This whitepaper discusses the need for low power in high performance MCUs; it looks at how this ultra‐ low power operation is achieved while maintaining the high performance and features needed in low power applications while, importantly, explaining why engineers need to make themselves aware of the trade‐offs and optimizations different IDMs must make in order to achieve ‘low power’.
For more information, please visit: http://www.atmel.com.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/atmel
Facebook: http://facebook.com/atmelcorporation
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/atmel-corporation
YouTube: http://youtube.com/atmelcorporation
Many of the mysteries of equipment failure,downtime, software and data corruption are the the result of a problematic supply of power. There is also a common problem with describing power problems in a a standard way. This white paper will describe the most common types of power disturbances, what can cause them, what they can do to your critical equipment, and how to safequard your equipment, using the IEEE standards for describing power quality problems.
1. The document discusses uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) which provide backup power during power outages to critical electronic equipment. UPS systems use batteries to store energy and convert it to AC power during an outage.
2. Traditional UPS systems have room for improvement in terms of efficiency, output power quality, and cost. The purpose of the project is to design an improved UPS system with a microcontroller for monitoring and higher efficiency inverter.
3. Key aspects of UPS design include balancing cost and performance, output waveform quality, and system topology. The document explores various UPS classifications and components like rectifiers, inverters, and static switches.
The document discusses using an STM32F407VGT6 microcontroller with 168MHz Cortex-M4 CPU, 1MB flash, and 192KB RAM. It provides instructions for downloading toolchains, firmware, and debugging software to interface with the microcontroller via an onboard ST-LINK/V2 debugger over USB or JTAG. The STM32F4 Discovery board is highlighted as a development platform for experimenting with the microcontroller.
AAME ARM Techcon2013 006v02 Implementation DiversityAnh Dung NGUYEN
This document discusses various Cortex-M series processors including the Cortex-M0, Cortex-M0+, Cortex-M3, and Cortex-M4. It describes their architecture, configuration options, and debug features. The Cortex-M0 is a 32-bit processor with optional debug and a 12-25K gate count. The Cortex-M0+ offers improvements like a 2-stage pipeline and optional MPU. The Cortex-M3 and M4 have additional options like an MPU and ETM. Debugging support includes breakpoints, watchpoints, and optional trace modules.
AAME ARM Techcon2013 003v02 Software DevelopmentAnh Dung NGUYEN
This document provides an overview of the Keil MDK development tools and environment for software development on ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers. It describes the μVision IDE, ARM compiler, debugger and other tools. It discusses the embedded development process, including considerations when moving from a development environment to a standalone application such as memory maps, application startup, and C library usage. It also covers optimization levels, language support, variable types, and default memory maps and C libraries provided by the tools.
AAME ARM Techcon2013 004v02 Debug and OptimizationAnh Dung NGUYEN
This document discusses software debug and optimization techniques for ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers. It covers the following key points in 3 sentences:
The document discusses various debug tools and components used for ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers, including the Keil MDK development suite, debug hardware interfaces, and the Flash Patch and Breakpoint, Data Watchpoint and Trace, and Instrumentation Trace Macrocell components. It also covers compiler configuration and optimization techniques in ARM's compiler such as setting the optimization level and architecture, using volatile variables properly, and enabling instruction scheduling. The document provides an overview of debug modes, breakpoints, and trace features supported by the Cortex-M architecture as well as the various physical debug interfaces that can
AAME ARM Techcon2013 002v02 Advanced FeaturesAnh Dung NGUYEN
This document provides an overview of advanced ARM microcontroller features related to exceptions and interrupts. It discusses the ARM v7-M exception architecture, including nested prioritized interrupts, efficient interrupt handling through microcoded architecture, and built-in real-time operating system support. Key aspects covered include interrupt overhead reduction, interrupt arrival during state restore, exception types, processor mode usage, the nested vectored interrupt controller, microcoded interrupt mechanism, exception priorities and preemption, the vector table layout, reset and exception behavior, exception states, and interrupt service routine entry processing.
This document discusses NEON intrinsics and how to use them to optimize code for ARM processors that support SIMD instructions. It provides an overview of NEON, describes the data types and some common instructions, and gives examples of using intrinsics for tasks like color space conversion. Performance tests show intrinsics code can be 5-7 times faster than plain C and on par with hand-written assembly. Guidelines are provided for writing efficient NEON intrinsics code.
Many of the mysteries of equipment failure,downtime, software and data corruption are the the result of a problematic supply of power. There is also a common problem with describing power problems in a a standard way. This white paper will describe the most common types of power disturbances, what can cause them, what they can do to your critical equipment, and how to safequard your equipment, using the IEEE standards for describing power quality problems.
1. The document discusses uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) which provide backup power during power outages to critical electronic equipment. UPS systems use batteries to store energy and convert it to AC power during an outage.
2. Traditional UPS systems have room for improvement in terms of efficiency, output power quality, and cost. The purpose of the project is to design an improved UPS system with a microcontroller for monitoring and higher efficiency inverter.
3. Key aspects of UPS design include balancing cost and performance, output waveform quality, and system topology. The document explores various UPS classifications and components like rectifiers, inverters, and static switches.
The document discusses using an STM32F407VGT6 microcontroller with 168MHz Cortex-M4 CPU, 1MB flash, and 192KB RAM. It provides instructions for downloading toolchains, firmware, and debugging software to interface with the microcontroller via an onboard ST-LINK/V2 debugger over USB or JTAG. The STM32F4 Discovery board is highlighted as a development platform for experimenting with the microcontroller.
AAME ARM Techcon2013 006v02 Implementation DiversityAnh Dung NGUYEN
This document discusses various Cortex-M series processors including the Cortex-M0, Cortex-M0+, Cortex-M3, and Cortex-M4. It describes their architecture, configuration options, and debug features. The Cortex-M0 is a 32-bit processor with optional debug and a 12-25K gate count. The Cortex-M0+ offers improvements like a 2-stage pipeline and optional MPU. The Cortex-M3 and M4 have additional options like an MPU and ETM. Debugging support includes breakpoints, watchpoints, and optional trace modules.
AAME ARM Techcon2013 003v02 Software DevelopmentAnh Dung NGUYEN
This document provides an overview of the Keil MDK development tools and environment for software development on ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers. It describes the μVision IDE, ARM compiler, debugger and other tools. It discusses the embedded development process, including considerations when moving from a development environment to a standalone application such as memory maps, application startup, and C library usage. It also covers optimization levels, language support, variable types, and default memory maps and C libraries provided by the tools.
AAME ARM Techcon2013 004v02 Debug and OptimizationAnh Dung NGUYEN
This document discusses software debug and optimization techniques for ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers. It covers the following key points in 3 sentences:
The document discusses various debug tools and components used for ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers, including the Keil MDK development suite, debug hardware interfaces, and the Flash Patch and Breakpoint, Data Watchpoint and Trace, and Instrumentation Trace Macrocell components. It also covers compiler configuration and optimization techniques in ARM's compiler such as setting the optimization level and architecture, using volatile variables properly, and enabling instruction scheduling. The document provides an overview of debug modes, breakpoints, and trace features supported by the Cortex-M architecture as well as the various physical debug interfaces that can
AAME ARM Techcon2013 002v02 Advanced FeaturesAnh Dung NGUYEN
This document provides an overview of advanced ARM microcontroller features related to exceptions and interrupts. It discusses the ARM v7-M exception architecture, including nested prioritized interrupts, efficient interrupt handling through microcoded architecture, and built-in real-time operating system support. Key aspects covered include interrupt overhead reduction, interrupt arrival during state restore, exception types, processor mode usage, the nested vectored interrupt controller, microcoded interrupt mechanism, exception priorities and preemption, the vector table layout, reset and exception behavior, exception states, and interrupt service routine entry processing.
