This paper proposes a real-time power analysis platform, including both hardware and software modules, which is capable of profiling, analyzing and controlling power behavior for power-efficient/aware embedded system applications that can be used for both educational and research purposes. The platform consists of an SoC development board with power measurement probes and supporting power measurement mechanisms, application phase tagging, power analysis, and power control. It allows the developer to profile and analyze the real-time power usage of various major parts of a major hardware system while running an embedded system application on the development board. Application phase tagging makes it possible for the developer to associate the power usage with the application behavior in detail, and the power control mechanism makes it possible to develop power-aware applications capable of dynamically adjusting power behavior while sustaining necessary performance. A digital still camera (DSC) was used as a case study to test this platform. We first characterized the power usage of the DSC and then improved its power efficiency with power-aware operations.
['Liang-Bi Chen', 'Yen-Ling Chen', 'Ing-Jer Huang']
A Real-Time Power Analysis Platform for Power-Aware Embedded System Development