A robust edge encoding technique for energy-efficient multi-cycle interconnect

Jae-sun Seo, Dennis Sylvester, David T. Blaauw, Himanshu Kaul, Ram Krishnamurthy

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a new edge encoding technique to reduce the energy consumption in multi-cycle interconnects. Both average and worst-case energy are reduced by desynchronizing the edges of rising and falling transitions. In a 1.2V 65nm CMOS technology, the approach achieves up to 31% energy reduction with no latency overhead over optimally designed conventional busses due to coupling capacitance reductions. The technique further reduces energy consumption by 38% with iso-throughput at the expense of one-cycle latency. Energy savings are shown to be more robust to process variations than previous techniques.