MINIMIZING POWER CONSUMPTION IN PIPELINED CIRCUIT BY SHUTTING DOWN PIPELINED CIRCUIT IN RESPONSE TO PREDETERMINED PERIOD OF TIME HAVING EXPIRED

Power consumption in a circuit is minimized. The circuit includes a pipelined circuit having a plurality of stages. A determination is made as to whether a predetermined period of time has expired. The predetermined period of time being associated with a predetermined period of time to detect a transition of an input or an output of the pipelined circuit. If the predetermined period of time is exceeded, a sequential shut-down procedure is performed on each stage in the plurality of stages of the pipelined circuit so that each stage is shut-down.