Design techniques for low-power systems

Portable products are being used increasingly. Because these systems are battery powered, reducing power consumption is vital. In this report we give the properties of low power design and techniques to exploit them on the architecture of the system. We focus on: minimizing capacitance, avoiding unnecessary and wasteful activity, and reducing voltage and frequency. We review energy reduction techniques in the architecture and design of a hand-held computer and the wireless communication system, including error control, system decomposition, communication and MAC protocols, and low power short range networks.