Smart cards are highly successful thanks to their unique combination of mobility and security. Based upon a single-chip microcontroller with volatile and non-volatile memories, a smart card implementes a small computer system that is very portable (credit card size), easy to use, and extremely resistant against external attacks. However, today's smart cards use proprietary protocols, application schemes, and development tools. This is due to the limitations of current technology, and it leads to situation of "splendid isolation" where smart cards are not being regarded as an integral part of the overall IT architecture. In this paper, we describe recent research towards "next generation" smart cards. It combines an advanced programming language (Java), novel hardware architectures that provide the required "MIPS budget" (RISC 32 bit), as well as an implementation of key Internet protocols (IP, HTTP) on smart cards. As a result, we show how smart cards can be seamlessly integrated within a distributed computing environment.

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High performance multiprocessors generally require a very complex underlying hardware. This applies notably to shared memory systems, where the communication grain is fine and hence low latencies are critical. In this papel; we describe the prototype of a multiprocessor network which is based on low-cost standard technology. We point out the main dificulties encountered during the design, and we demonstrate our solutions. While accepting a number of speed-versus-cost trade-offs, the resulting system remains within a close range of an optimal design.