Real time Dynamic Voltage Scaling for embedded systems

Abstract

This paper presents a very efficient and versatile method to handle Dynamic Voltage Scaling for minimizing energy consumption in an embedded system processor while maintaining real time deadlines. It achieves this by creating pseudo operating frequency levels between the discrete frequency levels supported by the system, thereby addressing the root cause of inefficiency i.e. inability to vary frequency continuously. Simulation suggests that this method, in conjunction with DVS algorithms, achieves up to 70% energy savings which is an improvement of up to 25% over the best existing algorithms.