The betrayal of constant power × time: Finding the missing joules of transiently-powered computersShow others and affiliations
2019 (English)In: Proceedings of the ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Languages, Compilers, and Tools for Embedded Systems (LCTES), Association for Computing Machinery , 2019, p. 97-109Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
Transiently-powered computers (TPCs) lay the basis for a battery-less Internet of Things, using energy harvesting and small capacitors to power their operation. This power supply is characterized by extreme variations in supply voltage, as capacitors charge when harvesting energy and discharge when computing. We experimentally find that these variations cause marked fluctuations in clock speed and power consumption, which determine energy efficiency. We demonstrate that it is possible to accurately model and concretely capitalize on these fluctuations. We derive an energy model as a function of supply voltage and develop EPIC, a compile-time energy analysis tool. We use EPIC to substitute for the constant power assumption in existing analysis techniques, giving programmers accurate information on worst-case energy consumption of programs. When using EPIC with existing TPC system support, run-time energy efficiency drastically improves, eventually leading up to a 350% speedup in the time to complete a fixed workload. Further, when using EPIC with existing debugging tools, programmers avoid unnecessary program changes that hurt energy efficiency.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Association for Computing Machinery , 2019. p. 97-109
Keywords [en]
Energy modelling, Intermittent computing, Transiently powered computers, Embedded systems, Energy harvesting, Energy utilization, Program compilers, Program debugging, Analysis techniques, Constant power, Debugging tools, Harvesting energies, Supply voltages, System supports, Energy efficiency
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-40822DOI: 10.1145/3316482.3326348Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85070994171ISBN: 9781450367240 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-40822DiVA, id: diva2:1372652
Conference
20th ACM SIGPLAN/SIGBED International Conference on Languages, Compilers, and Tools for Embedded Systems, LCTES 2019, co-located with PLDI 2019, 23 June 2019
2019-11-252019-11-252023-05-25Bibliographically approved