Abstract for Seng, Tune, Tullsen, "Reducing Power with Dynamic
Critical Path Information"
Recent research has shown that dynamic information regarding
instruction criticality can be used to increase microprocessor
performance. Critical path information can also be used in processors
to achieve a better balance of power and performance. This paper uses
the output of a dynamic critical path predictor to decrease the power
consumption of key portions of the processor without incurring a
corresponding decrease in performance. The optimizations include
effective use of functional units with different power and latency
characteristics and decreased issue logic power.