Control techniques in voltage regulation systems, and related methods and circuits

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10855180-B2
Application number	US-201816023993-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2018
Priority date	Jun 4, 2014
Publication date	Dec 1, 2020
Grant date	Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

Devices and techniques for controlling voltage regulation are disclosed. A voltage regulation system may include one or more loads disposed on an integrated circuit, a DC-to-DC voltage regulation device at least partially disposed on the integrated circuit, and a second device disposed external to the integrated circuit and comprising circuitry configured to communicate with the controller of the voltage regulation device. The voltage regulation device may include one or more voltage regulation modules and a controller configured to control the one or more voltage regulation modules. The one or more voltage regulation modules may be configured to supply one or more voltage levels, respectively, to the one or more loads. The controller may be configured to disable at least one of the one or more voltage regulation modules based on a determination that the second device is not suitable for use with the voltage regulation device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
an upstream voltage regulation device disposed external to an integrated circuit (IC), the upstream device comprising one or more upstream voltage regulation modules and an upstream controller configured to control operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules during a bootstrap phase of operation;
a downstream voltage regulation device disposed on the IC and coupled to the upstream device, the downstream device comprising one or more downstream voltage regulation modules and a downstream controller configured to control the downstream voltage regulation modules; and
one or more loads disposed on the IC, the loads implemented in one or more voltage domains and coupled to the downstream device,
wherein the upstream voltage regulation modules of the upstream device are configured to supply one or more intermediate voltages as input to the downstream voltage regulation modules of the downstream device,
wherein the downstream voltage regulation modules are configured to supply one or more voltage levels to the one or more loads, and
wherein the downstream controller is configured to:
attempt to take control of the operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules from the upstream controller; and
if the downstream controller fails to take control of the operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules, disable at least one of the downstream voltage regulation modules.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the upstream controller is configured to control voltage levels of the intermediate voltages during the bootstrap phase of operation, and wherein the downstream controller is configured to control the voltage levels of the intermediate voltages after taking control of the operation of the upstream voltage modules from the upstream controller.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate voltages supplied by the upstream voltage regulation modules provide power to the downstream controller.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the downstream controller is further configured to determine, based on the intermediate voltages, whether the downstream controller is controlling the upstream voltage regulation modules of the upstream voltage regulation device.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the downstream controller is configured to control the downstream voltage regulation modules to perform dynamic voltage scaling.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the downstream controller is configured to control the voltage levels supplied by the downstream voltage regulation modules based on power specifications of the loads.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the downstream controller is configured to control the voltage levels supplied by the downstream voltage regulation modules based on a measurement of a temperature and/or a measurement of a current.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the upstream device further comprises communication circuitry configured to send authentication data to the downstream controller of the downstream device, and wherein the downstream controller is further configured to:
receive the authentication data from the communication circuitry, and
determine, based on the authentication data, whether the upstream device is authentic.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the downstream controller is further configured to disable at least one of the downstream voltage regulation modules if the downstream controller determines that the upstream device is not authentic.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the downstream controller is configured to directly and/or indirectly disable the downstream voltage regulation modules.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the downstream controller is further configured to enable at least one of the downstream voltage regulation modules if the downstream controller determines that the upstream voltage regulation device is authentic.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the downstream controller is further configured to disable at least one of the downstream voltage regulation modules within a predetermined time after startup of the downstream voltage regulation device unless the downstream controller determines that the upstream voltage regulation device is authentic prior to the predetermined time.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the authentication data encode authentication information including one or more security tokens, one or more security credentials, and/or data identifying the upstream device, and wherein the downstream controller is configured to determine, based on the authentication information, whether the upstream device is authentic.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the downstream controller comprises:
a master controller configured to determine whether the upstream device is authentic; and
one or more voltage regulation module controllers configured to control the one or more respective downstream voltage regulation modules.

15. A downstream voltage regulation device comprising:
one or more downstream voltage regulation modules disposed on an integrated circuit (IC); and
a downstream controller configured to control the downstream voltage regulation modules,
wherein the voltage regulation modules are configured to:
receive one or more intermediate voltages supplied by an upstream voltage regulation device disposed external to the IC, the upstream device including one or more upstream voltage regulation modules configured to supply the intermediate voltages and an upstream controller configured to control operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules during a bootstrap phase of operation, and
supply one or more voltage levels to one or more loads disposed on the IC and implemented in one or more voltage domains, and
wherein the downstream controller is configured to:
attempt to take control of the operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules from the upstream controller; and
if the downstream controller fails to take control of the operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules, disable at least one of the downstream voltage regulation modules.

16. The downstream device of claim 15 , wherein the downstream controller is configured to control the voltage levels of the intermediate voltages after taking control of the operation of the upstream voltage modules from the upstream controller, the upstream controller being configured to control voltage levels of the intermediate voltages during the bootstrap phase of operation.

17. The downstream device of claim 15 , wherein the intermediate voltages supplied by the upstream voltage regulation modules provide power to the downstream controller.

18. The downstream device of claim 15 , wherein the downstream controller is further configured to determine, based on the intermediate voltages, whether the downstream controller is controlling the upstream voltage regulation modules of the upstream voltage regulation device.

19. The downstream device of claim 15 , wherein the downstream controller is configured to control the downstream voltage regulation modules to perform dynamic voltage scaling.

20. The downstream device of claim 15 , wherein the downstream controller is further configured to:
receive authentication data sent by the upstream device, and
determine, based on the authentication data, whether the upstream device is authentic.

21. The downstream device of claim 20 , wherein the downstream controller is further configured to disable at least one of the downstream voltage regulation mod

Assignees

• Empower Semiconductor Inc

Inventors

• Lidsky David
• Phillips Timothy
• Sheridan Gene

Classifications

• H02M3/00

  Conversion of DC power input into DC power output · CPC title

• H02M3/22

  with intermediate conversion into AC · CPC title

• H02M3/158 Primary

  including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load · CPC title

• H02M1/007

  Plural converter units in cascade (push-pull DC/DC converters with pre-regulator H02M3/3374; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC stage including a high frequency transformer H02M7/4807; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC conversion stage generating periodically varying voltages H02M7/4826) · CPC title

• H02J1/00

  Circuit arrangements for DC mains or DC distribution networks · CPC title