Iterative compilation for energy reduction

Abstract

The rapidly increasing number of architectural changes in embedded processors puts compiler technology under an enormous stress. This is emphasized by new demands on compilers, like requirements to reduce static code size, energy consumption or power dissipation. Iterative compilation has been proposed as an approach to find the best sequence of optimizations (such as loop transformations) for an application, in order to improve its performance. In this paper, we study both the effect of several loop transformations on energy consumption as well as the possibility of using the iterative compilation method in order to find the best compiled code for energy. From analyzed benchmarks, we conclude that in most cases the decrease in energy consumption is coming together with performance improvement. However, the best compiled code for performance is not always the best one for energy. Thus, a combined energy-performance factor may be considered to evaluate the compiled code in order to have good compromises. As iterative compilation has been proven to be a good approach to compilation for performance, we may conclude that it is also promising for the compilation for energy problem.