What are the most innovative ways to optimize power consumption in your hardware design?

1 Select low-power components

One of the simplest ways to optimize power consumption is to choose components that have low-power modes, such as microcontrollers, sensors, memory, and wireless modules. Low-power components can switch between active and idle states, or even sleep and deep sleep modes, depending on the activity and frequency of the device. For example, you can use a microcontroller that has a power-down mode that consumes only a few microamps, and wake it up with a timer or an external interrupt when needed.

2 Use adaptive voltage scaling

Another way to optimize power consumption is to use adaptive voltage scaling (AVS), which is a technique that adjusts the supply voltage of the components according to the workload and environmental conditions. AVS can reduce the power consumption by lowering the voltage when the device is performing less demanding tasks, or when the temperature is high. AVS requires a feedback loop that monitors the performance and stability of the components, and a regulator that controls the voltage level. For example, you can use a buck converter that has an AVS feature, and program it to change the output voltage based on the input from a temperature sensor or a current sensor.

3 Implement power gating

Power gating is a technique that disconnects the power supply from the components that are not in use, effectively turning them off. Power gating can save a significant amount of power, especially for components that have high leakage currents, such as transistors and logic gates. Power gating requires switches that can isolate the components from the power source, and controllers that can manage the switching logic. For example, you can use a MOSFET as a switch, and a microcontroller as a controller, and program them to turn off the components that are not needed for a certain function or mode.

6 Use software optimization

Software optimization is a technique that improves the efficiency and performance of the software that runs on the hardware, and thus reduces the power consumption. Software optimization can involve various aspects, such as code optimization, algorithm optimization, data compression, and power management. For example, you can use code optimization to eliminate unnecessary or redundant instructions, algorithm optimization to reduce the complexity or the number of operations, data compression to reduce the size or the bandwidth of the data, and power management to control the power states or the modes of the components.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?