Tweaks tailor processor performance, power draw
By Brian Dipert -- EDN, January 22, 2004
While hands-on testing Core Sounds’ PDAudio-CF and Mic2496, along with corresponding software from Gidluck Mastering and Pocco Software, I’m also pondering a migration from my iPaq 3835, based on a 206-MHz StrongARM CPU and the Pocket PC 2002 O/S, to a Dell Axim X5, with a 400-MHz Intel PXA255 processor and running Windows Mobile 2003 (see “Sound savings: Portable audio recorder takes on tape, part 1 and part 2,” EDN, May 29, 2003, pg. 32 and June 12, 2003, pg 28, respectively). I’d previously made extensive use of Jimmy Software’s freeware JSOverclock, both to boost my iPaq’s responsiveness when running graphics-intensive applications and to throttle back its clock speed for maximum battery life if I’d be away from an ac outlet for a while. I was hoping to find an equivalent utility that supported Xscale CPUs, and the outcome of my research exceeded my expectations.
Pocket Hack Master from developer Anton Tomov comes with preconfigured profiles for many XScale-based Pocket PCs. It enables you to control the CPU’s core clock speed and toggle between its Run and Turbo modes, as well as alter the SDRAM-clock speed and refresh rate. Pocket Hack Master also supersedes the comparatively crude power management built into the Pocket PC OS, automatically and dynamically tailoring the processor’s speed to the system load it’s experiencing at any point in time. Check out the trial versions of $9.99 Pocket Hack Master and Tomov’s other utilities, the $7.99 PocketPC Mark benchmarking software and self-descriptive $7.99 Pocket Battery Analyzer, from Handango, Pocketgear, or Tomov’s Web site.
If you’re designing with XScale CPUs and would benefit from Tomov’s expertise in this area, contact him to investigate consultant opportunities, which he’s interested in pursuing.
Anton Tomov, anton@antontomov.com, www.antontomov.com.
