Authentication in voltage regulation systems, and related methods and circuits

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11309795-B2
Application number	US-201816023981-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2018
Priority date	Jun 4, 2014
Publication date	Apr 19, 2022
Grant date	Apr 19, 2022

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. An upstream voltage regulation device comprising:
communication circuitry configured to communicate with a downstream controller of a downstream voltage regulation device disposed on an integrated circuit (IC), wherein the upstream voltage regulation device is disposed external to the IC and configured to couple to the downstream voltage regulation device;
voltage supply circuitry configured to supply one or more intermediate voltages as input to the downstream voltage regulation modules of the downstream voltage regulation device; and
an upstream controller configured to relinquish control of operation of the voltage supply circuitry,
wherein the communication circuitry is configured to send encrypted authentication data to the downstream controller,
wherein after sending the encrypted authentication data, the upstream controller relinquishes control of operation of the voltage supply circuitry to the downstream controller in response to receiving, from the downstream controller, signals indicative of the downstream controller attempting to take control of the operation of the voltage supply circuitry to regulate the one or more intermediate voltages.

2. The upstream device of claim 1 , wherein the voltage supply circuitry comprises one or more upstream voltage regulation modules configured to supply the intermediate voltages.

3. The upstream device of claim 2 , wherein the upstream controller is further configured to control operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules during a bootstrap phase of operation, thereby controlling voltage levels of the intermediate voltages during the bootstrap phase.

4. The upstream device of claim 3 , wherein the upstream device is configured to supply power to the downstream controller via the intermediate voltages supplied by the upstream voltage regulation modules.

5. The upstream device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more voltage levels comprise one or more respective regulated voltage levels.

6. The upstream device of claim 1 , 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.

7. A system comprising:
an upstream device disposed external to an integrated circuit (IC), the upstream device comprising communication circuitry and voltage supply circuitry;
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 one or more loads implemented in one or more voltage domains and coupled to the downstream device,
wherein the voltage supply circuitry is 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,
wherein the communication circuitry of the upstream device is configured to send authentication data to the downstream controller of the downstream voltage regulation device, and
wherein the downstream controller is configured to:
receive the authentication data from the communication circuitry,
determine, based on the authentication data, whether the upstream device is authentic, and
disable at least one of the downstream voltage regulation modules if the downstream controller determines that the upstream device is not authentic, such that the downstream voltage regulation modules are disabled during a time period when the voltage supply circuitry of the upstream device is supplying the one or more intermediate voltages to the downstream device.

8. The system of claim 7 , 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 device is authentic.

9. The system of claim 7 , 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 device is authentic prior to the predetermined time.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the voltage supply circuitry of the upstream device comprises one or more upstream voltage regulation modules configured to supply the intermediate voltages.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the upstream device further comprises an upstream controller configured to control operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules during a bootstrap phase of operation, thereby controlling voltage levels of the intermediate voltages during the bootstrap phase.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the downstream controller is further configured to take control of the operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules from the upstream controller.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the downstream controller is further configured to:
attempt to take control of the operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules from the upstream controller; and
disable at least one of the downstream voltage regulation modules if the downstream controller fails to take control of the operation of the upstream voltage regulation modules.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more intermediate voltages supplied by the upstream voltage regulation modules of the upstream device provide power to the downstream controller.

15. The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more voltage levels comprise one or more respective regulated voltage levels, and wherein the downstream controller is configured to disable at least one of the downstream voltage regulation modules by configuring at least one of the downstream voltage regulation modules to supply a non-zero voltage level other than the one or more regulated voltage levels to the one or more loads.

16. The system of claim 7 , 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.

17. A downstream voltage regulation device comprising:
one or more downstream voltage regulation modules disposed on an integrated circuit (IC) and configured to:
receive one or more intermediate voltages supplied by an upstream device disposed external to the IC, 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
a downstream controller configured to:
receive authentication data from communication circuitry of the upstream device,
determine, based on the authentication data, whether the upstream device is authentic, and
disable at least one of the downstream voltage regulation modules if the downstream controller determines that the upstream device is not authentic, such that the downstream voltage regulation modules are disabled during a time period when the voltage supply circuitry of the upstream device is supplying the one or more intermediate voltages to the downstream device.

18. The downstream device of claim 17 , wherein the downstream controller is further conf

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

• H02M3/158 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

• H02M3/22

  with intermediate conversion into AC · CPC title

• H02J1/00

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