Dynamic table look-up based voltage regulator control
AssigneeAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.
InventorsSanjiv K. Lakhanpal, Peter T. Hardman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A technique for dynamically controlling microprocessor power plane voltage levels includes storing in a memory on a voltage regulator voltage control identifiers in a table accessible according to performance state. In at least one embodiment of the invention, a method includes transitioning a voltage output of a voltage regulator to a next voltage level associated with a next performance state of a processor coupled to the voltage regulator based on a performance state indicator received from the processor and a corresponding entry of a performance state table. In at least one embodiment, the method includes loading performance state table entries into a storage device on the voltage regulator circuit.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- transitioning a voltage output of a voltage regulator to a next voltage level associated with a next performance state of a processor adapted to be coupled to the voltage regulator based on a performance state indicator received by the voltage regulator and a corresponding entry of a performance state table.
An apparatus comprising:
- a voltage regulator configured to receive an indicator of a next performance state of a processor, wherein the voltage regulator comprises:
- an interface circuit configured to receive the indicator;
- a storage circuit configured to store a plurality of voltage identifier codes corresponding to a respective plurality of performance states;
- and
- at least one output terminal configured to provide a regulated voltage corresponding to one of the plurality of voltage indicator codes according to the indicator.
A method comprising:
- providing an indicator of a next performance state of a processor, wherein the indicator is a digital code having a number of bits to encode at least voltage regulator table entries corresponding to voltage identification codes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.