Voltage droop and overshoot management using non-linear slope detection

A computer program product, the computer program product for detecting n-level slopes for a voltage level in a processor, wherein n is greater than 1, comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable and/or executable by a computer to cause the computer to:

• monitor, by a slope detector, a voltage in a processor for a voltage level corresponding to a predefined first edge;
• monitor, by the slope detector, for a voltage level corresponding to a predefined second edge within a first count limit from the detection of the predefined first edge;
• in response to detecting the predefined second edge within the first count limit, monitor, by the slope detector, for a voltage level corresponding to a predefined third edge within a second count limit from detection of the predefined second;
• and
• in response to detecting the predefined third edge within the second count limit, determine whether to adjust a power applied to a processor based on the monitored voltage levels.

A system comprising

• a processing circuit, wherein the circuit comprises an n-level slope detector, n being greater than 1, wherein the n-level slope detector comprises a voltage sensor;
• and
• logic integrated with the processing circuit, executable by the processing circuit, or integrated with and executable by the processing circuit, the logic being configured to:
• monitor, by the slope detector, a voltage level of the processing circuit for a voltage level corresponding to a predefined first edge;
• monitor, by the slope detector, for a voltage level corresponding to a predefined second edge within a first count limit from detection of the first edge;
• in response to detecting the predefined second edge within the first count limit, monitor, by the slope detector, for a voltage level corresponding to a predefined third edge within a second count limit from detection of the first edge;
• and
• in response to detecting the predefined third edge within the second count limit, determining, whether to adjust a power applied to the processing circuit based on the monitored voltage levels.

A computer-implemented method for using a slope trace based on voltage levels of a processor, the method comprising:

• detecting a plurality of slopes using a slope trace;
• storing data from the plurality of slopes in a log, the data comprising a minimum count and a maximum count for a transition between a predefined high edge and a predefined low edge for each of the detected plurality of slopes;
• and
• selecting a configuration for a slope detector based on a set of data from the plurality of slopes, wherein the selection includes a maximum count below a predefined count threshold.

A computer-implemented method for calibration of a slope detector based on a processor having the slope detector, the method comprising:

• repeating the following operations for a plurality of power cycles:
• increasing power on the processor for a predefined duration of time,
• recording a minimum count and a maximum count between a high edge and a low edge detected while monitoring a voltage level applied to a processor during the increasing the power, and
• applying a throttle;
• storing data of each of the plurality of power cycles, the data comprising voltage levels at each high edge and low edge, and the maximum count during transition from each high edge to each low edge, respectively;
• selecting a set of cycles from the plurality of power cycles, the set of cycles having high edge-low edge combinations corresponding to a predefined difference in voltage levels;
• and
• programming the slope detector on the processor with a configuration corresponding to data of one of the selected set of cycles having a minimum value of the maximum count in the transition between the high edge and the low edge.