Learning-based power modeling of system-level black-box IPs

Abstract

Virtual platform prototypes are widely utilized to enable early system-level design space exploration. Accurate power models for hardware components at high levels of abstraction are needed to enable system-level power analysis and optimization. However, the limited observability of third party IPs renders traditional power modeling methods challenging and inaccurate. In this paper, we present a novel approach for extending behavioral models of black-box hardware IPs with an accurate power estimate. We leverage state-of-the-art-machine learning techniques to synthesize an abstract power model. Our model uses input and output history to track data-dependent pipeline behavior. Furthermore, we introduce a specialized ensemble learning that is composed out of individually selected cycle-by-cycle models to reduce overall complexity and further increase estimation accuracy. Results of applying our approach to various industrial-strength design examples shows that our models predict average power consumption to within 3% of a commercial gate-level power estimation tool, all while running several orders of magnitude faster.