This document discusses NEON intrinsics and how to use them to optimize code for ARM processors that support SIMD instructions. It provides an overview of NEON, describes the data types and some common instructions, and gives examples of using intrinsics for tasks like color space conversion. Performance tests show intrinsics code can be 5-7 times faster than plain C and on par with hand-written assembly. Guidelines are provided for writing efficient NEON intrinsics code.
Optimized Design of an Alu Block Using Power Gating TechniqueIJERA Editor
Power is the limiting factor in traditional CMOS scaling and must be dealt with aggressively. With the scaling
of technology and the need for high performance and more functionality, power dissipation becomes a major
bottleneck for a system design. Power gating of functional units has been proved to be an effective technique to
reduce power consumption. This paper describe about to design of an ALU block with sleep mode to reduce the
power consumption of the circuit. Local sleep transistors are used to achieve sleep mode. During sleep mode
one functional unit is working and another functional unit is in idle state. i.e., it disconnects the idle logic
blocks from the power supply. Architecture and functionality of the ALU implemented on FPGA and is tested
using DSCH tool. Power analysis is carried out using MICROWIND tool.
Analysis Of Power Dissipation Amp Low Power VLSI Chip DesignBryce Nelson
This document discusses techniques for reducing power dissipation in VLSI chip design. It begins by outlining the sources of power dissipation as dynamic power from charging/discharging capacitances, short-circuit current when transistors change state, and leakage current even when inactive. The document then examines various low-power design techniques at different levels, including system/algorithm optimizations, architectural improvements like parallelism/pipelining, circuit-level techniques, and technology approaches like multi-threshold devices. Specific circuit-level methods covered are dynamic power suppression through voltage scaling, adiabatic circuits that reuse energy, and logic styles affecting short-circuit power.
Analysis of Power Dissipation & Low Power VLSI Chip DesignEditor IJMTER
Low power requirement has become a principal motto in today’s world of electronics
industries. Power dissipation has becoming an important consideration as performance and area for
VLSI Chip design. With reducing the chip size, reduced power consumption and power management
on chip are the key challenges due to increased complexity. Low power chip requirement in the
VLSI industry is main considerable field due to the reduction of chip dimension day by day and
environmental factors. For many designs, optimization of power is important as timing due to the
need to reduce package cost and extended battery life. This paper present various techniques to
reduce the power requirement in various stages of CMOS designing i.e. Dynamic Power
Suppression, Adiabatic Circuits, Logic Design for Low Power, Reducing Glitches, Logic Level
Power Optimization, Standby Mode Leakage Suppression, Variable Body Biasing, Sleep Transistors,
Dynamic Threshold MOS, Short Circuit Power Suppression.
SURVEY ON POWER OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR LOW POWER VLSI CIRCUIT IN DEEP SU...VLSICS Design
CMOS technology is the key element in the development of VLSI systems since it consumes less power. Power optimization has become an overridden concern in deep submicron CMOS technologies. Due to shrink in the size of device, reduction in power consumption and over all power management on the chip are the key challenges. For many designs power optimization is important in order to reduce package cost and to extend battery life. In power optimization leakage also plays a very important role because it has significant fraction in the total power dissipation of VLSI circuits. This paper aims to elaborate the developments and advancements in the area of power optimization of CMOS circuits in deep submicron region. This survey will be useful for the designer for selecting a suitable technique depending upon the
requirement.
SURVEY ON POWER OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR LOW POWER VLSI CIRCUIT IN DEEP SU...VLSICS Design
CMOS technology is the key element in the development of VLSI systems since it consumes less power. Power optimization has become an overridden concern in deep submicron CMOS technologies. Due to shrink in the size of device, reduction in power consumption and over all power management on the chip are the key challenges. For many designs power optimization is important in order to reduce package cost and to extend battery life. In power optimization leakage also plays a very important role because it has significant fraction in the total power dissipation of VLSI circuits. This paper aims to elaborate the developments and advancements in the area of power optimization of CMOS circuits in deep submicron region. This survey will be useful for the designer for selecting a suitable technique depending upon the requirement.
SURVEY ON POWER OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR LOW POWER VLSI CIRCUIT IN DEEP SU...VLSICS Design
CMOS technology is the key element in the development of VLSI systems since it consumes less power.
Power optimization has become an overridden concern in deep submicron CMOS technologies. Due to
shrink in the size of device, reduction in power consumption and over all power management on the chip
are the key challenges. For many designs power optimization is important in order to reduce package cost
and to extend battery life. In power optimization leakage also plays a very important role because it has
significant fraction in the total power dissipation of VLSI circuits. This paper aims to elaborate the
developments and advancements in the area of power optimization of CMOS circuits in deep submicron
region. This survey
This document discusses trends and challenges in VLSI technology. It notes that Moore's law of transistor density doubling every 18 months has continued to drive semiconductor scaling. However, smaller geometries create challenges like increased power consumption and reliability issues. Future progress will require advances in areas like low-power design techniques, fault tolerance, and active power management to balance performance with other constraints as technology scales.
A REVIEW ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THREE-PHASE TWO-STAGE GRID-CONNECTED MICijiert bestjournal
Module integrated converters (MICs) in single phase have witnessed recent market success due to unique features such as improved energy harvest,improved system efficiency,lower installation costs,plug - and - play operation,and enhanced flexibility and mo dularity. The MIC sector has grown from a niche market to mainstream,especially in the United States. Assuming further expansion of the MIC market,this paper presents the micro inverter concept incorporated in large size photovoltaic (PV) installations such as megawatts (MW) - class solar farms where a three - phase ac connection is employed. A high - efficiency three - phase MIC with two - stage zero voltage switching (ZVS) operation for the grid - tied PV system is proposed which will reduce cost per watt,improve re - liability,and increase scalability of MW - class solar farms through the development of new solar farm system architectures. The first stage consists of a high - efficiency full - bridge LLC resonant dc � dc converter which interfaces to the PV panel and prod uces a dc - link voltage.
This white paper discusses important design considerations for low-power sensor systems, including sensor types, power budgets, energy storage, energy harvesting, microcontrollers, power management, and wireless connectivity. It provides an example of a glass break sensor design that uses an energy harvesting power source, rechargeable battery for energy storage, low-power microcontroller, and wireless communication module. The key points are that energy harvesting allows sensors to operate continuously for decades without replacements, and careful attention to power management is needed when designing systems powered by intermittent energy sources.
This white paper discusses the design of low-power sensor systems that can operate continuously for extended periods without power connections or battery replacements using energy harvesting technology. It covers key components like sensors, energy storage, energy harvesting solutions, microcontrollers, power management and wireless connectivity. An example security alarm design is provided to illustrate how these components come together in a typical very low power sensor product powered by energy harvesting.
This white paper discusses the design of low-power sensor systems that can operate continuously for extended periods without power connections or battery replacements using energy harvesting technology. It covers key components like sensors, energy storage, energy harvesting solutions, microcontrollers, power management and wireless connectivity. An example security alarm design is provided to illustrate how these components come together in a typical very low power sensor product powered by energy harvesting.
CMOS LOW POWER CELL LIBRARY FOR DIGITAL DESIGNVLSICS Design
Historically, VLSI designers have focused on increasing the speed and reducing the area of digital systems.
However, the evolution of portable systems and advanced Deep Sub-Micron fabrication technologies have
brought power dissipation as another critical design factor. Low power design reduces cooling cost and
increases reliability especially for high density systems. Moreover, it reduces the weight and size of
portable devices. The power dissipation in CMOS circuits consists of static and dynamic components. Since
dynamic power is proportional to V2
dd and static power is proportional to Vdd, lowering the supply voltage
and device dimensions, the transistor threshold voltage also has to be scaled down to achieve the required
performance.
