Dynamic modulation of on-chip supply voltage for low-power design
AssigneeSun Microsystems, Inc.
InventorsPradeep Trivedi, Sudhakar Bobba
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A modulation circuit arranged to modulate a first voltage from a first power supply grid to produce a desired second voltage not greater than the first voltage on a second power supply grid is provided. A digital register is operatively connected to the modulation circuit to determine the desired second voltage on the second power supply grid. Furthermore, the digital register maintains a value representative of an activity level or an anticipated activity level of a circuit connected to the second power supply grid. The modulation circuit maintains the desired second voltage for the circuit connected to the second power supply grid by transferring charge between capacitances.
Claims23
An integrated circuit, comprising:
- a first power supply grid;
- a modulation circuit arranged to receive a first voltage from the first power supply grid, wherein the first voltage is modulated by the modulation circuit to produce a second voltage not greater than the first voltage on a second power supply grid;
- and
- a digital register operatively connected to the modulation circuit, wherein the digital register determines a desired second voltage of a circuit connected to the second power supply grid and controls the modulation of the modulation circuit.
A method of supplying power to an integrated circuit, comprising:
- modulating a first voltage from a first power supply grid to produce a second voltage not greater than the first voltage on a second power supply grid;
- determining a desired second voltage on the second power supply grid based on an activity level of a circuit connected to the second power supply grid;
- maintaining a digital value representative of the desired second voltage on the second power supply grid;
- and
- adjusting the desired second voltage based on the digital value.
An integrated circuit, comprising:
- means for modulating a first voltage from a first power supply grid to produce a second voltage not greater than the first voltage on a second power supply grid;
- means for determining a desired second voltage on the second power supply grid based on an activity level of a circuit connected to the second power supply grid;
- means for maintaining a digital value representative of the activity level of the circuit connected to the second power supply grid;
- and means for adjusting the desired second voltage based on the digital value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.