Energy consumption measurement technique for automatic instruction set characterization of embedded processors

The steadily increasing performance of mobile devices implies also a rise in power consumption. To counteract this trend it is mandatory to accomplish software power optimizations based on accurate power consumption models characterized for the processor. This paper presents an environment for automated instruction set characterization based on physical power measurements. For an accurate current measurement a high performance sampling technique has been established, which can be either clock or energy driven. The performance of those techniques is analyzed and the advantages over the conventional solution of a series resistor are discussed.