Providing Multiple Power Paths In An Integrated Circuit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017063229-A1
Application number	US-201514841915-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 1, 2015
Priority date	Sep 1, 2015
Publication date	Mar 2, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

An integrated circuit includes: a voltage converter to receive a first supply voltage signal via a first power path and to output a first output voltage signal; and a voltage regulator to receive the first output voltage signal and to output a regulated voltage signal. The voltage regulator may further be configured to receive the first supply voltage signal via a second power path, and to selectively output the regulated voltage signal from one of the first supply voltage signal and the first output voltage signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An integrated circuit comprising:
a voltage converter to receive a first supply voltage signal via a first power path and to output a first output voltage signal; and a voltage regulator to receive the first output voltage signal and to output a regulated voltage signal, the voltage regulator further to receive the first supply voltage signal via a second power path, wherein the voltage regulator is configured to selectively output the regulated voltage signal from one of the first supply voltage signal and the first output voltage signal.

2 . The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the voltage regulator comprises:
a first switch to receive the first supply voltage signal and controllable to output the regulated voltage signal therefrom; and a second switch to receive the first output voltage signal and controllable to output the regulated voltage signal therefrom.

3 . The integrated circuit of claim 2 , further comprising a controller to selectively enable one of the first switch and the second switch.

4 . The integrated circuit of claim 3 , wherein the controller is to selectively enable the first switch when the integrated circuit is powered on and prior to the voltage converter being configured.

5 . The integrated circuit of claim 4 , wherein the controller is to selectively enable the second switch after the voltage converter is configured.

6 . The integrated circuit of claim 5 , wherein the controller is to access a non-volatile storage to obtain configuration information for the voltage converter and cause the voltage converter to be configured based at least in part on the configuration information.

7 . The integrated circuit of claim 3 , wherein the controller is to selectively disable the voltage regulator and enable the voltage converter to provide the first output voltage signal to the digital core after the voltage converter is configured.

8 . The integrated circuit of claim 2 , wherein the voltage regulator comprises a comparator to compare a reference voltage to the regulated voltage, the comparator to output a gate signal based on the comparison, the gate signal to control at least the first switch.

9 . The integrated circuit of claim 2 , wherein:
the first power path comprises one or more metal lines having a first width and formed on at least one layer of a semiconductor die; and the second power path comprises one or more metal lines having a second width and formed on the at least one layer, the second width less than the first width, the second power path configured to handle a lower current consumption level than the first power path.

10 . The integrated circuit of claim 9 , wherein the first switch comprises a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) having a first device size, and the second switch comprises a second MOSFET having a second device size, the second device size greater than the first device size.

11 . The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the voltage regulator comprises:
a first regulator circuit having:
a first power gate to receive the first supply voltage signal and output the regulated voltage;
a feedback circuit to compare the regulated voltage to a first reference voltage and to control the first power gate based on the comparison; and
at least a first switch to disable the first regulator circuit after the voltage converter is configured; and
a second regulator circuit having:
a second power gate to receive the first output voltage signal and output the regulated voltage;
a second feedback circuit to compare the regulated voltage to the first reference voltage and to control the second power gate based on the comparison; and
at least a second switch to disable the second regulator circuit before the voltage converter is configured.

12 . The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the voltage converter comprises a downconverting converter, and wherein the first output voltage signal is at a lower voltage than the first supply voltage signal.

13 . The integrated circuit of claim 12 , wherein the first output voltage signal is to couple to one or more components of a system external to the integrated circuit.

14 . A method comprising:
receiving a supply voltage signal in a voltage regulator of an integrated circuit (IC) via an auxiliary power path; regulating the supply voltage signal to provide a regulated voltage from the voltage regulator to a digital circuit of the IC; configuring a DC-DC converter of the IC based on configuration information obtained from a non-volatile storage; receiving a second voltage signal in the voltage regulator, the second voltage signal received from an output of the DC-DC converter; and regulating the second voltage signal to provide the regulated voltage to the digital circuit.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising powering at least one component external to the IC via the output of the DC-DC converter, wherein the at least one component is not powered until the DC-DC converter is configured.

16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
operating the digital circuit at a first current consumption level when the supply voltage signal is regulated to provide the regulated voltage; and operating the digital circuit at a second current consumption level when the second voltage signal is regulated to provide the regulated voltage, the second current consumption level greater than the first current consumption level.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
accessing the non-volatile storage via the digital circuit to obtain the configuration information of the DC-DC converter; and sending the configuration information from the digital circuit to the DC-DC converter.

18 . An apparatus comprising:
a voltage converter to receive a supply voltage and to output a converted voltage via a first power path; a voltage regulator to receive the converted voltage from the voltage converter via the first power path and receive the supply voltage via a second power path, wherein the voltage regulator comprises switching circuitry controllable to output the regulated voltage from a selected one of the supply voltage and the converted voltage; and a digital circuit to receive the regulated voltage.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein:
the first power path comprises one or more metal lines having a first width and formed on at least one layer of a semiconductor die; and the second power path comprises one or more metal lines having a second width and formed on the at least one layer, the second width less than the first width, the second power path configured to handle a lower current consumption level than the first power path.

20 . The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising a non-volatile memory, wherein the digital circuit is to access the non-volatile memory to obtain configuration information for the voltage converter and cause the voltage converter to be configured based at least in part on the configuration information.

Assignees

• Silicon Lab Inc

Inventors

• Powell Matthew R

Classifications

• H02M2001/0003

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H02M3/158 Primary

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

• H02M3/00

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

• H02M1/0045

  Converters combining the concepts of switch-mode regulation and linear regulation, e.g. linear pre-regulator to switching converter, linear and switching converter in parallel, same converter or same transistor operating either in linear or switching mode · CPC title

• H02M1/36

  Means for starting or stopping converters · CPC title