The basic principle of energy design and management for integrated electronic systems is to optimize the electrical activity within the electronic circuitry without impacting user experience or intended purpose. During the (pre-silicon) energy design phase, also called power design in Electronic Design Automation (EDA), the focus is on tuning the hardware structures assuming certain nominal functional activities, voltages and clocks. In the subsequent (post-silicon) energy management phase, also called dynamic power management in operating systems, the voltages, clocks and functional activities are tuned during the test and run-time assuming certain hardware characteristics of the device. Energy efficient complete solutions can be obtained only through optimal alignment across the pre- and post-silicon phases of energy optimization based on unified design flows, abstractions and formats. This requires a fundamental shift in the energy design and management methodology and requires a new software and tools infrastructure.
