An entropy measure for power estimation of Boolean functions

In this paper, we present a study on the relationship between entropy and the average power consumption of circuits generated from Boolean functions. Based on a general-delay model, an entropy-based formulation for power estimation is derived from a large set of experimental data. The study shows that the entropy measure provides an e ective power estimate for single-output and fully-correlated multiple-output functions. The study also shows that if entropy is used as a power measure, the internal structure of a circuit must be considered in order to achieve accurate power estimates for non-correlated multiple-output functions. Experiments on a set of benchmarks demonstrate that combining entropy-based power measures with input-output correlation analyses of logic functions leads to a viable measure for high-level power estimation.