Scalable Many-Domain Power Gating in Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Processor Arrays

This letter presents a systematic approach to efficiently handle a very large number of power domains in modern coarse-grained reconfigurable arrays in order to tightly match the different computational demands of processed algorithms with corresponding power consumption. It is based on a new highly scalable and generic power control network and additionally uses the state-of-the-art common power format based front-to-backend design methodology for a fully automated implementation. The power management is transparent to the user and is seamlessly integrated into the overall reconfiguration process: reconfiguration-controlled power gating. Furthermore, for the first time, a coarse-grained reconfigurable case study design with as many as 24 switchable power domains with detailed results on power savings and overheads is presented. The application of the proposed technique results in 60% active leakage and 90% standby leakage power reduction for several digital signal processing algorithms.