System on chip and temperature control method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9459680-B2
Application number	US-201313948691-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 23, 2013
Priority date	Jul 26, 2012
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

A temperature control method of a semiconductor device is provided. The temperature control method includes detecting a temperature of the semiconductor device; activating a reverse body biasing operation in which a body bias voltage applied to a function block of the semiconductor device is regulated, when the detected temperature is greater than a first temperature level; and activating a thermal throttling operation in which at least one of a frequency of a driving clock provided to a function block of the semiconductor device and a driving voltage applied to the function block of the semiconductor device is regulated, when the detected temperature is greater than a second temperature level that is different than the first temperature level.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling a temperature of a semiconductor device, comprising:
detecting, by a temperature sensor, a temperature of the semiconductor device;
activating a reverse body biasing operation in which, in response to determining that the detected temperature is greater than a first temperature level, a body bias voltage applied to a substrate of a function block of the semiconductor device is regulated; and
activating a thermal throttling operation in which, in response to determining that the detected temperature is greater than a second level that is different than the first temperature level, at least one frequency of a driving clock is provided to the function block of the semiconductor device and a driving voltage applied to the function block of the semiconductor device is regulated.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reverse body biasing operation and the thermal throttling operation are performed simultaneously when the detected temperature is greater than both of the first temperature level and the second temperature level.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second temperature level is greater than the first temperature level.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first temperature level is greater than the second temperature level.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activating the thermal throttling operation comprises performing the thermal throttling operation in one of a plurality of modes and each of the plurality of modes specifies a different level of the frequency of the driving clock and a different level of the driving voltage, respectively.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the body bias voltage is changed to different levels in response to the plurality of modes, respectively.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function block comprises a plurality of sub blocks according operating properties and a level of a body bias voltage provided to at least one of the plurality of sub blocks is different from a level of a body bias voltage applied to the remaining sub blocks.

8. A method of controlling a temperature of a semiconductor device, comprising:
detecting, by a temperature sensor, a temperature of the semiconductor device;
setting a thermal throttling mode to one of a plurality of different thermal throttling modes based on the detected temperature; and
performing a thermal throttling operation and a reverse body biasing operation according to the set thermal throttling mode, wherein in the thermal throttling operation, a driving voltage and a frequency of a driving clock provided to a function block of the semiconductor device are adjusted according to the set thermal throttling mode, and in the reverse body biasing operation, a body bias voltage applied to a substrate of the function block of the semiconductor device is adjusted according to the set thermal throttling mode.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the setting the thermal throttling mode comprising setting the thermal throttling mode based on at least one of a driving performance of the semiconductor device and a power dissipation of the semiconductor device.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of thermal throttling modes comprise at least a first mode, a second mode and a third mode, and each of the first mode, the second mode and the third mode specifies a different level of the frequency of the driving clock and a different level of the driving voltage.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein in the performing the reverse body biasing operation, the body bias voltage is set to different levels in accordance with the plurality of modes, respectively.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the performing the reverse body biasing operation comprises:
setting the level of the body bias voltage to a first level when the thermal throttling mode is set to the first mode;
setting the level of the body bias voltage to a second level when the thermal throttling mode is set the second mode; and
setting the level of the body bias voltage to a third level when the thermal throttling mode is set to the third mode, and
wherein the first level is greater than the second level, and the second level is greater than the third level.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the function block comprises a plurality of sub blocks according to operating properties and a level of a body bias voltage provided to at least one of the plurality of sub blocks is different from a level of a body bias voltage applied to the remaining sub blocks.

14. A system on chip comprising:
a plurality of transistors disposed on a substrate;
a body bias generator-configured to provide a body bias voltage to the substrate; and
a controller configured to control the body bias generator to activate a reverse body biasing operation in which the body bias voltage provided by the body bias generator is regulated in response to determining that a temperature of the system on chip is greater than a first temperature level, and configured to activate a thermal throttling operation in which at least one frequency of a driving clock applied to the plurality of transistors and at least one driving voltage applied to the plurality of transistors are regulated in response to determining the temperature of the system on chip is greater than a second temperature level that is different than the first temperature level.

15. The system on chip of claim 14 , wherein the reverse body biasing operation and the thermal throttling operation are performed simultaneously when the detected temperature is greater than both of the first temperature level and the second temperature level.

16. The system on chip of claim 15 , wherein the second temperature level is greater than the first temperature level.

17. The system on chip of claim 15 , wherein the first temperature level is greater than the second temperature level.

18. The system on chip of claim 15 , wherein the controller performs the thermal throttling operation in one of a plurality of modes, and each of the plurality of modes specify a different level of the frequency of the driving clock and a different level of the driving voltage.

19. The system on chip of claim 18 , wherein the controller controls the body bias generator to change the body bias voltage to different levels in response to the plurality of modes, respectively.

20. The system on chip of claim 15 , further comprising:
a temperature sensor which measures the temperature of the system on chip and provides the measured temperature to the controller.

21. The system on chip of claim 15 , further comprising:
a performance monitor which measures a performance of the system on chip and provides the measured performance to the controller,
wherein the controller is further configured to adjust a level of reverse body biasing operation in accordance with the measured performance.

22. A system on chip comprising:
a plurality of transistors disposed on a substrate;
a body bias generator configured to provide a body bias voltage to the substrate; and
a controller configured to set a thermal throttling mode to one of a plurality of different thermal throttling modes,
configured to activate a thermal throttling operation and a reverse body biasing operation according to the set thermal throttling mode, wherein in the thermal throttling operation, at least one driving voltage and at least one frequency of a driving clock provided to the plurality of transistors are changed according to

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Hyungock
• Kim Wook
• Seomun Jun
• Oh Chungki
• Jeon Jaehan
• Do Kyungtae
• Choi Jungyun
• Won Hyosig
• Kim Kee Sup

Classifications

• G06F1/324

  by lowering clock frequency · CPC title

• Y02B60/1217

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• G06F1/20

  Cooling means · CPC title

• G05D23/1919

  characterised by the type of controller · CPC title

• G06F1/3206 Primary

  Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality · CPC title