In case of static power, the power is consumed during the steady state condition i.e when there are no
input/output transitions. Static power has two sources: DC power and Leakage power. Consecutively to
facilitate voltage scaling without disturbing the performance, threshold voltage has to be minimized.
Furthermore it leads to better noise margins and helps to avoid the hot carrier effects in short channel
devices. In this paper we have been proposed the new CMOS library for the complex digital design using
scaling the supply voltage and device dimensions and also suggest the methods to control the leakage
current to obtain the minimum power dissipation at optimum value of supply voltage and transistor
threshold. In this paper CMOS Cell library has been implemented using TSMC (0.18um) and TSMC
(90nm) technology using HEP2 tool of IC designing from Mentor Graphics for various analysis and
simulations.
A Literature Review On Design Strategies And Methodologies Of Low Power VLSI ...Nathan Mathis
This document provides a literature review on design strategies and methodologies for low power VLSI circuits. It discusses the major sources of power dissipation in CMOS circuits as leakage current, short circuit current, and power dissipated during logic transitions. The document also outlines the low power design space, including reducing voltage, physical capacitance, and logic transitions to minimize power. It describes techniques for power minimization such as reducing chip area, advanced interconnect substrates, supply voltage scaling, and better design techniques. Finally, it mentions that CAD methodologies can help reduce power at the system level, logic synthesis level, physical design level, and circuit level.
A verilog based simulation methodology for estimating statistical test for th...ijsrd.com
The low Power estimation is an important aspect in digital VLSI circuit design. The estimation includes a power dissipation of a circuit and hence this to be reduces. The power estimations are specific to a particular component of power. The process of optimization of circuits for low power, user should know the effects of design techniques on each component. There are different power dissipation methods for reduction in power component. In this paper, estimating the power like short circuit and the total power, power reduction technique and the application of different proposed technique has been presented here. Hence, it is necessary to provide the information about the effect on each of these components.
IRJET- Analysis of Demand Side Management of Distribution SystemsIRJET Journal
This document analyzes demand side management techniques in distribution systems using an IEEE 33 bus test system in DigSILent PowerFactory software. It implements different demand side management approaches like incorporating distributed energy sources, load shifting, and valley filling. The distributed energy sources used are distributed generators and batteries. Load shifting is done by shifting different percentages of load to off-peak hours. Valley filling is analyzed for different cases. The results of these demand side management techniques are compared to the base IEEE 33 bus system in terms of improvements to voltage profile and losses. The effectiveness of each technique is evaluated based on the losses.
Single core configurations of saturated core fault current limiter performanc...IJECEIAES
Economic growth with industrialization and urbanization lead to an extensive increase in power demand. It forced the utilities to add power generating facilities to cause the necessary demand-generation balance. The bulk power generating stations, mostly interconnected, with the penetration of distributed generation result in an enormous rise in the fault level of power networks. It necessitates for electrical utilities to control the fault current so that the existing switchgear can continue its services without upgradation or replacement for reliable supply. The deployment of fault current limiter (FCL) at the distribution and transmission networks has been under investigation as a potential solution to the problem. A saturated core fault current limiter (SCFCL) technology is a smart, scalable, efficient, reliable, and commercially viable option to manage fault levels in existing and future MV/HV supply systems. This paper presents the comparative performance analysis of two single-core SCFCL topologies impressed with different core saturations. It has demonstrated that the single AC winding configuration needs more bias power for affecting the same current limiting performance with an acceptable steady-state voltage drop contribution. The fault state impedance has a transient nature, and the optimum bias selection is a critical design parameter in realizing the SCFCL applications.
Analysis Of Optimization Techniques For Low Power VLSI DesignAmy Cernava
This document summarizes optimization techniques for low power VLSI design. It discusses that power management is a key challenge in deep sub-micrometer designs due to increased complexity. It surveys state-of-the-art optimization methods at different levels of abstraction that target designing low power digital circuits. These include techniques at the technology level like multi-threshold CMOS and multi-supply voltages. At the circuit level, transistor sizing and at the logic level, techniques like don't-care optimization, path balancing, and factorization are discussed to reduce switching activity and power dissipation.
This document summarizes a paper that discusses the shift towards more intelligent and automated medium voltage distribution networks. It presents the "Zone concept" where distribution networks are divided into zones separated by intelligent circuit breakers and switches to improve fault detection and isolation. Key nodes will be "Compact Secondary Substations" equipped with intelligent ring main units to monitor the network and restore power automatically in case of faults. These developments aim to improve power reliability and quality as renewable energy sources introduce two-way power flows into distribution networks.
International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA) is an open access online peer reviewed international journal that publishes research and review articles in the fields of Computer Science, Neural Networks, Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, Information Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Plastic Engineering, Food Technology, Textile Engineering, Nano Technology & science, Power Electronics, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Computational mathematics, Image processing, Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, Environmental Engineering, VLSI Testing & Low Power VLSI Design etc.
Design of Low Power Architecture for Implantable Bio Medical DeviceIRJET Journal
This document discusses the design of low power architectures for implantable biomedical devices like pacemakers. It begins by introducing implantable medical devices and their importance for treating various medical conditions. Key goals for devices include small size, long lifespan, low power consumption and reliability. The document then discusses various approaches to reducing power consumption, including low-power electronics, energy efficient algorithms, and miniaturization. It provides examples of technologies currently used in pacemakers to optimize low power performance and battery life, like efficient microcontrollers and sensors. The document proposes further innovations to advance energy efficiency and personalize therapy for patients.
For the full video of this presentation, please visit: https://www.edge-ai-vision.com/2024/06/temporal-event-neural-networks-a-more-efficient-alternative-to-the-transformer-a-presentation-from-brainchip/
Chris Jones, Director of Product Management at BrainChip , presents the “Temporal Event Neural Networks: A More Efficient Alternative to the Transformer” tutorial at the May 2024 Embedded Vision Summit.
The expansion of AI services necessitates enhanced computational capabilities on edge devices. Temporal Event Neural Networks (TENNs), developed by BrainChip, represent a novel and highly efficient state-space network. TENNs demonstrate exceptional proficiency in handling multi-dimensional streaming data, facilitating advancements in object detection, action recognition, speech enhancement and language model/sequence generation. Through the utilization of polynomial-based continuous convolutions, TENNs streamline models, expedite training processes and significantly diminish memory requirements, achieving notable reductions of up to 50x in parameters and 5,000x in energy consumption compared to prevailing methodologies like transformers.
Integration with BrainChip’s Akida neuromorphic hardware IP further enhances TENNs’ capabilities, enabling the realization of highly capable, portable and passively cooled edge devices. This presentation delves into the technical innovations underlying TENNs, presents real-world benchmarks, and elucidates how this cutting-edge approach is positioned to revolutionize edge AI across diverse applications.
More Related Content
Similar to Atmel - Redefining the Power Benchmark [WHITE PAPER]
Optimized Design of an Alu Block Using Power Gating TechniqueIJERA Editor
Power is the limiting factor in traditional CMOS scaling and must be dealt with aggressively. With the scaling
of technology and the need for high performance and more functionality, power dissipation becomes a major
bottleneck for a system design. Power gating of functional units has been proved to be an effective technique to
reduce power consumption. This paper describe about to design of an ALU block with sleep mode to reduce the
power consumption of the circuit. Local sleep transistors are used to achieve sleep mode. During sleep mode
one functional unit is working and another functional unit is in idle state. i.e., it disconnects the idle logic
blocks from the power supply. Architecture and functionality of the ALU implemented on FPGA and is tested
using DSCH tool. Power analysis is carried out using MICROWIND tool.
