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US 8,134,356 B2Granted
Operating an integrated circuit at a minimum supply voltage
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsDaniel W. Dobberpuhl, Vincent R. von Kaenel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one embodiment, an integrated circuit comprises at least one measurement unit configured to generate an output indicative of a supply voltage at which the integrated circuit is operable for a given operating frequency and a control unit coupled to receive the output. The control unit is configured to generate a voltage control output indicative of a requested supply voltage for the integrated circuit responsive to the output. The voltage control output may be output from the integrated circuit for use by circuitry external to the integrated circuit in generating the supply voltage for the integrated circuit.
Claims29
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a plurality of measurement units configured to determine whether or not a current supply voltage is to be modified to operate the integrated circuit at a given operating frequency;
- and
- a circuit coupled to the plurality of measurement units, wherein the circuit is configured to generate a voltage control output for an external voltage regulator responsive to the plurality of measurement units, and wherein the voltage control output indicates a requested supply voltage for the integrated circuit, and wherein the requested supply voltage differs from the current supply voltage to the integrated circuit responsive to the plurality of measurement units indicating that the current supply voltage is to be modified for the given operating frequency, and wherein, to increase to the given operating frequency, the circuit is configured to detect two or more pluralities of samples from the plurality of measurement units that indicate a decrease of the current supply voltage, and wherein the circuit is configured to change a current operating frequency of the integrated circuit to the increased operating frequency responsive to detecting the two or more pluralities of samples.
A method comprising:
- sampling outputs of a plurality of measurement units in an integrated circuit, wherein the plurality of measurement units are configured to determine whether or not a current supply voltage is to be modified to operate the integrated circuit at a given operating frequency;
- requesting a requested supply voltage for the integrated circuit, wherein the requested supply voltage differs from the current supply voltage to the integrated circuit responsive to the plurality of measurement units indicating that the current supply voltage is to be modified for the given operating frequency;
- detecting two or more consecutive samples of the outputs from the plurality of measurement units that indicate a decrease of the current supply voltage;
- and
- changing from a current operating frequency to the given operating frequency in the integrated circuit responsive to detecting the two or more consecutive samples.
2 more elements
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a plurality of measurement units configured to determine whether or not a current supply voltage is to be modified to operate the integrated circuit at a given operating frequency;
- and a circuit coupled to the plurality of measurement units, wherein the circuit is configured to predict that a request to modify the given operating frequency of the integrated circuit to a different operating frequency than the given operating frequency will be received prior to the circuit receiving the request, and wherein the circuit is configured to program at least one measurement unit of the plurality of measurement units to determine whether or not the current supply voltage is to be modified to operate the integrated circuit at the different operating frequency responsive to predicting the different operating frequency.
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a plurality of measurement units configured to determine whether or not a current supply voltage is to be modified to operate the integrated circuit at a given operating frequency;
- and a circuit coupled to the plurality of measurement units, wherein the circuit is configured to predict that the integrated circuit is to be changed to a different operating frequency than the given operating frequency, and wherein the circuit is configured to program at least one measurement unit of the plurality of measurement units to determine whether or not the current supply voltage is to be modified to operate the integrated circuit at the different operating frequency, and wherein the circuit is configured to program the plurality of measurement units to determine whether or not the current supply voltage is to be modified to operate the integrated circuit at a second different operating frequency responsive to receiving a request to change to the second different operating frequency, the second different operating frequency different from the different operating frequency that was predicted by the circuit, and wherein the circuit is configured to delay requesting a different supply voltage until the plurality of measurement units determine whether or not the current supply voltage is to be modified in response to being programmed to determine whether or not the current supply voltage is to be modified to operate the integrated circuit at the second different operating frequency.
A method comprising:
- determining, in a plurality of measurement units, whether or not a current supply voltage is to be modified to operate an integrated circuit at a given operating frequency, wherein the integrated circuit includes the plurality of measurement units;
- and predicting a request to modify the given operating frequency of the integrated circuit to a different operating frequency than the given operating frequency prior to the circuit receiving the request;
- responsive to the predicting, programming at least one measurement unit of the plurality of measurement units to determine whether or not the current supply voltage is to be modified to operate the integrated circuit at the different operating frequency.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.