Low-power applications represent a significant portion of the future market for embedded systems. Every year, more designers are required to make designs portable, wireless and energy efficient. This document seeks to simplify the transition to low-power applica- tions by providing a single location for the foundations of low-power design for embedded systems. The examples discussed in this document will focus on power consumption from the viewpoint of the microcon- troller (MCU). As the brain of the application, the MCU typically consumes the most power and has the most control over the system power consumption. As with all designs, it is important for the designer of a low-power embedded system to consider trade-offs between power consumption, and other factors, such as cost, size and complexity. While some low-power tech- niques can be used with no cost to the system, others may require trade-offs. This guide will give examples of these trade-offs where applicable. However, it is not feasible to discuss all possible trade-offs, so an embed- ded designer should keep in mind the possible system level impacts of power-saving techniques. This design guide will refer to Low-Power modes available on PIC ® MCUs, but will not go into detail about these features. For information about the Low-Power modes available on PIC MCU devices, refer to AN1267, “nanoWatt and nanoWatt XLP™ Technologies: An Introduction to Microchip’s Low-Power Devices” (DS01267). AN1416 Low-Power Design Guide Authors: Brant Ivey Main Sources of Power Consumption Microchip Technology Inc. In CMOS devices, such as microcontrollers, the total power consumption can be broken down into two broad INTRODUCTION categories: dynamic power and static power. Dynamic power is the power consumed when the microcontroller Low-power applications represent a significant portion is running and performing its programmed ……