Analysis Of Power Dissipation Amp Low Power VLSI Chip DesignBryce Nelson
This document discusses techniques for reducing power dissipation in VLSI chip design. It begins by outlining the sources of power dissipation as dynamic power from charging/discharging capacitances, short-circuit current when transistors change state, and leakage current even when inactive. The document then examines various low-power design techniques at different levels, including system/algorithm optimizations, architectural improvements like parallelism/pipelining, circuit-level techniques, and technology approaches like multi-threshold devices. Specific circuit-level methods covered are dynamic power suppression through voltage scaling, adiabatic circuits that reuse energy, and logic styles affecting short-circuit power.
Analysis of Power Dissipation & Low Power VLSI Chip DesignEditor IJMTER
Low power requirement has become a principal motto in today’s world of electronics
industries. Power dissipation has becoming an important consideration as performance and area for
VLSI Chip design. With reducing the chip size, reduced power consumption and power management
on chip are the key challenges due to increased complexity. Low power chip requirement in the
VLSI industry is main considerable field due to the reduction of chip dimension day by day and
environmental factors. For many designs, optimization of power is important as timing due to the
need to reduce package cost and extended battery life. This paper present various techniques to
reduce the power requirement in various stages of CMOS designing i.e. Dynamic Power
Suppression, Adiabatic Circuits, Logic Design for Low Power, Reducing Glitches, Logic Level
Power Optimization, Standby Mode Leakage Suppression, Variable Body Biasing, Sleep Transistors,
Dynamic Threshold MOS, Short Circuit Power Suppression.
SURVEY ON POWER OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR LOW POWER VLSI CIRCUIT IN DEEP SU...VLSICS Design
CMOS technology is the key element in the development of VLSI systems since it consumes less power. Power optimization has become an overridden concern in deep submicron CMOS technologies. Due to shrink in the size of device, reduction in power consumption and over all power management on the chip are the key challenges. For many designs power optimization is important in order to reduce package cost and to extend battery life. In power optimization leakage also plays a very important role because it has significant fraction in the total power dissipation of VLSI circuits. This paper aims to elaborate the developments and advancements in the area of power optimization of CMOS circuits in deep submicron region. This survey will be useful for the designer for selecting a suitable technique depending upon the
requirement.
SURVEY ON POWER OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR LOW POWER VLSI CIRCUIT IN DEEP SU...VLSICS Design
CMOS technology is the key element in the development of VLSI systems since it consumes less power. Power optimization has become an overridden concern in deep submicron CMOS technologies. Due to shrink in the size of device, reduction in power consumption and over all power management on the chip are the key challenges. For many designs power optimization is important in order to reduce package cost and to extend battery life. In power optimization leakage also plays a very important role because it has significant fraction in the total power dissipation of VLSI circuits. This paper aims to elaborate the developments and advancements in the area of power optimization of CMOS circuits in deep submicron region. This survey will be useful for the designer for selecting a suitable technique depending upon the requirement.
SURVEY ON POWER OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR LOW POWER VLSI CIRCUIT IN DEEP SU...VLSICS Design
CMOS technology is the key element in the development of VLSI systems since it consumes less power.
Power optimization has become an overridden concern in deep submicron CMOS technologies. Due to
shrink in the size of device, reduction in power consumption and over all power management on the chip
are the key challenges. For many designs power optimization is important in order to reduce package cost
and to extend battery life. In power optimization leakage also plays a very important role because it has
significant fraction in the total power dissipation of VLSI circuits. This paper aims to elaborate the
developments and advancements in the area of power optimization of CMOS circuits in deep submicron
region. This survey
This document discusses trends and challenges in VLSI technology. It notes that Moore's law of transistor density doubling every 18 months has continued to drive semiconductor scaling. However, smaller geometries create challenges like increased power consumption and reliability issues. Future progress will require advances in areas like low-power design techniques, fault tolerance, and active power management to balance performance with other constraints as technology scales.
A REVIEW ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THREE-PHASE TWO-STAGE GRID-CONNECTED MICijiert bestjournal
Module integrated converters (MICs) in single phase have witnessed recent market success due to unique features such as improved energy harvest,improved system efficiency,lower installation costs,plug - and - play operation,and enhanced flexibility and mo dularity. The MIC sector has grown from a niche market to mainstream,especially in the United States. Assuming further expansion of the MIC market,this paper presents the micro inverter concept incorporated in large size photovoltaic (PV) installations such as megawatts (MW) - class solar farms where a three - phase ac connection is employed. A high - efficiency three - phase MIC with two - stage zero voltage switching (ZVS) operation for the grid - tied PV system is proposed which will reduce cost per watt,improve re - liability,and increase scalability of MW - class solar farms through the development of new solar farm system architectures. The first stage consists of a high - efficiency full - bridge LLC resonant dc � dc converter which interfaces to the PV panel and prod uces a dc - link voltage.
This white paper discusses important design considerations for low-power sensor systems, including sensor types, power budgets, energy storage, energy harvesting, microcontrollers, power management, and wireless connectivity. It provides an example of a glass break sensor design that uses an energy harvesting power source, rechargeable battery for energy storage, low-power microcontroller, and wireless communication module. The key points are that energy harvesting allows sensors to operate continuously for decades without replacements, and careful attention to power management is needed when designing systems powered by intermittent energy sources.
This white paper discusses the design of low-power sensor systems that can operate continuously for extended periods without power connections or battery replacements using energy harvesting technology. It covers key components like sensors, energy storage, energy harvesting solutions, microcontrollers, power management and wireless connectivity. An example security alarm design is provided to illustrate how these components come together in a typical very low power sensor product powered by energy harvesting.
This white paper discusses the design of low-power sensor systems that can operate continuously for extended periods without power connections or battery replacements using energy harvesting technology. It covers key components like sensors, energy storage, energy harvesting solutions, microcontrollers, power management and wireless connectivity. An example security alarm design is provided to illustrate how these components come together in a typical very low power sensor product powered by energy harvesting.
CMOS LOW POWER CELL LIBRARY FOR DIGITAL DESIGNVLSICS Design
Historically, VLSI designers have focused on increasing the speed and reducing the area of digital systems.
However, the evolution of portable systems and advanced Deep Sub-Micron fabrication technologies have
brought power dissipation as another critical design factor. Low power design reduces cooling cost and
increases reliability especially for high density systems. Moreover, it reduces the weight and size of
portable devices. The power dissipation in CMOS circuits consists of static and dynamic components. Since
dynamic power is proportional to V2
dd and static power is proportional to Vdd, lowering the supply voltage
and device dimensions, the transistor threshold voltage also has to be scaled down to achieve the required
performance.
In case of static power, the power is consumed during the steady state condition i.e when there are no
input/output transitions. Static power has two sources: DC power and Leakage power. Consecutively to
facilitate voltage scaling without disturbing the performance, threshold voltage has to be minimized.
Furthermore it leads to better noise margins and helps to avoid the hot carrier effects in short channel
devices. In this paper we have been proposed the new CMOS library for the complex digital design using
scaling the supply voltage and device dimensions and also suggest the methods to control the leakage
current to obtain the minimum power dissipation at optimum value of supply voltage and transistor
threshold. In this paper CMOS Cell library has been implemented using TSMC (0.18um) and TSMC
(90nm) technology using HEP2 tool of IC designing from Mentor Graphics for various analysis and
simulations.
