Distributed processing in the home using a PC with a wireless speech interface

The personal computer is evolving from a purely personal device to one that can support multiple applications in different locations simultaneously. This paper describes how the connectivity and processing capability of the PC can be used in a distributed manner in the home to provide a variety of services like speech activated environmental command and control functions, digital video decoding, Internet telephony and entertainment control. As they are architected today, current PCs are challenged when trying to perform intensive signal processing tasks while managing several external connections (e.g. dial-up Internet) and multiple internal connections (e.g. cordless phone interface) at the same time. We describe some of these challenges, and what remains to be done to make the PC more capable in undertaking such a multifunctional challenge.