Technique using power macromodeling for register transfer level power estimation

1. A method for estimating power consumption of a design block of an integrated circuit, the method comprising:

obtaining power consumption data from designs of older-generation microprocessors;

selecting a set of power consumption parameters;

applying a curve-fitting technique on the obtained power consumption data for the selected set of power consumption parameters;

creating a new power consumption model based on the curve-fitting technique and one or more of the power consumption parameters;

using the model at a register transfer level of a newer-generation microprocessor to represent estimates of register transfer level power consumption of the newer-generation microprocessor;

outputting the register transfer level power consumption estimates based on the model; and,

generating at least one additional model representing power consumption of the newer-generation microprocessor using one or more of the power consumption parameters, wherein each model represents power consumption of a different component of the newer-generation microprocessor and uses the power consumption parameters most sensitive to the power consumption of the respective component.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the model is a mathematical model representing power consumption of a particular design block of the newer-generation microprocessor at a register transfer level.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the set of power consumption parameters comprises at least one of:

number of gates in the block;

number of interconnects in the block;

number of sequential elements in the block; and

layout area of the block.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising generating at least one additional model representing power consumption of at least one additional design block of the newer-generation microprocessor at the register transfer level.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the model estimates power consumption of all control path structures and all data path structures of the newer-generation microprocessor.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining additional power consumption data based on signal statistics and switching activity through architectural simulation.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein one of the models represents clock network power consumption and another of the models represents wire network power consumption.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying a scaling factor and an activity factor to the model.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the curve-fitting technique is a response surface model.

10. A microprocessor power estimation system, comprising:

memory; and

a set of computer-readable instructions stored in the memory for causing the system to:

obtain power consumption data from designs of older-generation microprocessors; select a set of power consumption parameters;

apply a curve-fitting technique on the obtained power consumption data for the selected set of power consumption parameters;

create a new power consumption model based on the curve-fitting technique and one or more of the power consumption parameters;

use the model at a register transfer level of a newer-generation microprocessor to represent estimates of register transfer level power consumption of the newer-generation microprocessor;

output the register transfer level power consumption estimates based on the model; and

generate at least one additional model representing power consumption of the newer-generation microprocessor using one or more of the power consumption parameters, wherein each model represents power consumption of a different component of the newer-generation microprocessor and uses the power consumption parameters most sensitive to the power consumption of the respective component.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the model is a mathematical model representing power consumption of a particular design block of the newer-generation microprocessor at a register transfer level.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the set of power consumption parameters comprises at least one of:

number of gates in the block;

number of interconnects in the block;

number of sequential elements in the block; and

layout area of the block.

13. The system of claim 11 , further comprising generating at least one additional model representing power consumption of at least one additional design block of the newer-generation microprocessor at the register transfer level.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the model estimates power consumption of all control path structures and all data path structures of the newer-generation microprocessor.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising obtaining additional power consumption data based on signal statistics and switching activity through architectural simulation.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein one of the models represents clock network power consumption and another of the models represents wire network power consumption.

17. The system of claim 10 , further comprising applying a scaling factor and an activity factor to the model.

18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the curve-fitting technique is a response surface model.