Voltage/frequency scaling for overcurrent protection with on-chip ADC
AssigneeNVIDIA Corporation
InventorsSachin Idgunji, Ben Pei En Tsai, Jun (Alex) Gu, James Reilley, Thomas E. Dewey
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Abstract
An integrated circuit such as, for example a graphics processing unit (GPU), having an on-chip analog to digital converter (ADC) for use in overcurrent protection of the chip is described, where the overcurrent protection response times are substantially faster than techniques with external ADC. A system-on-chip (SoC) includes the integrated circuit and a multiplexer arranged externally to the chip having the ADC, where the multiplexer provides the ADC with a data stream of sampling information from a plurality of power sources. Methods for overcurrent protection using an on-chip ADC are also described.
Claims21
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a substrate;
- one or more processing cores disposed on the substrate;
- an analog to digital converter (ADC) disposed on the substrate and configured to receive input signals representing voltages and/or currents being supplied to the substrate, the ADC generating a digital output signal;
- and
- power management circuitry configured to, in response to the digital output signal from the ADC, generate one or more signals to control power being supplied to the substrate.
A system comprising:
- an integrated circuit comprising:
- a substrate;
- one or more processing cores disposed on the substrate;
- an analog to digital converter (ADC) disposed on the substrate and configured to receive input signals representing voltages and/or currents being supplied to the substrate, the ADC generating a digital output signal;
- and
- power management circuitry configured to, in response to the digital output signal from the ADC, generate one or more signals to control power being supplied to the substrate;
- and
- a multiplexer, arranged externally to the substrate, and configured to time-division-multiplex said current and/or voltage information from a plurality of input power sources.
A method for protecting an integrated circuit, having one or more processing cores disposed on a substrate, from overcurrent, the method comprising:
- receiving, using an analog to digital converter (ADC) disposed on the substrate, input signals representing voltages and/or currents being supplied to the substrate;
- generating, by the ADC in response to the received input signal, a digital output signal;
- and
- in response to the digital output signal from the ADC, transmitting one or more signals to control power being supplied to the substrate.
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate;
- a selection controller disposed on the substrate, the selection controller generating a selection control signal that selects between analog signals representing power supply voltages and/or currents;
- an analog to digital converter (ADC) disposed on the substrate, the ADC generating digital outputs in response to analog signals selected based on the selection control signal;
- a clock generator that generates clocking signals;
- and
- a power management processor disposed on the substrate and operatively coupled to the selection controller, the ADC and the clock generator, the power management processor, in response to the digital outputs generated by the ADC, controls a frequency of the clocking signals and at least one voltage level supplied to the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.