Power analysis is one of the important aspects of the IC design flow. In today's era, optimizing power can be a very convoluted and crucial process due to the complex nature of the chip. The designers strive to achieve the best power results efficiently. What's the constraint in achieving this?
Traditionally, the designer would wait till the place and route stage to compute the power accurately. But to make design chips meet throughput goals and optimal power consumption, you need to analyze the power from the beginning! What's needed here is an early estimation of the power. Why? Let's understand why detecting power issues at the early stage of the design flow is critical.
Dynamic power dissipation is a big concern. Devices need to operate within a given power budget. To achieve this, implementation tools (synthesis and P&R) apply different dynamic power optimization techniques (downsizing, shifting high activity nets, critical reason re-synthesis, etc.) and reduce power.
For dynamic power optimization, the implementation tool needs:
- Accurate power analysis during the entire flow
- Activity reclaim after each optimization step, for example, generic, implementation, clock tree, etc.
To achieve both, activity is needed on each node of the design. But is activity available at all the nodes during optimization? Does the traditional statistical power computation method align with the need? What's the solution, then?
The solution lies with Joules xReplay for estimation, implementation, and analysis. This is where xReplay flow comes as a savior! The strategy is to help the designer estimate the power much earlier. Also, it helps the tool generate a more power-efficient design by running the netlist level simulation automatically without manual intervention. Hence, Joules xReplay is the one-stop solution for accurate power computation.
The next hurdle is ramping up this technology to use this flow efficiently.
- What is xReplay flow?
- How does it work?
- What is the setup needed to run it?
Don't worry; we are here to sail you through this journey!
The solution is in the form of videos demonstrating the xReplay flow. The videos explain the concept of the xReplay flow and its needs. It also overviews different types of xReplay flow, benefits, commands, and what happens under the hood when running the xReplay flow in Genus/Innovus. The video also demonstrates how to set up and run xReplay flow in the Genus shell.
You can refer to the videos on Cadence Online Support(Cadence login required).
Video Links
Understanding xReplay Flow (Video)
What Happens During xReplay Flow in Genus and Innovus? (Video)
Setting Up and Running xReplay Flow in Genus Synthesis Solution (Video)
Want to Learn More?
Explore the one-stop solutionJoules RTL Power Solution Product Page on Cadence Online Support(Cadence login required).
Related Resources
Related Training Bytes: Enhance the Joules experience with videos: Joules RTL Power Solution: Video Library
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