Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, Division Engineering of Adaptive Systems EASCool E-Design
Cool E-Design is part of the project "Technologies for Energy-Efficient Computing Platforms" of the Leading-Edge Cluster Cool Silicon. Saxon universities, research institutes and companies have joined together to develop new technologies for low-energy computing platforms and electronic systems.
The greatest share of the total energy consumed by information and communication technology can be attributed to PCs and user devices, such as screens and monitors, followed by data centers and network technology. Fraunhofer IIS/EAS is working with Fraunhofer CNT within the Cool E-Design project to reduce the power consumption of electronics.
Project Goals:
When designing individual components in the future, the IT industry should be able to optimize not only computing performance but also energy efficiency. Today, circuits are largely optimized with regard to their manufacture. No consideration is given, however, to the fact that the electronics age over their lifetime, causing their properties to change. This has consequences on energy consumption, which can increase considerably as parameters generally worsen. Fraunhofer IIS/EAS is taking up this aspect in its research.
In addition to this, Fraunhofer CNT is working on manufacturing technologies for cost-efficient production of energy-efficient transistors.
Fraunhofer IIS/EAS' Approach:
The EAS Division is investigating the connection between the actual usage conditions of the electronics and their manufacturing. This involves not only considering the statistical current condition of the circuits but also their dynamic behavior over prolonged periods. In order to design more energy-efficient circuits, techniques must be developed for predicting their properties over their life cycle. This will establish the prerequisites for precise estimation of the energy consumption, an important basis for optimizing the electronics.
