HYPER-LP: a system for power minimization using architectural transformations

An automated high-level synthesis system, HYPER-LP, for minimizing power consumption in application-specific datapath-intensive CMOS circuits using a variety of architectural and computational transformations is presented. The sources of power consumption are reviewed, and the effects of architectural transformations on the various power components are presented. The synthesis environment consists of high-level estimation of power consumption, a library of transformation primitives (local and global), and heuristic/probabilistic optimization search mechanisms for fast and efficient scanning of the design space. Examples with varying degree of computational complexity and structures are optimized and synthesized. The results indicate that an order of magnitude reduction in power can be achieved over current-day design methodologies while maintaining the system throughput; in some cases, this can be accomplished while preserving or reducing the implementation area.<>