Power Aware Computing

Power Aware Computing

With the advent of portable and autonomous computing systems, power con sumption has emerged as a focal point in many research projects, commercial systems and DoD platforms. One current research initiative, which drew much attention to this area, is the Power Aware Computing and Communications (PAC/C) program sponsored by DARPA. Many of the chapters in this book include results from work that have been supported by the PACIC program. The performance of computer systems has been tremendously improving while the size and weight of such systems has been constantly shrinking. The capacities of batteries relative to their sizes and weights has been also improv ing but at a rate which is much slower than the rate of improvement in computer performance and the rate of shrinking in computer sizes. The relation between the power consumption of a computer system and it performance and size is a complex one which is very much dependent on the specific system and the technology used to build that system. We do not need a complex argument, however, to be convinced that energy and power, which is the rate of energy consumption, are becoming critical components in computer systems in gen eral, and portable and autonomous systems, in particular. Most of the early research on power consumption in computer systems ad dressed the issue of minimizing power in a given platform, which usually translates into minimizing energy consumption, and thus, longer battery life.

Power Aware Computing

Power Aware Design Methodologies

Power Aware Design Methodologies was conceived as an effort to bring all aspects of power-aware design methodologies together in a single document. It covers several layers of the design hierarchy from technology, circuit logic, and architectural levels up to the system layer. It includes discussion of techniques and methodologies for improving the power efficiency of CMOS circuits (digital and analog), systems on chip, microelectronic systems, wirelessly networked systems of computational nodes and so on. In addition to providing an in-depth analysis of the sources of power dissipation in VLSI circuits and systems and the technology and design trends, this book provides a myriad of state-of-the-art approaches to power optimization and control. The different chapters of Power Aware Design Methodologies have been written by leading researchers and experts in their respective areas. Contributions are from both academia and industry. The contributors have reported the various technologies, methodologies, and techniques in such a way that they are understandable and useful.