Energy-efficient Phase-based Cache Tuning for Multimedia Applications in Embedded Systems

Abstract-The proliferation of multimedia applications in embedded systems has led to a research focus on optimizing the energy consumption of these applications without significantly degrading the execution time and adhering to data processing deadline constraints. To maximize optimization potential, phasebased tuning methodologies specialize system configurations to different phases of application execution with respect to design constraints. Multimedia applications are ideal candidates for phase-based tuning since these applications exhibit variable execution characteristics. In this paper, we propose a phasebased tuning methodology for multimedia applications that leverages application characteristics to determine the best cache configurations for different phases of execution. Results reveal that phase-based tuning for multimedia applications determines cache configurations within 1% of the optimal on average and yields an average energy delay product savings of 29%

A Survey of Techniques For Improving Energy Efficiency in Embedded Computing Systems

Recent technological advances have greatly improved the performance and features of embedded systems. With the number of just mobile devices now reaching nearly equal to the population of earth, embedded systems have truly become ubiquitous. These trends, however, have also made the task of managing their power consumption extremely challenging. In recent years, several techniques have been proposed to address this issue. In this paper, we survey the techniques for managing power consumption of embedded systems. We discuss the need of power management and provide a classification of the techniques on several important parameters to highlight their similarities and differences. This paper is intended to help the researchers and application-developers in gaining insights into the working of power management techniques and designing even more efficient high-performance embedded systems of tomorrow