On-the-fly energy minimization for multi-mode real-time systems on heterogeneous platforms

The increasing computational demands of next generation multimedia systems require innovative optimization methods. Modern heterogeneous architectures bring together multiple general-purpose CPUs and multiple GPUs and FPGAs, in an attempt to answer the performance, energy-efficiency and flexibility requirements of today´s complex multimedia applications. However, in order to leverage the advantages of such architectures, careful optimization is essential. In modern systems, more and more multimedia applications need real-time support (e.g. automotive systems that use image processing for active safety features). Real-time multi-mode systems are a good model for a wide range of applications that dynamically change their computational requirements over time. In this context, intelligent on-line resource management is needed, such that the heterogeneous resources are used in an energy-efficient manner, while meeting the real-time constraints. This paper proposes a resource manager that implements run-time policies to decide on-the-fly task admission and the mapping of active tasks to resources, such that the energy consumption of the system is minimized and all task deadlines are met.