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Data transfer wires

Several factors decide the power consumed by wires transferring data between DPUs, the switching activity of the data series transferred, the wire layout, and the capacitive parameters. We profile switching activity by simulation using typical input traces. Then, we use a global wire power model and a local wire power model to get wire power consumption. The global model estimates how the wire is routed, its length, and how it is assigned to different metal layers if multiple metal layers are used. The local model estimates the unit-length switched capacitance (the equivalent capacitance due to switching activity in a unit-length wire) based on the switching activity and specific metal layer wire capacitive parameters. These two models together estimates power consumed by the entire data transfer wire based on the relative positions of the source and the destination, which are given by an RTL flooplanner. The data transfer wire power estimation flow is shown in Fig. 6. Local and global power models are interconnect power modelling problems orthogonal to interconnect optimization. In this work, we assume straightforward ones for both of them, although more sophisticated models are proposed in a recent work from our group [].
Figure 6: Local and global wire models, a behavior profiler, and an RTL floorplanner are used to estimate data transfer wire power consumption.
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next up previous
Next: Local power model Up: RTL Interconnect Power Estimation Previous: RTL Interconnect Power Estimation
Lin Zhong 2003-10-11