Current consumption controller

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11860702-B2
Application number	US-202017122128-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 15, 2020
Priority date	Dec 15, 2020
Publication date	Jan 2, 2024
Grant date	Jan 2, 2024

Abstract

Methods and systems for controlling current consumption by an electrical load of a first circuit board are described. In an example, a device of a first circuit board can measure a current being drawn by the electrical load of the first circuit board from a second circuit board. The device can generate a control signal based on a current difference between the measured current and a target current. The control signal can represent a load control parameter. The device can apply the control signal to the electrical load of the first circuit board to adjust a current consumption by the electrical load.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device comprising:
a current sensing circuit in a first circuit board configured to measure a current being drawn by an electrical load of the first circuit board from a second circuit board, wherein the current is measured from a power supply pin of the first circuit board that connects the first circuit board to the second circuit board;
a controller in the first circuit board comprising hardware being configured to:
receive a current difference between the measured current and a target current;
in response to the current difference indicating the current being drawn is greater than the target current, determine a first load control parameter to decrease an operating frequency of the electrical load in the first circuit board;
in response to the current difference indicating the current being drawn is less than the target current, determine a second load control parameter to increase the operating frequency of the electrical load in the first circuit board;
generate a control signal based on one of the first and second load control parameters; and
apply the control signal to the electrical load in the first circuit board to adjust the operating frequency, wherein the adjustment to the operating frequency adjusts a current consumption by the electrical load,
wherein the control signal is a first control signal, and in response to the controller receiving a default control signal, the controller is further configured to combine the first control signal with the default control signal to generate a second control signal, the default control signal representing a default load control parameter received from another device external to the first circuit board,
wherein the control signal applied to the electrical load in the first circuit board to adjust the operating frequency is the second control signal.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein:
the current sensing circuit and the controller are connected to a power supply monitor of the first circuit board;
the current sensing circuit is configured to send the measured current to the power supply monitor; and
the controller is configured to receive the current difference from the power supply monitor.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein:
the current sensing circuit comprises a current sensing resistor and a sense amplifier;
a first terminal and a second terminal of the current sensing resistor are coupled to the sense amplifier; and
the sense amplifier is configured to output the measured current to a power supply monitor of the first circuit board.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a compensator configured to determine the load control parameter based on the current difference.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein the compensator is an analog compensator.

6. The device of claim 4 , wherein the compensator is a digital compensator.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the target current is a predefined value stored in a memory of the first circuit board.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive a new current difference between the target current and a new current, the new current being an amount of current drawn by the electrical load in response to the adjustment of the current using the control signal;
generate a new control signal based on the new current difference; and
apply the new control signal to the electrical load to re-adjust the current consumption by the electrical load.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the electrical load is a graphics processing unit (GPU).

10. An apparatus comprising:
an electrical load of a device integrated in the apparatus;
a voltage regulator connected to the electrical load;
a power supply pin configured to receive a current from a circuit board external to the apparatus;
a current sensing circuit of the device integrated in the apparatus, the current sensing circuit being connected to the power supply pin and the voltage regulator, the current sensing circuit being configured to measure the current from the power supply pin connecting the apparatus to the circuit board;
a controller of the device integrated in the apparatus, the controller being connected to the electrical load and the voltage regulator, the controller being configured to:
receive a current difference between the measured current and the target current;
in response to the current difference indicating the current measured from the power supply pin is greater than the target current, determine a first load control parameter to decrease an operating frequency of the electrical load;
in response to the current difference indicating the current measured from the power supply pin is less than the target current, determine a second load control parameter to increase the operating frequency of the electrical load;
generate a control signal based on one of the first and second load control parameters; and
apply the control signal to the electrical load to adjust the operating frequency, wherein the adjustment to the operating frequency adjusts current being consumed by the electrical load from an output voltage of the voltage regulator,

wherein the control signal is a first control signal, and in response to the controller receiving a default control signal, the controller is further configured to combine the first control signal with the default control signal to generate a second control signal, the default control signal representing a default load control parameter received from another device external to the device,
wherein the control signal applied to the electrical load to adjust the operating frequency is the second control signal.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein:
the current sensing circuit is configured to send the measured current to a power supply monitor of the apparatus; and
the controller is configured receive a current difference between the measured current and the target current from the power supply monitor.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:
the current sensing circuit comprises a current sensing resistor and a sense amplifier;
a first terminal and a second terminal of the current sensing resistor are coupled to the sense amplifier; and
the sense amplifier is configured to output the measured current to a power supply monitor of the apparatus.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the controller comprises a compensator configured to determine the load control parameter based on the current difference.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the target current is a predefined value stored in a memory of the apparatus.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the electrical load is a graphics processing unit (GPU).

16. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprises a power supply monitor, wherein:
the voltage regulator is configured to:
measure a new current being drawn by the electrical load; and
send the measurement of the new current to the power supply monitor;

the power supply monitor is configured to:
compare the measurement of the new current with the target current;
determine a new current difference between the target current and the new current; and
send the new current difference to the controller;

the controller is further configured to:
generate a new control signal based on the said another modulated current; and
apply the new control signal to the electrical load to re-adjust the current being consumed by the electrical load from the output voltage of the voltage regulator.

17. A method for controlling current consumption by an el

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Zhang Xin
• Fleischer Bruce
• Chang Leland

Classifications

• G06F1/28 Primary

  Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision · CPC title

• G01R19/0046

  characterised by a specific application or detail not covered by any other subgroup of G01R19/00 · CPC title

• H02M3/04

  by static converters · CPC title

• G06F1/26 Primary

  Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof (for memories G11C) · CPC title

• Y02D10/00

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