Low power state assignment using ILP techniques

State assignment for finite state machines is a critical optimization problem in the synthesis of sequential circuits. In this paper we address the state assignment problem from a low power perspective. We experiment with Boolean Satisfiability and Integer Linear Programming techniques to solve the assignment problem where the primary goal is the reduction of switching activity during state transitions. We also detect and evaluate the use of symmetries in speeding up the search process. These techniques have been applied to the MCNC benchmark circuits and yielded promising results.