US Patent 7496867 Cell library management for power optimization

A method of managing a cell library regarding power optimization is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) reading a plurality of first modules within a first region of a circuit design stored in a design file, (B) calculating a first merit value indicating a relative sensitivity of the first region to a power consumption, the first merit value having a range from a static power dominated value to a dynamic power dominated value and (C) creating a constraint file configured to limit a design tool to a first subset of a plurality of replacement modules based on the first merit value such that the design tool automatically optimizes the power consumption of the first region by replacing at least one of the first modules with at least one of the replacement modules within the first subset, the replacement modules residing in a library file.