Integrated circuit that staggers compute unit transitions to mitigate inductive-induced supply voltage droop and overshoot

Abstract

An integrated circuit (IC) includes an array of compute units. Each compute unit, when transitioning between processing data and not processing data, makes an individual contribution to an aggregate time rate of change of current drawn by the IC through inductive loads of the IC. Control circuitry staggers in time when each compute unit of the array is eligible to transition between processing data and not processing data relative to when one or more other compute units of the array transition between processing data and not processing data. The staggering mitigates supply voltage droop, supply voltage overshoot, or both, caused by the aggregate time rate of change of current. The control circuitry may be distributed among the compute units, switches, and memory units, and may be statically reconfigured with configuration data that limits how many compute units transition concurrently.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.