Energy-Effective Issue Logic Daniele Folegnani and Antonio GonzaJez Departament d'Arquitectura de Computadors Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya Jordi Girona, 1-3 Mbdul D6 08034 Barcelona, Spain
[email protected] Abstract require an increasing computing power, which sometimes is achieved through higher clock frequencies and more sophisticated Tile issue logic of a dynamically-scheduled superscalar processor architectural techniques, with an obvious impact on power is a complex mechanism devoted to start the execution of multiple consumption. instructions eveo' cycle. Due to its complexity, it is responsible for a significant percentage of the energy consumed by a With the fast increase in design complexity and reduction in microprocessor. The energy consumption of the issue logic design time, new generation CAD tools for VLSI design like depends on several architectural parameters, the instruction issue PowerMill [13] and QuickPower [12] are crucial to evaluate the queue size being one of the most important. In this paper we energy consumption at different points of the design, helping to present a technique to reduce the energy consumption of the issue make important decisions early in the design process. The logic of a high-performance superscalar processor. The proposed importance of a continuous feedback between the functional technique is based on the observation that the conventional issue system description and the power impact requires better and faster logic wastes a significant amount of energy for useless activio,. In evaluation tools and models to introduce changes rapidly through particular, the wake-up of empty entries and operands that are various design scenarios. Recent research has shown how read)' represents an important source of energy waste.