BUILDING ENERGY-EFFICIENT ICs FROM THE GROUND UP

CONSIDERING LOW-POWER TECHNIQUES THROUGHOUT THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Author: Cadence design Systems

Introduction

It’s easy to forget that mobile phones were a relatively rare sight just 15 years ago. Today, users quickly become disenchanted if their tiny devices don’t let them talk for hours between charges and play Internet videos without pause. The need to meet incessant consumer demand for more functionality in handheld devices is just one example of the many market forces driving innovation in ICs. The industry has also made phenomenal strides in performance and functionality in chips used to power everything from the servers behind the World Wide Web to TV set-top boxes that give viewers hundreds of channels and real-time playback.