Reducing power consumption in embedded systems by controlling voltage based on system state and partition designation

Abstract

An embedded system optimally operates with minimal power consumption without sacrificing performance. Power consumption can be reduced by independently and dynamically controlling multiple power partitions, wherein components within a partition can have the same power profile. States of operation can be programmably defined in a table and enforced using hardware. Voltages in the table can be dynamically updated during a runtime of the system using a timing feedback module, which is connected to a critical path in a partition. The timing feedback module can output a vector that indicates the timing margin for that critical path. Using this timing margin, software can increase or decrease the voltage to optimize power consumption of that partition.