Power Reduction in Embedded Systems Using a Design Methodology Based on Synchronous Finite State Machines

To achieve the highest levels of power reduction, embedded systems must be conceived as low-power devices, since the early stages of the design process. The proposed Model-Based-Development process uses Synchronous Finite State Machines (SFSM) to model the behavior of low-power devices. This methodology is aimed at devices at the lower-end of the complexity spectrum, as long as the device behavior can be modeled as SFSM. The implementation requires a single timer to provide the SFSM clock. The energy reduction is obtained by changing the state of the processor to a low-power state, such as deep-sleep. The main contribution is the use of a methodology where energy consumption awareness is a concern from the early stages of the design cycle, and not an afterthought to the implementation phase.