Title :
A power optimized display memory organization for handheld user terminals
Author :
Hollevoet, Lieven ; Dewilde, Andy ; Denolf, Kristof ; Catthoor, Francky ; Louagie, Filip
Author_Institution :
IMEC, Heverlee, Belgium
Abstract :
Today´s handheld devices become more and more multimedia capable. One subsystem of a multimedia terminal that accounts for a considerable amount of the total power consumption is the display unit. The backlight is the major culprit there. As new display units without backlights emerge, the data transfers required to put data on the screen start using up an increasingly important part of the platform´s power. We have examined a novel system view that allows for power savings by decreasing the required number of memory accesses to put a frame on the screen. A two-step optimization method for existing platforms is presented. Measurements on a multimedia application show that, on average, power savings of 72% can be obtained on the display related memory accesses. For the proposed optimizations methods to work, it is important that both hardware and software designers become aware of the impact their design-time decisions have on the final power consumption of a system.
Keywords :
liquid crystal displays; multimedia communication; portable instruments; power consumption; display units; handheld devices; handheld user terminals; memory access; multimedia terminals; power consumption; power optimized display memory organization; power savings; two step optimization method; Batteries; Design optimization; Energy consumption; Flat panel displays; Handheld computers; Hardware; Large screen displays; Liquid crystal displays; Optimization methods; Power measurement;
Conference_Titel :
Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference and Exhibition, 2004. Proceedings
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-2085-5
DOI :
10.1109/DATE.2004.1269253