well with DIVx video... unless it was linux... a pentium 2 on windows would stall video alot. What i am still really looking for is pocket pcs that can run most video full screen without stalls and without having to reencode the video for pocket pc.
Also here is an intreresting question for some of you... If you own a dvd and want to watch it on a pocket pc (which converting a DVD to pocket pc video is hard and long process) Is it ok to download that movie and convert the downloaded file or is that illegal because you obtained a copy of something you didnt own? It is legal to back up DVDs on your computer but is it legal to buy it and use someone elses backup? Sorry very off topic but where could i write this thought... hehe
Mitch D
10-09-2003, 02:35 AM
Hmmm... looks like someone with too much time on thier hands...
JustinGTP
10-09-2003, 02:49 AM
What I found kind of interesting and a little unexpected, was that (what is it? 10 years later?) that a dozen Pocket PC's with all that new processor technology and higher speed memory, could only pull out the processing throughput of a Pentium II!!!
It goes to show that the 400 mhz we're getting from the Xscale is really more like 50 mhz on a PII - but it likely draws 50x less power (or more). It's all about the power consumption with mobile devices, but I do crave some real processing power now and then...
Thats why you can't go solely on a PPC, :wink:
David C
10-09-2003, 09:07 AM
I wounder if there is any use for this at a pocket pc user group meeting where every attendee has a pocket pc.
ChuckyRose
10-09-2003, 02:07 PM
Also here is an intreresting question for some of you... If you own a dvd and want to watch it on a pocket pc (which converting a DVD to pocket pc video is hard and long process) Is it ok to download that movie and convert the downloaded file or is that illegal because you obtained a copy of something you didnt own? It is legal to back up DVDs on your computer but is it legal to buy it and use someone elses backup? Sorry very off topic but where could i write this thought... hehe
Simple answer since I don't want to get reprimanded for going off topic - you can't. You can't make backups of DVDs you own. DMCA makes it illegal to circumvent copy-protection. It has nothing to do with "fair-use", etc. DMCA basically ignores fair-use, copyright violations, etc. Fact is, DVDs are encrypted. Circumventing that is illegal. If the DVDs weren't encrypted, then maybe the whole "fair-use" and "backup" discussions would come into play. But, since they are, DMCA BASICALLY says "Nope. Sorry. No copies."
rlobrecht
10-09-2003, 02:52 PM
The Compaq research people did something similar with iPaqs running Linux. http://www.handhelds.org/projects/skiffcluster.html
Steven Cedrone
10-09-2003, 03:55 PM
Sorry very off topic but where could i write this thought... hehe
How about: a new post in another forum??? :?
Steven Cedrone
Community Moderator
gorkon280
10-09-2003, 04:55 PM
Sure....the program the run on it may not be too I/O bound, but you gotta remember your talking about SLOW AS MOLASSES IR. The section of code could have already ran and may have been waiting for the IR transfer to finish or even start if it accidently recieved a beam or interferance.....
As for a current PPC not having the processoing power of a Pentium II....well, unless you count floting point, I don't agreee. First, there are DivX players for PPC and PPC's can do smooth video unless it's god aweful huge and doing alot of rescaling.
In any event, a Pentium II could not handle DivX at an acceptable rate....it may even have had a problem with the small sized ones that a PPC typicaly runs. I think the main issue now is that CE still is not optimized enough on Xscale processors and probably never will be thanks to Samsung ships also being used.
The whole idea of using iPaqs and other devices for a beowulf style cluster isn't new either. Only first spb probably achieved is the first supercomputer to use IR xfer. They may even step that up and make the first super computer to use WiFi. Now only if there were miranet cards in a CF form factor! :twisted:
What I found kind of interesting and a little unexpected, was that (what is it? 10 years later?) that a dozen Pocket PC's with all that new processor technology and higher speed memory, could only pull out the processing throughput of a Pentium II!!!
It's not easy to build an effective cluster. I'd say one problem is the slow master node.. usually you want the master to be quite a bit faster than the drones - this all depends on what kind of math you're doing though. Also, keep in mind that ARM, XScale, and pretty much every other processor architecture designed for mobile devices are made to provide long battery life. This means sacrificing power, mainly by not including an FPU (floating point unit) in the chip.
It goes to show that the 400 mhz we're getting from the Xscale is really more like 50 mhz on a PII - but it likely draws 50x less power (or more). It's all about the power consumption with mobile devices, but I do crave some real processing power now and then...
I'd say closer to 100-166MHz or so, but that's just a guess. All about power consumption... yep.
Sorry very off topic but where could i write this thought... hehe
:idea: "Off-topic" or "Media"?
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