We propose a dynamic power-aware issue queue in a general-purpose microprocessor for multimedia applications. Resources can be adapted at runtime in accordance with the feedback from a formal closed-loop control system such that power dissipation is reduced while still meeting the real time target for multimedia applications. We partition the issue queue into multiple sets (i.e., FIFOs) such that only instructions at the head of each set are able to issue. We then dynamically reconfigure the issue queue by changing the number and/or size of FIFOs to satisfy specific application's needs. The optimal configuration and timing are predicted by the closed-loop control system. Our results show an average power savings of over 90% in the issue queue with a negligible affect on the performance.

To better address power concerns, a good design strategy should be flexible enough to dynamically reconfigure available resources according to the application's needs such that extra power is dissipated only when it is really needed. In this work, we focus on power-aware solutions for the issue queue (IQ) in an out-of-order superscalar processor. We propose two schemes that partition the IQ into FIFOs such that only the instructions at the head of each FIFO may request to issue. We then monitor the processor and dynamically vary the number and/or size of FIFOs in accordance with utilization. Experimenting with two different distributions in power dissipation, we show up to 69% reduction in power dissipation in the wakeup and arbitration loop, while constraining performance degradation to be no more than 5%.