Closing the power gap between ASIC and custom: an ASIC perspective

We investigate differences in power between application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and custom integrated circuits, with examples from 0.6um to 0.13um CMOS. A variety of factors cause synthesizable designs to consume ×3 to ×7 more power. We discuss the shortcomings of typical synthesis flows, and changes to tools and standard cell libraries needed to reduce power. Using these methods, we believe that the power gap between ASICs and custom circuits can be closed to within ×2. Categories and Subject Descriptors B.7.0 [Integrated Circuits]: General. General Terms Design, performance. Keywords ASIC, comparison, custom, energy, power, standard cell.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: DAC
• Authors: David G. Chinnery, Kurt Keutzer
• Keywords: Application-specific Integrated Circuits, Computer Architecture, Custom Integrated Circuits, DAC 2005, Integrated Circuits