Decoding Glitch Power at the RTL Stage
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In the context of analyzing digital semiconductor circuits, a glitch is any unwanted or unused signal transition, or toggle. A glitch is often a transient signal that is much shorter than a clock period and therefore is not captured by the next register stage.
We also encounter full transition glitches, or transport glitches, which refer to toggles in a data path circuit that cover a full clock period but do not contribute to the overall functionality of data path logic. The complexity of most chip designs means they generate a large number of glitches, which, like all transitions, briefly draw current and consume power.
If the incoming signals to a digital gate have different path delays, they can cause a glitch at the output. In designs with a lot of combinational logic, glitch power can represent 30% to 40% of the total power consumption of the circuit. Therefore, it is important to consider glitch power in the overall power consumption of digital circuits.
Learn more about glitch power and PowerArtist register-transfer level (RTL) power analysis and design software.