A Power Measuring Technique for Built-in Test Purposes

• Published in: 2006 IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference Proceedings pp. 90 - 95
• Main Authors: Konstantakos, V., Laopoulos, Th
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-04-2006
• Subjects: built-in integrated sensor; Built-in self-test; built-in testing; Condition monitoring; current measurement; Current supplies; Digital circuits; embedded systems; Energy consumption; Instruments; power estimation; Power measurement; Power supplies; Real time systems; Software measurement
• DOI: 10.1109/IMTC.2006.328290
• ISBN: 9780780393592; 0780393597
• ISSN: 1091-5281

A built-in configuration for monitoring the good operating condition of an instrumentation system (with analog and digital circuits) in real-time, is presented in this work. The approach is based on a current monitoring circuit which records the changes in the power supply current of the system without practically interfering the operation of the system and sums it within a specific time period. The comparison of the resulting power consumption measurement for hardware modules while executing certain tasks (defined in time by the software) with already known values may indicate the good operating condition of the system. This methodology may also provide information useful to power optimization techniques