This work began in 1995 as an outgrowth of the InfoPad project which showed us that in order to reduce the energy consumption of a portable multimedia terminal that something had to be done about the consumption of the microprocessor subsystem. The design of the InfoPad attempted to reduce the requirements of this general pur pose processor by moving the computation into the network or by the use of highly optimized integrated circuits, but in spite of these efforts it still was a major consumer of energy. The reasons for this became apparent as we determined that the energy required to...

A silicon compiler is a software system which can automatically generate an integrated circuit from a user's specification.
Anatomy of a Silicon Compiler examines one such compiler in detail, covering the basic framework and design entry, the actual algorithms and libraries which are used, the approach to verification and testing, behavioral synthesis tools and several applications which demonstrate the system's capabilities.

Low-Power CMOS Wireless Communications: A Wideband CDMA System Design focuses on the issues behind the development of a high-bandwidth, silicon complementary metal-oxide silicon (CMOS) low-power transceiver system for mobile RF wireless data communications. In the design of any RF communications system, three distinct factors must be considered: the propagation environment in question, the multiplexing and modulation of user data streams, and the complexity of hardware required to implement the desired link. None of these can be allowed to dominate. Coupling between system design and...