Implementation of normally-off function for TOPPERS/ASP kernel

This paper proposes a normally-off embedded system. The idea behind this system is it turns the power off when the system is idle. Volatile devices, however, cannot maintain their own internal information when they are powered off. So, we use non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) to save the internal information. We developed an operating system (OS) function that saves the internal information to and loads it from this NVRAM. We then implemented it into the TOPPERS/ASP kernel as a power saving framework. We conducted two experiments. The first was a simulation for evaluating the break-even point (BEP). The second evaluated the power consumption behavior.