Power emulation: Methodology and applications for HW/SW power optimization

Power profiling methods are indispensible in the power-aware design of HW/SW systems. By extending functional emulators with power estimation hardware, high-level power information can be derived during run-time, yielding a considerable speed-up as compared to simulation based approaches. A key enabler for the widespread use of the power emulation methodology is the automation of both power model creation and HDL adaptation. In this paper, we outline our system-level power emulation technique as well as its automatic power modeling and hardware adaptation. Furthermore, applications in the field of HW/SW power management are illustrated.