<s>
SoulPad	B-Application
is	O
a	O
mobile	O
computing	O
project	O
developed	O
by	O
researchers	O
at	O
IBM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
's	O
aim	O
is	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
computer	O
user	O
with	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
suspend	O
their	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
and	O
resume	O
it	O
on	O
another	O
computer	O
using	O
a	O
USB	B-Protocol
data	B-General_Concept
storage	I-General_Concept
device	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SoulPad	B-Application
project	O
is	O
the	O
subject	O
of	O
a	O
paper	O
entitled	O
Reincarnating	O
PCs	O
with	O
Portable	O
SoulPads	B-Application
,	O
which	O
won	O
Best	O
Paper	O
at	O
the	O
2005	O
ACM/USENIX	O
MobiSys	O
conference	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
researchers	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
have	O
suggested	O
that	O
SoulPad	B-Application
could	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
boot	O
one	O
's	O
operating	O
environment	O
from	O
USB	B-Protocol
compatible	O
storage	O
devices	O
such	O
as	O
cell	O
phones	O
and	O
iPods	B-Device
(	O
the	O
latter	O
being	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
video	O
demo	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
SoulPad	B-Application
is	O
derived	O
from	O
the	O
project	O
's	O
aim	O
to	O
separate	O
the	O
underlying	O
computer	O
hardware	O
(	O
the	O
"	O
body	O
"	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
)	O
from	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
operating	O
environment	O
(	O
the	O
"	O
soul	O
"	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
Pad	O
"	O
part	O
is	O
most	O
likely	O
a	O
reference	O
to	O
IBM	O
's	O
former	O
ThinkPad	B-Operating_System
line	O
of	O
laptop	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
use	O
SoulPad	B-Application
,	O
the	O
user	O
first	O
suspends	O
the	O
state	O
of	O
their	O
operating	O
environment	O
to	O
the	O
USB	B-Protocol
storage	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	O
then	O
takes	O
their	O
USB	B-Protocol
storage	O
device	O
,	O
connects	O
it	O
to	O
another	O
computer	O
and	O
boots	O
from	O
the	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
technology	O
is	O
outlined	O
in	O
the	O
SoulPad	B-Application
software	O
stack	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
model	O
for	O
the	O
project	O
's	O
layers	O
of	O
abstraction	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoulPad	B-Application
utilizes	O
the	O
Live	O
Linux	B-Application
distribution	O
Knoppix	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
host	O
"	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
;	O
the	O
computer	O
system	O
boots	O
to	O
Knoppix	O
to	O
recognize	O
any	O
devices	O
the	O
system	O
has	O
attached	O
to	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
host	O
then	O
runs	O
the	O
VMware	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
,	O
which	O
resumes	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
last	O
session	O
in	O
their	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Issues	O
addressed	O
in	O
the	O
paper	O
include	O
the	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
resources	O
necessary	O
to	O
use	O
SoulPad	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
the	O
paper	O
mentions	O
the	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
time	O
it	O
takes	O
to	O
resume	O
from	O
Soulpad	B-Application
(	O
around	O
two	O
minutes	O
)	O
,	O
contrasted	O
with	O
the	O
small	O
amount	O
of	O
time	O
it	O
takes	O
to	O
suspend	O
the	O
operating	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
