Power efficiency now dominant factor in mobile design

SPAIN:  Imagination Technologies says that power consumption and thermal envelope considerations are becoming a dominant factor in mobile SoC design decisions.

Imagination puts very significant research into design for low power to help extend the ever-essential battery life of mobile and embedded computing systems. Designing first for low power has made Imagination the leading GPU supplier for mobile markets as well as a key supplier in other markets such as thin, flat TVs, complex automotive dashboards, connected audio/media players and ultra-portable computers, where power and thermal constraints can be just as demanding as in mobile devices.

Tony King-Smith, EVP marketing, Imagination, said: "The industry needs a call to action to acknowledge the realities of low power and thermal requirements in end user products running real software, not development boards just running benchmarks. Everyone talks about the importance of power management, and that's an area where the best in the industry have really drawn ahead of the pack by adopting technologies and developing design approaches that support sophisticated power management in SoCs.

"Unfortunately benchmarks used for system performance measurement rarely take account of power use even though this is a key factor in all modern designs. We are working closely with the benchmarking industry to address this in future benchmarks and are encouraging everyone in the industry to take into account power under real end product operating conditions when considering performance metrics."