Report Number: CSL-TR-97-717
Institution: Stanford University, Computer Systems Laboratory
Title: Automatic Synthesis of Sequential Circuits for Low Power Dissipation
Author: Benini, Luca
Date: February 1997
Abstract: In high-performance digital CMOS systems, excessive power dissipation reduces reliability and increases the cost imposed by cooling systems and packaging. Power is obviously the primary concern for portable applications, since battery technology cannot keep the fast pace imposed by Moore's Law, and there is large demand for devices with light batteries and long time between recharges. Computer-Aided Engineering is probably the only viable paradigm for designing state-of-the art VLSI and ULSI systems, because it allows the designer to focus on the high-level trade-offs and to concentrate the human effort on the most critical parts of the design. We present a framework for the computer-aided design of low-power digital circuits. We propose several techniques for automatic power reduction based on paradigms which are widely used by designers. Our main purpose is to provide the foundation for a new generation of CAD tools for power optimization under performance constraints. In the last decade, the automatic synthesis and optimization of digital circuits for minimum area and maximum performance has been extensively investigated. We leverage the knowledge base created by such research, but we acknowledge the distinctive characteristics of power as optimization target.
http://i.stanford.edu/pub/cstr/reports/csl/tr/97/717/CSL-TR-97-717.pdf