ABSTRACT

In the past, the major concerns of the designer were area, speed, and cost. Power consideration was typically of secondary importance. In recent years, however, this has begun to change and, increasingly, power is being given comparable weight to other design considerations. Several factors have contributed to this trend. Perhaps the primary driving factor has been the remarkable success and growth of the class of personal computing devices (portable desktops, audio-and video-based multimedia products) and wireless communications systems (personal digital assistants and personal communicators), which demand high-speed computation and complex functionality with low power consumption. There also exists a strong pressure for producers of high-end products to reduce their power consumption to reduce the packaging and cooling costs and improve product reliability.