Static simulation: A method for power and energy estimation in embedded microprocessors

Current methodologies for software-level power and energy estimation use a microprocessor´s power model combined with specialized tools that profile the program under study. These tools commonly rely on real-time program execution or simulations to gather the information needed, a process that usually requires a full set of real run-time data. This work proposes the use of static code simulation as an alternative to analyze and predict the program´s behavior. This, in combination with a microprocessor´s power model, allows to estimate power and energy with only a small amount of run-time data. Furthermore, the low execution time of the proposed method allows for its use as in iterative power optimizers. We present results obtained for a set of representative benchmark programs applied ran on a PowerPC 603e microprocessor. Power and energy estimates with mean absolute errors below 7% and 15%, respectively, are reported for the analyzed test cases.