Power Architect

Project

Work done for a product or program.

• Build the top-down power budget allocating dynamic and leakage power across every subsystem and operating mode.
• Define the power domain and voltage rail partitioning, including always-on islands, switchable domains and body-bias usage.
• Specify the power state machine, DVFS operating points, retention strategy and wake latency requirements.
• Develop architectural power models that estimate energy per operation for key workloads before RTL power analysis is possible.
• Author the UPF power intent and review its consistency with the architectural specification through implementation.
• Define clock gating, power gating and adaptive voltage scaling strategies and quantify their savings per mode.
• Run scenario-based power analysis for real use cases such as video playback, 4K gaming, LLM inference or standby.
• Correlate silicon power measurements against architectural and RTL-based estimates and close the accuracy gap.
• Drive power reduction ECOs when subsystems exceed budget and arbitrate which features must be scaled back.

Function

Work that keeps the discipline running: methods, tools, suppliers and people.

• Work with firmware and OS power management teams to define the software-visible power control interface and governor policy.

Project

1. Produce and hand over the role's key deliverables
   • Chip power budget workbook by subsystem and use case
   • Power domain, rail and power state machine specification
   • Architectural power model and energy-per-operation estimates
   • UPF power intent architecture definition
   • DVFS operating point table and software power control interface spec
   • Silicon power correlation report
2. Define the architectureGeneral
   • Collect and clarify the product requirements
   • Build performance and power models
   • Write and baseline the architecture specification
3. Support implementationGeneral
   • Answer specification questions from design and verification
   • Assess the impact of proposed changes
   • Compare results with the original targets

Function

1. Build the architecture practiceGeneral
   • Keep modelling tools and reference models current
   • Publish design guidelines and specification templates
2. Plan aheadGeneral
   • Study workload and technology trends
   • Contribute to the product roadmap