This book is about various adaptive and dynamic techniques used to optimize processor power and performance. It is based on a very successful forum at ISSCC which focused on Adaptive Techniques.

The book looks at the underlying process technology for adaptive designs and then examines different circuits, architecture and software that address the different aspects. The chapters are written by people both in academia and the industry to show the scope of alternative practices.

The integrated circuit has evolved tremendously in recent years as Moore s Law has enabled exponentially more devices and functionality to be packed onto a single piece of silicon. In some ways however, these highly integrated circuits, of which microprocessors are the flagship example, have become victims of their own success. Despite dramatic reductions in the switching energy of the transistors, these reductions have kept pace neither with the increased integration levels nor with the higher switching frequencies. In addition, the atomic dimensions being utilized by these highly integrated...