A deeply embedded processor for smart devices

Smart embedded devices most often operate on batteries and in some cases these batteries cannot be replaced so frequently. As a result, both the available power and energy budgets are severely limited which forces designers to use low performance processors that use the least amount of power possible. The conundrum is that an increasing number of smart devices implement advanced functions that require more performance than what these processors can deliver. In this paper we propose a dual-issue 32-bit RISC processor that delivers up to 60% improvement in IPC (instruction-per-cycle) performance with less than 20% increase in power consumption compared to a scalar single-issue processor. The proposed processor is implemented in an FPGA and its performance is compared to similar publicly available embedded processors.