Mechanism to enter or exit retention level voltage while a system-on-a-chip is in low power mode

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10754413-B2
Application number	US-201715721772-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2017
Priority date	Sep 30, 2017
Publication date	Aug 25, 2020
Grant date	Aug 25, 2020

Abstract

A computing device, system and method. The computing device includes a memory storing instructions, and a processing circuitry coupled to the memory. The processing circuitry is configured to execute the instructions to process a first control signal and a second control signal from respective first and second control pins of a computing platform. The processing circuitry is further to transition the computing platform, based on a combination of the first control signal and the second control signal and using at least one voltage pin on the platform, between a low power state and a retention power state without transitioning to an operational power state in between.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computing platform including:
a plurality of circuit blocks;
at least one voltage pin coupled to the plurality of circuit blocks and to be controlled by a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) to cause at least one of the plurality of circuit blocks to transition between an operational power state, a low power state and a retention power state; and
a first control pin and a second control pin coupled to the at least one of the plurality of circuit blocks and configured to send respective control signals to the PMIC, the PMIC to control the at least one voltage pin based on a combination of the control signals to cause each of the at least one of the plurality of circuit blocks to transition between the low power state and a retention power state without transitioning to the operational power state in between, wherein each of the respective control signals is to indicate, for a corresponding one of the first control pin and the second control pin, an ON logic state or an OFF logic state.

2. The computing platform of claim 1 , wherein
a same logic state as between the first control pin and the second control pin is to indicate one of the operation power state or the retention power state, and wherein different logic states as between the first control pin and the second control pin are to indicate the retention power state.

3. The computing platform of claim 2 , wherein:
an OFF logic state for both the first control pin and the second control pin is to indicate the operational power state, and an ON logic state for both the first control pin and the second control pin is to indicate the retention power state; and
an ON logic state for the first control pin and an OFF logic state for the second control pin is to indicate the low power state.

4. The computing platform of claim 3 , wherein an ON logic state for the first control pin serves as an envelope for an ON logic state of the second control pin.

5. The computing platform of claim 1 , wherein the first control pin is a STDBY pin, and the second control pin is a vSTDBY pin.

6. The computing platform of claim 1 , further including a Power Management Circuitry (PMC) coupled to the second control pin, the PMC configured to send a PMC control signal to the second control pin to request the second control pin to change its logic state.

7. The computing platform of claim 1 , wherein the voltage pin includes a VNNAON pin, the VNNAON pin configured to be coupled to a voltage rail of the PMIC.

8. The computing platform of claim 1 , where the computing platform is a System-on-a-Chip.

9. The computing platform of claim 1 , further including the PMIC, wherein the at least one voltage pin, the first control pin and the second control pin are coupled to the PMIC.

10. The computing platform of claim 9 , further including wireless connectivity circuitry.

11. A product comprising one or more tangible computer-readable non-transitory storage media comprising computer-executable instructions operable to, when executed by at least one computer processor, cause the at least one computer processor to implement operations at a computing platform that includes a plurality of circuitry blocks, the operations comprising:
sending respective control signals to a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) from a first control pin and a second control pin of the computing platform; and
causing at least part of the platform to transition, based on a combination of the control signals, between a low power state and a retention power state without entering an operational power state in between, causing at least part of the platform to transition including using at least one voltage pin coupled to the plurality of circuit blocks and controlled by the PMIC, wherein each of the respective control signals is to indicate, for a corresponding one of the first control pin and the second control pin, an ON logic state or an OFF logic state.

12. The product of claim 11 , wherein
a same logic state as between the first control pin and the second control pin is to indicate one of the operation power state or the retention power state, and wherein different logic states as between the first control pin and the second control pin are to indicate the retention power state.

13. The product of claim 12 , wherein an OFF logic state for both the first control pin and the second control pin is to indicate the operational power state, and an ON logic state for both the first control pin and the second control pin is to indicate the retention power state.

14. The product of claim 13 , wherein an ON logic state for the first control pin and an OFF logic state for the second control pin is to indicate the low power state.

15. The product of claim 14 , wherein an ON logic state for the first control pin serves as an envelope for an ON logic state of the second control pin.

16. The product of claim 11 , wherein the first control pin is a STDBY pin, and the second control pin is a vSTDBY pin.

17. The product of claim 11 , the operations further including sending a Power Management Circuitry control signal to the second control pin to request the second control pin to change its logic state.

18. A computing platform including a plurality of circuit blocks, and further including:
means for sending respective control signals to a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) from a first control pin and a second control pin of the computing platform; and
means for causing at least part of the platform to transition, based on a combination of the control signals, between a low power state and a retention power state without entering an operational power state in between, causing at least part of the platform to transition including using at least one voltage pin coupled to the plurality of circuit blocks and controlled by the PMIC, wherein each of the respective control signals is to indicate, for a corresponding one of the first control pin and the second control pin, an ON logic state or an OFF logic state.

19. The computing platform of claim 18 , wherein
a same logic state as between the first control pin and the second control pin is to indicate one of the operation power state or the retention power state, and wherein different logic states as between the first control pin and the second control pin are to indicate the retention power state.

20. The computing platform of claim 19 , wherein an OFF logic state for both the first control pin and the second control pin is to indicate the operational power state, and an ON logic state for both the first control pin and the second control pin is to indicate the retention power state.

21. The computing platform of claim 20 , wherein an ON logic state for the first control pin and an OFF logic state for the second control pin is to indicate the low power state.

22. The computing platform of claim 21 , wherein an ON logic state for the first control pin serves as an envelope for an ON logic state of the second control pin.

23. The computing platform of claim 18 , wherein the first control pin is a STDBY pin, and the second control pin is a vSTDBY pin.

24. The computing platform of claim 18 , further including means for sending a Power Management Circuitry control signal to the second control pin to request the second control pin to change its logic state.

25. The computing platform of claim 18 , further including means for providing wireless connectiv

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Bibikar Vasudev
• Ramachandran Aswin
• Lu Chin Seng
• Rajesh Moorthy
• Crews Darren S

Classifications

• G06F1/3243 Primary

  Power saving in microcontroller unit · CPC title

• G06F1/3296

  by lowering the supply or operating voltage · CPC title

• Y02D10/00

  Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management · CPC title

• G06F1/3228 Primary

  Monitoring task completion, e.g. by use of idle timers, stop commands or wait commands · CPC title

• G06F1/3287

  by switching off individual functional units in the computer system · CPC title