What is the state of the art in commercial EDA tools for low power?

Integrated circuit design has principally focused on achieving performance goals (e.g., speed) with minimal cost (e.g., area) using as little design time as possible. To help designers achieve these goals computer-aided design tools have traditionally focused on tools which improve performance, reduce area, and improve productivity. In the beginning of this decade, a new design concern began to surface. Motivated by the desire to differentiate products by longer battery life, designers of integrated circuits for portable products began to be worried about the power consumption of their electronics. Moreover, as the decade progressed and smaller processing geometries appeared on the horizon, the problem of packing millions of transistors into a cost-effective plastic package emerged. Finally, product reliability added a third motivation to address the issue of power dissipation. As we approach the end of the decade, it appears that power dissipation will eclipse area as a design concern for many integrated circuits. In response to this, the electronic-design automation industry is beginning to produce products which aid in the reduction of power dissipation of integrated circuits. This paper aims to review the state-of-the-art of commercial tools for reducing power dissipation.