Power play-fast dynamic power estimation based on logic simulation

Abstract

A fast algorithm and a tool for the estimation of dynamic power dissipation in digital circuits are presented. The logic waveforms generated by a standard logic simulator are used in order to compute an instantaneous power waveform at the gate- (cell-) level. The tool itself is technology independent; it takes parameters for the currently used cell library from a database that has been established by analog simulation. Modeling of new libraries is easy due to a flexible database format. When compared to SPICE, experimental results show good accuracy for average power consumption ( Delta <3%), a close matching of peak power values and a speed-up of more than four orders of magnitude.<>