XICE windowing toolkit

Abstract

Users are increasingly nomadic, carrying computing power with them. To gain rich input and output, users could annex displays and input devices when available, but annexing via VGA cable is insufficient. This article introduces XICE, which uses wireless networks to connect portable devices to display servers. Network connections eliminate cables, allow multiple people to share a display, and ease input annexation. XICE mitigates potentially malicious input, and facilitates comfortable viewing on a variety of displays via view-independent coordinates. The XICE-distributed graphics model greatly reduces portable device CPU usage and extends portable device battery life.