ABSTRACT
The vast majority of digital Integrated circuits designed are built in complementary metal–oxide semiconductor technology. The determination and optimization of the various effects becomes more complex as designers go to greater lengths to control the effects. The implications of the challenges are that a variety of design tools are needed to address the various power issues — the power problem is sufficiently critical and complex that a “one size fits all” approach is inadequate. The sequence design provides several different tools for use in a comprehensive power–sensitive design flow. The PowerTheater is a mixed-level power analysis tool that analyzes register–transfer level (RTL) designs, gate–level designs, and mixed- —RTL and gate — level designs. The power–related issues directly affect many facets of design and these issues are sufficiently complex as to require significant amounts of design automation. The sequence design develops advanced tools to address these critical issues and views power-sensitive design as a multilevel endeavor.
