Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems

Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems

Dick, R.P. Lakshminarayana, G. Raghunathan, A. Jha, N.K.

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL, USA

Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, IEEE Transactions, Sept. 2003, pp. 615 - 627

Presenter: Ching-Chi Hu

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems2/20

Abstract The increasing complexity and software conte

nt of embedded systems has led to the frequent use of system software to help applications access hardware resources easily and efficiently. In this paper, we present a method for detailed analysis of real-time operating system (RTOS) power consumption. RTOSs form an important component of the system software layer. Despite the widespread use of, and significant role played by, RTOSs in mobile and low-power embedded systems, little is known about their power-consumption effects. This paper presents a method of producing a hierarchical energy-consumption profile for applications as they interact with an RTOS.

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems3/20

Abstract (Cont.) As a proof-of-concept, we use our infrastructur

e to produce the power profiles for a commercial RTOS, μC/OS-II, running several applications on an embedded system based on the Fujitsu SPARClite processor. These examples demonstrate that an RTOS can have a significant impact on power consumption. We discuss ways in which application software can be designed to use an RTOS in a power-efficient manner. We believe that this is a first step toward establishing a systematic approach to power optimization of embedded systems containing RTOSs.

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems4/20

Outline

What’s the problem? Motivation for RTOS energy analysis Energy analysis infrastructure Result and Case studies Conclusion and Recommendations

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems5/20

What’s the problem?

RTOSs are used to embedded systems with soft real-time constraints, as well as formal real-time systems with hard real-time constraints

provide a method changes to the interaction between application software and RTOS that will most effectively reduce system power consumption

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems6/20

Motivation for RTOS energy analysis Antilock Braking System (ABS)

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems7/20

Motivation for RTOS energy analysis (cont.) Antilock Braking System (ABS) optimized

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems8/20

Motivation for RTOS energy analysis (cont.) ABS example by RTOS service category

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems9/20

Motivation for RTOS energy analysis (cont.) Commodity Trading Agent Example

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems10/20

Motivation for RTOS energy analysis (cont.) Ethernet Interface Example

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems11/20

Motivation for RTOS energy analysis (cont.) Two examples by RTOS service category

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems12/20

Energy analysis infrastructure

Framework a multitasking OS UARTs brake sensors, and other hardware components

Input code is compiled and linked together with the μC/O

S-II RTOS and Fujitsu’s SPARClite runtime libraries External stimulus information

Output call-tree format information

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems13/20

Energy analysis infrastructure (cont.) Energy analysis framework

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems14/20

Energy analysis infrastructure (cont.) Modeled architecture

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems15/20

Energy analysis infrastructure (cont.) analysis the energy consumption of the system

Functional models OSSched function by μC/OS-II

Energy models Instruction-level power models for the Fujitsu SPARC

lite processor and internal cache can be found in the literature:

V. Tiwari, S. Malik, and A. Wolfe, “Power analysis of embedded software: A first step toward software power minimization,”

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems16/20

Result and Case studies

Energy consumption profiles

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems17/20

Result and Case studies (cont.)

Time consumption profiles

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems18/20

Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion demonstrated that the manner in which the RTOS

is used has a significant impact on an embedded system’s power consumption.

Insights derived from such RTOS power analysis may be used to optimize embedded software power consumption and drive research on high-level power modeling of different RTOS components.

enables power-efficient RTOS and application design, and may be incorporated into power-aware system-level design tools.

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems19/20

Conclusion and Recommendations (cont.) Recommendations

Rewrite high energy consumption portions of an application to avoid unnecessary use of the RTOS scheduler.

When synchronization between tasks is implicitly carried out, do not use RTOS services to do (redundant) synchronization.

Take advantage of RTOS primitivesIf power analysis indicates that memory management consumes a substantial proportion of embedded system power, consider custom

112/04/21 Analysis of power dissipation in embedded systems using real-time operating systems20/20

Conclusion and Recommendations (cont.) Recommendations (cont.)

Concentrate on special modes available in the processor. Most designers already pay some attention to code execution time and, in the absence of special processor modes, there is a strong correlation between execution time and energy for general-purpose processors. However, using special processor modes