Voltage regulator efficiency-aware global-minimum energy tracking
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsSriram R. Vangal, Turbo Majumder, Vivek De
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Abstract
Various embodiments of the invention may be used to find a combination of voltage and frequency that results in a minimum amount of energy consumption in a digital system, including energy consumed by the system's voltage regulator (VR). The process may involve finding a separate point of minimum energy consumption for each of several different modes of the VR, where a mode is the ratio of Vin to Vout for that VR. The smallest value of those points may then be selected as the overall minimum. The process for making this determination may be performed in situ while the device is in operation, and may encompass changes in operational temperature, load, and process variations.
Claims20
A device for controlling energy consumption, the device comprising:
- A switched-capacitor voltage regulator (VR) having multiple modes to energize a load, wherein a mode is a ratio of input voltage to output voltage for the VR;
- a clock generator to generate multiple frequencies to operate the load;
- a power management unit (PMU) to control operation of the VR and the clock generator;
- and
- the load;
- wherein the device is configured to:
- determine a separate point of minimum energy consumption for each of the multiple modes;
- select one of the separate points as a point of minimum energy consumption for the device;
- and
- set the output voltage and frequency of the device to values defining the selected separate point.
(canceled)
A method of regulating energy consumption in a device, comprising:
- determining a separate point of minimum energy consumption for each of multiple modes of a switched-capacitor voltage regulator, wherein a mode is a ratio of voltage output to voltage input of the voltage regulator;
- selecting one of the separate points as a point of minimum energy consumption for the device;
- and
- setting the output voltage and frequency of the device to values defining the selected separate point.
A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium that contains instructions, which when executed by one or more processors result in performing operations comprising:
- determining a separate point of minimum energy consumption for each of multiple modes of a switched-capacitor voltage regulator, wherein a mode is a ratio of an input voltage of the voltage regulator to an output voltage of the voltage regulator;
- selecting one of the separate points as a point of minimum energy consumption for a device;
- and
- setting the output voltage and frequency of the device to values defining the selected separate point.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.