PK tool 2.0: a SystemC environment for high level power estimation

Power dissipation has become one of the main constraints during the design of complex integrated circuits in the recent years, due to the steady increasing of integration level and operating clock frequency. Power consumption is a major design issue and thus it requires the availability of effective tools for power estimation and optimization. Moreover, it is known that power analysis and optimization during the early design phases, starting from system level descriptions, can lead to large power savings. In this paper we present PK tool 2.0, an effective object-oriented library for SystemC 2.0.1, which allows the easy introduction of a power model in the executable specification of a complex design.