Power estimation based on transition activity analysis with an architecture precise rapid prototyping system

In this paper a technique is proposed to gather statistical data concerning transition activity of the interface signals in a complex application. By using an architecture precise rapid prototyping system, the signals can be analyzed over a long period of time and therefore a realistic estimation of the signal activity characteristics can be obtained. This information can be used for estimating the power consumption in the final system as well as for a later refinement of the communication structures and single processing blocks. Because of the huge amount of data that would be generated by a real time monitoring, a statistical compression module was implemented. This module allows the trade off between hardware efficiency and accuracy in order to offer a flexible use in prototyping systems. The proposed approach has been validated in a baseband implementation of a simplified OFDM transmitter.