Performance, thermal and power management system associated with an integrated circuit and related method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9292025-B2
Application number	US-201213719193-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2012
Priority date	Dec 19, 2011
Publication date	Mar 22, 2016
Grant date	Mar 22, 2016

Abstract

The performance, thermal and power management system is configured to perform DVFS calibration, temperature compensation adjustment, aging calibration, and DC offset calibration in an IC. The initial voltage supplied to the IC may be set to an initial value which takes chip-to-chip process variations into account and then dynamically adjusted according to temperature variations, DC offset and/or aging effects. Therefore, the performance, thermal and power management system may achieve optimized thermal and power performance of the IC.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A performance, thermal and power (PTP) management system associated with an integrated circuit (IC), comprising:
a performance circuit with adjustable configurations for simulating operations of the IC when receiving a supply voltage;
a sensing module configured to measure a characteristic of the performance circuit, the characteristic includes a non-aged voltage and an aged voltage of the performance circuit;
a memory for storing characterization data associated with the IC, the characterization data includes a voltage difference between the non-aged voltage and the aged voltage of the performance circuit; and
a PTP controller configured to:
set the performance circuit in a specific configuration according to the characterization data; and
adjust a level of the supply voltage according to the characteristic of the performance circuit.

2. The PTP management system of claim 1 , wherein:
the characterization data further includes a voltage-frequency relationship of the IC when operating at a predetermined temperature for a given application use; and
the PTP controller is further configured to calculate a specific voltage for operating the IC at a specific frequency and the predetermined room temperature according to the voltage-frequency relationship and adjust the level of the supply voltage according to the specific voltage.

3. The PTP management system of claim 2 , wherein:
the characterization data further includes a voltage-frequency-temperature relationship of the IC when operating at a plurality of predetermined temperatures for the given application use;
the sensing module is further configured to detect a temperature change of the IC; and
the PTP controller is further configured to calculate a specific compensation voltage associated with the temperature change at the specific frequency according to the voltage-frequency-temperature relationship and adjust the level of the supply voltage according to the specific voltage and the specific compensation voltage.

4. The PTP management system of claim 3 , wherein:
the characterization data further includes crossover voltages of the performance circuit in a plurality of configurations;
the sensing module is further configured to measure an IC voltage; and
the PTP controller is further configured to set the performance circuit in a configuration corresponding to a crossover voltage commensurate with the IC voltage.

5. The PTP management system of claim 4 , wherein:
the performance circuit includes a first PTP detector and a second PTP detector having an identical circuitry;
the PTP controller is further configured to:
power on the first PTP detector during a booting sequence of the IC and power off the first PTP detector after the booting sequence of the IC ends; and
power on the second PTP detector according to a system clock based on which the IC operates; and

the sensing module is further configured to measure the non-aged voltage from the first PTP detector and measure the aged voltage from the second PTP detector.

6. The PTP management system of claim 1 , further comprising setting the level of the supply voltage to a predetermined value for a given application use, wherein:
the characterization data further includes a voltage-frequency-temperature relationship of the IC when operating at a plurality of predetermined temperatures for the given application use;
the sensing module is further configured to detect a temperature change of the IC; and
the PTP controller is further configured to calculate a specific compensation voltage associated with the temperature change at a specific frequency according to the voltage-frequency-temperature relationship and adjust the level of the supply voltage according to the specific compensation voltage.

7. The PTP management system of claim 6 , wherein:
the characterization data further includes crossover voltages of the performance circuit in a plurality of configurations;
the sensing module is further configured to measure an IC voltage; and
the PTP controller is further configured to set the performance circuit in a configuration corresponding to a crossover voltage commensurate with the IC voltage.

8. The PTP management system of claim 7 , wherein:
the performance circuit includes a first PTP detector and a second PTP detector having an identical circuitry;
the PTP controller is further configured to:
power on the first PTP detector during a booting sequence of the IC and power off the first PTP detector after the booting sequence of the IC ends; and
power on the second PTP detector according to a system clock based on which the IC operates; and

the sensing module is further configured to measure the non-aged voltage of the first PTP detector and measure the aged voltage of the second PTP detector.

9. The PTP management system of claim 1 , further comprising setting the level of the supply voltage to a predetermined value for a given application use, wherein:
the characterization data is further associated with the performance circuit and includes crossover voltages of the performance circuit in a plurality of configurations;
the sensing module is further configured to measure an IC voltage; and
the PTP controller is further configured to set the performance circuit in a configuration corresponding to a crossover voltage commensurate with the IC voltage.

10. The PTP management system of claim 9 , wherein:
the performance circuit includes a first PTP detector and a second PTP detector having an identical circuitry;
the PTP controller is further configured to:
power on the first PTP detector during a booting sequence of the IC and power off the first PTP detector after the booting sequence of the IC ends; and
power on the second PTP detector according to a system clock based on which the IC operates; and

the sensing module is further configured to measure the non-aged voltage of the first PTP detector and measure the aged voltage of the second PTP detector.

11. The PTP management system of claim 1 , wherein:
the performance circuit includes a first PTP detector and a second PTP detector having an identical circuitry;
the PTP controller is further configured to:
power on the first PTP detector during a booting sequence of the IC and power off the first PTP detector after the booting sequence of the IC ends; and
power on the second PTP detector according to a system clock based on which the IC operates; and

the sensing module is further configured to measure the non-aged voltage of the first PTP detector and measure the aged voltage of the second PTP detector.

12. A method for performance, thermal and power (PTP) management system associated with an integrated circuit (IC), comprising:
providing a performance circuit with adjustable configurations for simulating operations of the IC when receiving a supply voltage;
providing characterization data associated with the IC, the characterization data includes a voltage difference between a non-aged voltage and an aged voltage of the performance circuit;
setting the performance circuit in a specific configuration according to the characterization data; and
adjusting a level of the supply voltage according to a characteristic of the performance circuit, the characteristic includes the non-aged voltage and the aged voltage of the performance circuit.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
providing the characterization data associated with the IC by acquiring a voltage-frequency relationship of the IC when operating at a predetermined temperature for a given application use;
calculating a specific voltage for o

Assignees

• Mediatek Singapore Pte Ltd

Inventors

• Ko Uming
• Gammie Gordon
• Wang Alice

Classifications

• G05F1/462 Primary

  as a function of the requirements of the load, e.g. delay, temperature, specific voltage/current characteristic · CPC title

• G06F1/26

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

• G01R31/31721

  Power aspects, e.g. power supplies for test circuits, power saving during test (for scan test G01R31/318575) · CPC title

• G06F1/206

  comprising thermal management · CPC title

• G05F1/46

  wherein the variable actually regulated by the final control device is DC (G05F1/625 takes precedence) · CPC title