Maths is not everything

Embedded Systems
4 - Hardware Architecture

CPU Input/Output mechanisms Memory Buses and Aux I/O Input/Output interfaces
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Power Management

Maths is not everything

CPU Power Management

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CPU power consumption

Most modern CPUs are designed with power consumption in mind to some degree. Power vs. energy:
heat depends on power consumption;
Maths is not everything

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2008 Wayne Wolf

battery life depends on energy consumption.

CMOS power consumption

Voltage drops: power consumption proportional to V2. Toggling: more activity means more power. Leakage: basic circuit characteristics; can be eliminated by disconnecting power.
Maths is not everything

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2008 Wayne Wolf

CPU power-saving strategies

Reduce power supply voltage. Run at lower clock frequency. Disable function units with control signals when not in use.
2008 Wayne Wolf

Maths is not everything

Disconnect parts from power supply when not in use.

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Power management styles

Static power management: does not depend on CPU activity.

Example: user-activated power-down mode.

Dynamic power management: based on CPU activity.

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2008 Wayne Wolf

Example: disabling off function units.

Application: PowerPC 603 energy features

Provides doze, nap, sleep modes. Dynamic power management features:

Uses static logic. Can shut down unused execution units. Cache organized into subarrays to minimize amount of active circuitry.
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2008 Wayne Wolf

PowerPC 603 activity

Percentage of time units are idle for SPEC integer/floating-point:

unit! ! ! D cache!! I cache! ! load/store! ! xed-point!!
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Specint92!! Specfp92 29%!! ! 29%!! ! 35%!! ! 38%!! ! 99%!! ! 28% 17% 17% 76% 30% 97%

2008 Wayne Wolf

oating-point!

system register! 89%! ! !

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Power-down costs

Going into a power-down mode costs:

time; energy.

Must determine if going into mode is worthwhile.

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2008 Wayne Wolf

Can model CPU power states with power state machine.

Application: StrongARM SA-1100 power saving

Processor takes two supplies:

VDD is main 3.3V supply. VDDX is 1.5V.

Three power modes:

Run: normal operation.
2008 Wayne Wolf

Idle: stops CPU clock, with logic still powered. Sleep: shuts off most of chip activity; 3 steps, each about 30 s; wakeup takes > 10 ms.

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SA-1100 power state machine

Prun = 400 mW

run
10 !s 90 !s 10 !s 90 !s 160 ms

idle
2008 Wayne Wolf
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sleep
Psleep = 0.16 mW

Pidle = 50 mW

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Maths is not everything

MSP430 Power Management

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e on-demand
MSP430: achieving ultra-low power

Extended Ultra-low Power standby mode Minimum active duty cycle Performance on-demand

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MSP430: ultra-low power clock control

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MSP430: active mode supply current

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MSP430: basic clock conguration

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MSP430: basic clock mode + VLO clock

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MSP430: low power mode conguration

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MSP430: interrupts control program ow

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MSP430: software functions vs peripherals

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MSP430: C coding tips

Use local variable as much as possible.

Local variables use CPU registers whereas global variables use RAM.

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Use bit mask instead of bitfields for unsigned int and unsigned char. Use unsigned data types where possible Use pointers to access structures and unions Use static const class to avoid run-time copying of structures, unions, and arrays. Avoid modulo Count down for loops

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MSP430: principles of ULP operation

Maximize the time in standby (LPM3) Use interrupts to control program flow Replace software functions with peripheral hardware Power manage internal peripherals Power manage external devices Device choice can make a difference
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Effective code is a must

Every unnecessary instruction executed is a portion of the battery wasted that will never return.

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