A Literature Review On Design Strategies And Methodologies Of Low Power VLSI ...Nathan Mathis
This document provides a literature review on design strategies and methodologies for low power VLSI circuits. It discusses the major sources of power dissipation in CMOS circuits as leakage current, short circuit current, and power dissipated during logic transitions. The document also outlines the low power design space, including reducing voltage, physical capacitance, and logic transitions to minimize power. It describes techniques for power minimization such as reducing chip area, advanced interconnect substrates, supply voltage scaling, and better design techniques. Finally, it mentions that CAD methodologies can help reduce power at the system level, logic synthesis level, physical design level, and circuit level.
A verilog based simulation methodology for estimating statistical test for th...ijsrd.com
The low Power estimation is an important aspect in digital VLSI circuit design. The estimation includes a power dissipation of a circuit and hence this to be reduces. The power estimations are specific to a particular component of power. The process of optimization of circuits for low power, user should know the effects of design techniques on each component. There are different power dissipation methods for reduction in power component. In this paper, estimating the power like short circuit and the total power, power reduction technique and the application of different proposed technique has been presented here. Hence, it is necessary to provide the information about the effect on each of these components.
IRJET- Analysis of Demand Side Management of Distribution SystemsIRJET Journal
This document analyzes demand side management techniques in distribution systems using an IEEE 33 bus test system in DigSILent PowerFactory software. It implements different demand side management approaches like incorporating distributed energy sources, load shifting, and valley filling. The distributed energy sources used are distributed generators and batteries. Load shifting is done by shifting different percentages of load to off-peak hours. Valley filling is analyzed for different cases. The results of these demand side management techniques are compared to the base IEEE 33 bus system in terms of improvements to voltage profile and losses. The effectiveness of each technique is evaluated based on the losses.
Single core configurations of saturated core fault current limiter performanc...IJECEIAES
Economic growth with industrialization and urbanization lead to an extensive increase in power demand. It forced the utilities to add power generating facilities to cause the necessary demand-generation balance. The bulk power generating stations, mostly interconnected, with the penetration of distributed generation result in an enormous rise in the fault level of power networks. It necessitates for electrical utilities to control the fault current so that the existing switchgear can continue its services without upgradation or replacement for reliable supply. The deployment of fault current limiter (FCL) at the distribution and transmission networks has been under investigation as a potential solution to the problem. A saturated core fault current limiter (SCFCL) technology is a smart, scalable, efficient, reliable, and commercially viable option to manage fault levels in existing and future MV/HV supply systems. This paper presents the comparative performance analysis of two single-core SCFCL topologies impressed with different core saturations. It has demonstrated that the single AC winding configuration needs more bias power for affecting the same current limiting performance with an acceptable steady-state voltage drop contribution. The fault state impedance has a transient nature, and the optimum bias selection is a critical design parameter in realizing the SCFCL applications.
Analysis Of Optimization Techniques For Low Power VLSI DesignAmy Cernava
This document summarizes optimization techniques for low power VLSI design. It discusses that power management is a key challenge in deep sub-micrometer designs due to increased complexity. It surveys state-of-the-art optimization methods at different levels of abstraction that target designing low power digital circuits. These include techniques at the technology level like multi-threshold CMOS and multi-supply voltages. At the circuit level, transistor sizing and at the logic level, techniques like don't-care optimization, path balancing, and factorization are discussed to reduce switching activity and power dissipation.
This document summarizes a paper that discusses the shift towards more intelligent and automated medium voltage distribution networks. It presents the "Zone concept" where distribution networks are divided into zones separated by intelligent circuit breakers and switches to improve fault detection and isolation. Key nodes will be "Compact Secondary Substations" equipped with intelligent ring main units to monitor the network and restore power automatically in case of faults. These developments aim to improve power reliability and quality as renewable energy sources introduce two-way power flows into distribution networks.
International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA) is an open access online peer reviewed international journal that publishes research and review articles in the fields of Computer Science, Neural Networks, Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, Information Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Plastic Engineering, Food Technology, Textile Engineering, Nano Technology & science, Power Electronics, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Computational mathematics, Image processing, Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, Environmental Engineering, VLSI Testing & Low Power VLSI Design etc.
Design of Low Power Architecture for Implantable Bio Medical DeviceIRJET Journal
This document discusses the design of low power architectures for implantable biomedical devices like pacemakers. It begins by introducing implantable medical devices and their importance for treating various medical conditions. Key goals for devices include small size, long lifespan, low power consumption and reliability. The document then discusses various approaches to reducing power consumption, including low-power electronics, energy efficient algorithms, and miniaturization. It provides examples of technologies currently used in pacemakers to optimize low power performance and battery life, like efficient microcontrollers and sensors. The document proposes further innovations to advance energy efficiency and personalize therapy for patients.
Similar to Atmel - Redefining the Power Benchmark [WHITE PAPER] (20)
For the full video of this presentation, please visit: https://www.edge-ai-vision.com/2024/06/temporal-event-neural-networks-a-more-efficient-alternative-to-the-transformer-a-presentation-from-brainchip/
Chris Jones, Director of Product Management at BrainChip , presents the “Temporal Event Neural Networks: A More Efficient Alternative to the Transformer” tutorial at the May 2024 Embedded Vision Summit.
The expansion of AI services necessitates enhanced computational capabilities on edge devices. Temporal Event Neural Networks (TENNs), developed by BrainChip, represent a novel and highly efficient state-space network. TENNs demonstrate exceptional proficiency in handling multi-dimensional streaming data, facilitating advancements in object detection, action recognition, speech enhancement and language model/sequence generation. Through the utilization of polynomial-based continuous convolutions, TENNs streamline models, expedite training processes and significantly diminish memory requirements, achieving notable reductions of up to 50x in parameters and 5,000x in energy consumption compared to prevailing methodologies like transformers.
Integration with BrainChip’s Akida neuromorphic hardware IP further enhances TENNs’ capabilities, enabling the realization of highly capable, portable and passively cooled edge devices. This presentation delves into the technical innovations underlying TENNs, presents real-world benchmarks, and elucidates how this cutting-edge approach is positioned to revolutionize edge AI across diverse applications.
Main news related to the CCS TSI 2023 (2023/1695)Jakub Marek
An English 🇬🇧 translation of a presentation to the speech I gave about the main changes brought by CCS TSI 2023 at the biggest Czech conference on Communications and signalling systems on Railways, which was held in Clarion Hotel Olomouc from 7th to 9th November 2023 (konferenceszt.cz). Attended by around 500 participants and 200 on-line followers.
The original Czech 🇨🇿 version of the presentation can be found here: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/hlavni-novinky-souvisejici-s-ccs-tsi-2023-2023-1695/269688092 .
The videorecording (in Czech) from the presentation is available here: https://youtu.be/WzjJWm4IyPk?si=SImb06tuXGb30BEH .
Introduction of Cybersecurity with OSS at Code Europe 2024Hiroshi SHIBATA
I develop the Ruby programming language, RubyGems, and Bundler, which are package managers for Ruby. Today, I will introduce how to enhance the security of your application using open-source software (OSS) examples from Ruby and RubyGems.
The first topic is CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures). I have published CVEs many times. But what exactly is a CVE? I'll provide a basic understanding of CVEs and explain how to detect and handle vulnerabilities in OSS.
Next, let's discuss package managers. Package managers play a critical role in the OSS ecosystem. I'll explain how to manage library dependencies in your application.
I'll share insights into how the Ruby and RubyGems core team works to keep our ecosystem safe. By the end of this talk, you'll have a better understanding of how to safeguard your code.
