A Methodology for Efficient Estimation of Switching Activity in Sequential Logic Circuits

We describe a computationally efficient scheme to approximate average switching activity in sequential circuits which requires the solution of a non-linear system of equations of size N, where the variables correspond to state line probabilities. We show that the approximation method is within 3% of the exact Chapman-Kolmogorov method, but is orders of magnitude faster for large circuits. Previous sequential switching activity estimation methods can have significantly greater inaccuracies.