Adaptive voltage scaling digital processing component and method of operating the same

A processing system, comprising:

• an adjustable power source capable of providing a power supply;
• a clock generator capable of generating (i) a first clock signal and (ii) a second clock signal at one of a plurality of clock frequencies;
• a digital processing component capable of operating at the plurality of clock frequencies, the digital processing component also capable of receiving the second clock signal from the clock generator, wherein a maximum delay time of a critical path in the digital processing component is based on a level of the power supply;
• and
• a power supply adjuster capable of adjusting the level of the power supply such that the maximum delay time of the critical path is less than a duration between two sequential clock edges of the first clock signal.

A method, comprising:

• generating (i) a first clock signal and (ii) a second clock signal at one of a plurality of clock frequencies;
• providing the second clock signal to a digital processing component, the digital processing component capable of operating at the plurality of clock frequencies, wherein a maximum delay time of a critical path in the digital processing component is determined by a level of a power supply of the digital processing component;
• and
• adjusting the level of the power supply such that the maximum delay time of the critical path is less than a duration between two sequential clock edges of the first clock signal.