Dandelion Hashtable: beyond billion requests per second on a commodity serverAntonios Katsarakis
This slide deck presents DLHT, a concurrent in-memory hashtable. Despite efforts to optimize hashtables, that go as far as sacrificing core functionality, state-of-the-art designs still incur multiple memory accesses per request and block request processing in three cases. First, most hashtables block while waiting for data to be retrieved from memory. Second, open-addressing designs, which represent the current state-of-the-art, either cannot free index slots on deletes or must block all requests to do so. Third, index resizes block every request until all objects are copied to the new index. Defying folklore wisdom, DLHT forgoes open-addressing and adopts a fully-featured and memory-aware closed-addressing design based on bounded cache-line-chaining. This design offers lock-free index operations and deletes that free slots instantly, (2) completes most requests with a single memory access, (3) utilizes software prefetching to hide memory latencies, and (4) employs a novel non-blocking and parallel resizing. In a commodity server and a memory-resident workload, DLHT surpasses 1.6B requests per second and provides 3.5x (12x) the throughput of the state-of-the-art closed-addressing (open-addressing) resizable hashtable on Gets (Deletes).
Trusted Execution Environment for Decentralized Process MiningLucaBarbaro3
Presentation of the paper "Trusted Execution Environment for Decentralized Process Mining" given during the CAiSE 2024 Conference in Cyprus on June 7, 2024.
Freshworks Rethinks NoSQL for Rapid Scaling & Cost-EfficiencyScyllaDB
Freshworks creates AI-boosted business software that helps employees work more efficiently and effectively. Managing data across multiple RDBMS and NoSQL databases was already a challenge at their current scale. To prepare for 10X growth, they knew it was time to rethink their database strategy. Learn how they architected a solution that would simplify scaling while keeping costs under control.
Ivanti’s Patch Tuesday breakdown goes beyond patching your applications and brings you the intelligence and guidance needed to prioritize where to focus your attention first. Catch early analysis on our Ivanti blog, then join industry expert Chris Goettl for the Patch Tuesday Webinar Event. There we’ll do a deep dive into each of the bulletins and give guidance on the risks associated with the newly-identified vulnerabilities.
Skybuffer AI: Advanced Conversational and Generative AI Solution on SAP Busin...Tatiana Kojar
Skybuffer AI, built on the robust SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), is the latest and most advanced version of our AI development, reaffirming our commitment to delivering top-tier AI solutions. Skybuffer AI harnesses all the innovative capabilities of the SAP BTP in the AI domain, from Conversational AI to cutting-edge Generative AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). It also helps SAP customers safeguard their investments into SAP Conversational AI and ensure a seamless, one-click transition to SAP Business AI.
With Skybuffer AI, various AI models can be integrated into a single communication channel such as Microsoft Teams. This integration empowers business users with insights drawn from SAP backend systems, enterprise documents, and the expansive knowledge of Generative AI. And the best part of it is that it is all managed through our intuitive no-code Action Server interface, requiring no extensive coding knowledge and making the advanced AI accessible to more users.
FREE A4 Cyber Security Awareness Posters-Social Engineering part 3Data Hops
Free A4 downloadable and printable Cyber Security, Social Engineering Safety and security Training Posters . Promote security awareness in the home or workplace. Lock them Out From training providers datahops.com
GraphRAG for Life Science to increase LLM accuracyTomaz Bratanic
GraphRAG for life science domain, where you retriever information from biomedical knowledge graphs using LLMs to increase the accuracy and performance of generated answers
Salesforce Integration for Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions A...Jeffrey Haguewood
Sidekick Solutions uses Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions Apricot) and automation solutions to integrate data for business workflows.
We believe integration and automation are essential to user experience and the promise of efficient work through technology. Automation is the critical ingredient to realizing that full vision. We develop integration products and services for Bonterra Case Management software to support the deployment of automations for a variety of use cases.
This video focuses on integration of Salesforce with Bonterra Impact Management.
Interested in deploying an integration with Salesforce for Bonterra Impact Management? Contact us at sales@sidekicksolutionsllc.com to discuss next steps.
Driving Business Innovation: Latest Generative AI Advancements & Success StorySafe Software
Are you ready to revolutionize how you handle data? Join us for a webinar where we’ll bring you up to speed with the latest advancements in Generative AI technology and discover how leveraging FME with tools from giants like Google Gemini, Amazon, and Microsoft OpenAI can supercharge your workflow efficiency.
During the hour, we’ll take you through:
Guest Speaker Segment with Hannah Barrington: Dive into the world of dynamic real estate marketing with Hannah, the Marketing Manager at Workspace Group. Hear firsthand how their team generates engaging descriptions for thousands of office units by integrating diverse data sources—from PDF floorplans to web pages—using FME transformers, like OpenAIVisionConnector and AnthropicVisionConnector. This use case will show you how GenAI can streamline content creation for marketing across the board.
Ollama Use Case: Learn how Scenario Specialist Dmitri Bagh has utilized Ollama within FME to input data, create custom models, and enhance security protocols. This segment will include demos to illustrate the full capabilities of FME in AI-driven processes.
Custom AI Models: Discover how to leverage FME to build personalized AI models using your data. Whether it’s populating a model with local data for added security or integrating public AI tools, find out how FME facilitates a versatile and secure approach to AI.
We’ll wrap up with a live Q&A session where you can engage with our experts on your specific use cases, and learn more about optimizing your data workflows with AI.
This webinar is ideal for professionals seeking to harness the power of AI within their data management systems while ensuring high levels of customization and security. Whether you're a novice or an expert, gain actionable insights and strategies to elevate your data processes. Join us to see how FME and AI can revolutionize how you work with data!
Let's Integrate MuleSoft RPA, COMPOSER, APM with AWS IDP along with Slackshyamraj55
Discover the seamless integration of RPA (Robotic Process Automation), COMPOSER, and APM with AWS IDP enhanced with Slack notifications. Explore how these technologies converge to streamline workflows, optimize performance, and ensure secure access, all while leveraging the power of AWS IDP and real-time communication via Slack notifications.
Fueling AI with Great Data with Airbyte WebinarZilliz
This talk will focus on how to collect data from a variety of sources, leveraging this data for RAG and other GenAI use cases, and finally charting your course to productionalization.
In the realm of cybersecurity, offensive security practices act as a critical shield. By simulating real-world attacks in a controlled environment, these techniques expose vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them. This proactive approach allows manufacturers to identify and fix weaknesses, significantly enhancing system security.
This presentation delves into the development of a system designed to mimic Galileo's Open Service signal using software-defined radio (SDR) technology. We'll begin with a foundational overview of both Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and the intricacies of digital signal processing.
The presentation culminates in a live demonstration. We'll showcase the manipulation of Galileo's Open Service pilot signal, simulating an attack on various software and hardware systems. This practical demonstration serves to highlight the potential consequences of unaddressed vulnerabilities, emphasizing the importance of offensive security practices in safeguarding critical infrastructure.
Have you ever been confused by the myriad of choices offered by AWS for hosting a website or an API?
Lambda, Elastic Beanstalk, Lightsail, Amplify, S3 (and more!) can each host websites + APIs. But which one should we choose?
Which one is cheapest? Which one is fastest? Which one will scale to meet our needs?
Join me in this session as we dive into each AWS hosting service to determine which one is best for your scenario and explain why!
Choosing The Best AWS Service For Your Website + API.pptx
Atmel - Redefining the Power Benchmark [WHITE PAPER]
1. Redefining the Power Benchmark
Atmel White Paper
Author:
Espen Kragnes, Product Marketing Manager for Flash Microcontrollers and
Andreas Eieland, Sr. Product Marketing Manager for Flash Microcontrollers
Abstract
This whitepaper discusses the need for low power in high performance MCUs; it looks at how this ultra‐
low power operation is achieved while maintaining the high performance and features needed in low
power applications while, importantly, explaining why engineers need to make themselves aware of the
trade‐offs and optimizations different IDMs must make in order to achieve ‘low power’.
3. Low-power Whitepaper
Concepts of Low Power - How Low is Low?
