For modules except C674x DSP, utilization is simple the percentage of time the module spend doing something useful, versus being unused or idle. For these peripherals, there are not various degrees of use, so the value is just an average over time. For example, the EMIF performs reads and write one-quarter of the time and has no data to move for the other three-quarters of the time (though it continues to perform background tasks like refresh); this would be 25% utilization.

For peripherals with I/O, utilization can be estimated by comparing used bandwidth with theoretical maximum bandwidth. If, for example, an application must transfer 160 Kb/s via the I2C port, with a theoretical 400 Kb/s maximum, the I2C utilization would be about 40%. In some cases, the max bandwidth allowed may be dependent on the device frequency; factor this while calculating the utilization if doing the estimation at different device frequencies.

System level issues may also reduce utilization. Though the spreadsheet accepts 100% utilization for all peripherals, this is not possible in reality. As concurrency in data movement increases and/or throughput requirements on high bandwidth modules (EDMA, and so forth) increases, overall peripheral activity is throttled back due to bottlenecks created at various common end points. In such cases, peripherals might not achieve 100% utilization; therefore, you should enter individual module utilization numbers keeping this overall limitation in mind.