Hardware and software techniques for power conservation in portable devices

Battery life and weight are critical to the success of any portable product. When trying to extend the operating time of any portable product, it is very important to pay attention not only to the large details but the small ones as well. For instance, the most significant way to drop power consumption in HCMOS systems is to lower the frequency of operation and lower the operating voltage. Using low power stop modes, the real time interrupt, cutting off modules that are not in use even for short periods of time contributes to overall power savings. When taken as a whole, the little items, the things that save one to ten milliamperes for short periods, amount to big overall power savings