The term ‘low power’ is now so endemic that it has lost a lot of its impact and some of its meaning.
From an MCU manufacturer’s point of view, low power is relative to the competition and it should be
apparent to engineers that not all Cortex‐M4 based MCUs, for example, operate within the same power
envelope.
In order to really deliver low power, IDMs must develop their own low power technologies and
methodologies, which they can apply to the Cortex‐M4 IP. Atmel has devoted many years developing
just such a low power solution, its proprietary picoPower®.
While fabless IDMs must use plain vanilla low power processes that are available on the open market,
Atmel has developed process technologies that further improve on a generic process. IDMs that are
serious about low power MCU design will focus not only on the CPU but the entire system, developing
transistor technologies that offer low power and low leakage, but with the flexibility to employ high
performance transistor topologies in areas where they are needed most. picoPower delivers this
capability.
When an MCU is designed for low power it must deliver across a range of use‐cases. Measuring power
isn’t straightforward under the best of conditions, so being able to rely on the entire architecture to
deliver low power operation under all conditions is essential. Benchmarking MCUs for power is largely
dependent on two states of operation – static and dynamic. Power is often equated as a function of a
constant (capacitance), frequency and voltage, where:
P = K * F * V2
This is a somewhat simplified equation but provides a good foundation for evaluating the architecture.
Under dynamic conditions, the frequency of operation clearly has an impact, as power is ‘nominally’
only consumed in a CMOS circuit when there is a logic transition. Reducing the frequency, therefore,
lowers the transitions per second, but doesn’t address the number of times a transistor must switch in
order to achieve a given task. For this, the core’s architecture is crucial, which is why the more powerful
Cortex‐M4 can deliver results faster (fewer operations, and therefore fewer logic gate transitions) than,
say, an 8051.
5. Low-power Whitepaper
Concepts of Low Power - A Holistic Approach
By addressing all aspects of power consumption, IDMs are better able to design an MCU that offers true
low power operation. Implementing a Cortex‐M4 in a low leakage process will, of course, result in lower
system power than if it were implemented in a high performance process, but if the system design is
entirely core‐centric, it is likely that even the most mundane tasks will require the core’s intervention.
For example, a simple interrupt service routine, even where no action is taken, would require the core,
Flash and other system modules to be fully woken from a sleep mode.
With a high performance core like the Cortex‐M4, the action of waking the core and its entire sub‐
system from deep sleep, just to execute a service interrupt routine or some other simple task, would
actually take considerably longer than the time needed to process the actual task. This would not only
consume a significant amount of valuable system power, but most of it would be used just in waking the
system.
It follows that through a holistic approach that adopts low power techniques complementary to the
core, an IDM can develop and implement features that make extensive use of low leakage transistors in
the core and peripherals while also reducing the time spent processing. Consequently, they can
maximize low power operation.
This holistic approach is proving to be the most relevant and effective way for manufacturers to
optimize for power. The degree to which it is employed is what really differentiates IDMs within the
Cortex‐M4 sphere.
A History of Low Power - Active Mode
Before static power became a major factor in system design, active power was possibly the only design
parameter that concerned most engineering teams. IDMs like Atmel have a long history of delivering
MCUs that offer more performance at lower active power. This legacy isn’t by accident.
One aspect of maintaining low active power is finding the most efficient way of moving in and out of
sleep modes. The faster the system clock can be re‐established, the faster the core can complete its task
and the less active power used.
Further to this, Atmel implements features that can operate independently of the core. Intelligent,
autonomous peripherals are able to process inputs and outputs independently of the CPU. Running off a
dedicated clock, this approach allows the core to remain in sleep mode for longer and through carefully
architected inter‐communication features, peripherals are also able to exchange data using shared
buses, enabling them to make intelligent decisions based on external stimuli without having to wake the
core.
Enabling peripherals to operate autonomously is now recognized as a key addition to low power
operation. However, it is, again, crucial that the implementation is integral to the overall system
architecture. Peripherals that exhibit a fast response time to the point of real‐time operation are
essential if they are to manage tasks normally handled by a high performance core.
6. Low-power Whitepaper
The Peripheral Event System in the SAM4L is truly independent of both the CPU and its clocking system.
With its own access control to the real‐time clock the Peripheral Event System is able to continue
operating when the CPU and the system clock are effectively ‘off’. The result is a much greater power
saving than if the system clock needed to continue running.
A History of Low Power - picoPower
The ability to fully understand and design for low power can differentiate manufacturers and their
MCUs, irrespective of the core used. Experience counts for a lot and Atmel has a long history of
developing low power solutions, based on its picoPower technology. This was first used in the 8‐bit
AVR® family and the latest picoPower technology now enables the SAM4L, becoming the first Cortex‐M4
device to feature picoPower.
Perhaps most significant is the supply voltage; for instance, the SAM4L is able to operate down to a true
1.62V without sacrificing any functionality of the core or, more crucially, the peripherals. This is a class‐
leader. No other Cortex‐M4 based MCU available today, from any manufacturer, is able to operate at
such a low supply voltage.
The impact of this is simple. Referring back to Equation 1 we
can see that the lower the VCC the lower the power. Unlike
frequency, which returns a linear decline, the supply
voltage has an exponential impact on power, so being able
to operate at a true 1.62V makes the SAM4L the lowest
power Cortex‐M4 solution available.
Other features of picoPower technology that help minimize
system power include extensive use of intelligent clock gating.
As explained earlier, in active mode CMOS consumes most
power when changing state, so by avoiding unnecessary logic
state changes active power is significantly reduced. Clock
gating is widely recognized in the semiconductor industry as
an effective low power technique, but its implementation can vary between manufacturers. The right
level of clock granularity and an efficient way of determining how to gate those clocks are low level
architectural features that need to be fully integrated into the design, as it is with picoPower.
In addition, by developing techniques for ultra low power memory and integrating it into the picoPower
methodology, Atmel’s MCUs deliver fast, accurate and robust Flash memory that consumes much less
power than competing solutions. This is achieved through a unique approach called Flash Sampling,
which compares favorably against the standard approach, where the Flash memory is always active.
Using Flash Sampling, the memory blocks are only powered for a few ns, just long enough for the control
block to sample the memory’s contents. The memory blocks are then immediately disabled, thereby
keeping active power in the Flash memory to an absolute minimum.
The Peripheral
Event System in the
SAM4L is truly
independent of both
the CPU and its
clocking system.
7. Low-power Whitepaper
The Evolution of Low Power - Bringing picoPower to the
Cortex-M4
As a low power methodology, picoPower is the primary technology used in Atmel’s low power MCUs to
address the three key areas of power consumption – sleep mode, active mode and wake‐up times.
Atmel’s first 32‐bit device to feature picoPower was the AVR‐based UC3L, which set the benchmark for
low power MCUs. That benchmark has been further defined by the SAM4L, which takes low power to a
new level.
The picoPower technology permeates the entire architecture, from the process technology used to
manufacture the device, to the speed at which peripherals and clocks operate. Although conceptually
similar to the way it was integrated in to the UC3L, in practice picoPower — as implemented in the
SAM4L, which is the first ARM‐based 32‐bit device from Atmel to employ picoPower — is evolutionary.
Consequently, when implementing the methodology in a new family, Atmel’s engineers had the chance
to introduce improvements, such as extending it to new peripherals, while making further power
reductions.
This returns an active mode power consumption that is significantly lower than the competition;
90μA/MHz, which is achieved in part through the development of an ultra‐low power buck regulator.
Thanks to its low noise immunity and high efficiency, the fully integrated regulator also enables the
SAM4L to operate down to 1.62V, while the LDO only consumes 180μA/MHz.
The SAM4L consumes as little as 1.5μA in WAIT mode, with full RAM retention. Bundled with an
unrivalled wake‐up time of less than 1.5μS, the SAM4L gives the lowest total power consumption. In
sleep mode, the SAM4L draws as little as 0.5μA with the Real‐Time Clock still running, and with a wake‐
up time of less than 2μS.
Industry’s Highest Efficiency
While manufacturers are apt to quote their best figures in datasheets, there exists an independent
industry body that ensures an ‘even playing field’ is maintained. The CoreMark, developed by the
Embedded Processor Benchmark Consortium (EEBMC) provides a standard set of benchmarks that IDMs
subscribe to, in order to measure the performance of their MCUs under ‘real world’ conditions.
In every documented test result, the SAM4L outperforms its competitors, even those based on the
latest, lowest power Cortex‐M0+. As the SAM4L uses the Cortex‐M4, the largest and most powerful of
the Cortex‐M cores, the results (Table 1) emphasize the impact and importance of developing and
implementing an industry‐leading low power platform, philosophy and manufacturing capability.
8. Low-power Whitepaper
Table 1.
Atmel SAM4L MCUs redefine the power benchmark, delivering the lowest power in both active (90uA/MHz) and sleep
modes (1.5uA with full random access memory (RAM) retention and 700nA in backup mode). They are the most efficient
MCUs available today, achieving up to 28 CoreMark™/mA using the IAR Embedded Workbench, version 6.40. Atmel SAM4L
MCUs also deliver the industry’s shortest wakeup time at 1.5us from deep‐sleep mode.
The Evolution of Low Power - SleepWalking
In most competitor solutions, responsiveness is directly and inversely linked to system power; it is a
simple equation where a faster response time requires greater transistor activity and therefore higher
system power. As outlined earlier, Atmel’s approach is not to provide low power at the cost of system
responsiveness. Here, we take a closer look at how this achieved.
Most manufacturers — Atmel included — must accept that in order to achieve maximum power savings
during sleep mode, more of the device needs to be switched ‘off’. Waking from deep sleep modes is
notoriously costly in terms of the time it takes for the PLLs to stabilize and the number of clock cycles it
takes for the system to be fully active. When the task is short, this overhead can easily represent more
system power than, say, a simple interrupt service routine.
SleepWalking is a feature that extends the concept of autonomous peripherals that operate
independently of the CPU core during active mode, to actually keeping the peripherals functional when
the system clock has been stopped. This is achieved by clocking the peripherals using the real‐time clock
(RTC), instead of the system clock.
In the SAM4L, SleepWalking has been integrated into many of the peripherals, including the analog
comparator, the ADC, the I2
C, UART and the capacitive touch interface. It is then the peripheral that
10. Low-power Whitepaper
SAM4L – Architecture & Key Features
At the heart of the SAM4L is the ARM Cortex‐M4 core; Atmel’s first Cortex‐M4 device to feature the
revolutionary picoPower technology.
As Figure 1 below shows, the core is supported by a number of system features, connected through the
Multi‐layer High Speed Matrix. What is less obvious from the diagram is the extensive use of dedicated,
distributed busses and clocks, all of which can be enabled or disabled, and clocked at different speeds.
This fine granularity of bus and clock systems is crucial to maintaining complete control over the
peripherals, allowing the user to turn off any peripheral or module that isn’t needed at any time and
thereby delivering greater control over active and static power consumption.
Figure 1. Block diagram of Atmel’s SAM4L microcontroller.
In addition, there is the DMA sub‐system, which integrates with the High Speed Matrix and the
Peripheral Event System. This is what facilitates the message passing between peripherals, with a fixed
2‐cycle response.
All of the features in the SAM4L have been developed to deliver the industry’s lowest power Cortex‐M4
MCU. While the SAM4L’s exceptionally low power is attributable to Atmel’s picoPower technology, the
value of the SAM4L as a microcontroller is due to design elements that make it a truly capable MCU.
These can be categorized as either architectural or functional.
11. Low-power Whitepaper
Key Architectural Features:
The latest innovations in picoPower
o Wait mode with full RAM retention down to 1.5μA
o Retention mode down to 0.9μA
o Back‐up mode with RTC down to 0.7μA
o Fast wake‐up (1.5μS)
True 1.6V operation
o Fully functional, including ADC and Flash, down to 1.62V
o Flexible voltage supply: 1.8V (regulated) or 1.62 − 3.6V (battery)
Switching Regulator
o Down to 100μA/MHz
o Lower noise immunity
o Higher efficiency
Linear Regulator
o Down to 190μA/MHz
o High noise immunity
o Lower efficiency
Peripheral Event System
o Precise timing
o Reduced CPU overhead
o Reduced power consumption
o Inter‐Peripheral communication ‐ CPU and DMA independent
o Latency‐free event handling
Safe fault protection
100% predictable reaction time
SleepWalking
o Intelligent peripherals
Compare input to preset threshold, and alert CPU when threshold exceeded
Reduce CPU overhead by eliminating unnecessary interrupts
Reduce power consumption in sleep modes
RTC/Asynchronous Time (AST)
o Real‐time clock and calendar functionality
o Any oscillator can be used as a clock source
o Periodic alarms and time alarms supported
o Prescaler tick interrupts
60μS to 36 hours with 32kHz input clock
o Digital tuning for 1ppm accuracy
Digital Frequency Locked Loop ‐ the next‐generation in PLL
o Replaces traditional PLL
Wider input frequency range (8kHz to 150kHz)
10μS start‐up
12. Low-power Whitepaper
100μS to lock
o Output frequency 40 to 150MHz
o ±0.1% accuracy over temperature and voltage range
o Reduced radiated noise (EMI)
Frequency Meter
o Automatically detect failing clocks
o All clocks can be measured
o Multiple uses
Key functionality features:
Integrated at the hardware level, the capacitive touch
module operates using PCB tracks as sensors. As with other
peripherals, this module is linked to the Peripheral Event
System and supports SleepWalking mode, which means it
can be configured to wake the system based on detecting
the proximity of an external element, such as a user’s finger
passing across an interface panel.
Because it uses capacitance as a trigger, no physical contact
is required. By simply defining a button, slider, wheel or
landing pad using standard PCB tracking, a sophisticated
user interface can be configured that is mechanically
isolated from the system. The key features of the capacitive
touch panel include:
• Endless configuration possibilities
• Event driven, including touch, out‐of‐touch or autonomous interrupts
• Integrated with the Peripheral Event System
In addition to capacitive touch sensing, the SAM4L also integrates an LCD controller that can drive a
4x40 segment display. This too is capable of autonomous operation, offering automatic scrolling,
animation and segment/display blinking. When used in conjunction with the capacitive touch sensor
module, for example, a message can begin scrolling when a user is detected, before the CPU comes out
of sleep mode. The LCD module integrates ASCII character mapping, which further improves the display
update rate while reducing power consumption.
Additional key elements of the SAM4L include:
• A 12‐bit ADC, capable of 350ksps with programmable gain and programmable sample‐and‐hold
• A 10‐bit DAC, able to sample at 500ksps
• UART, supporting synchronous and asynchronous, RS232, SPI, IrDA, RS422 and RD485
• Full Speed USB host with on‐chip transceivers
• True random number generator
• 128‐bit AES security module (FIPS 197 compliant)
• Atmel’s Glue Logic Controller (GLOC) and PARC modules
SAM4L means
engineering
teams can
confidently
balance the power
budget, without
compromising on
performance.
14. Low-power Whitepaper
Editor's Notes
About Atmel Corporation
Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of
microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio
frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP)
technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions
focused on industrial, consumer, communications, computing and automotive markets.Further information
can be obtained from the Atmel website at www.atmel.com.