Method and apparatus for reducing power consumption in digital electronic circuits

Abstract

An integrated circuit with power conservation includes a number of functional blocks, each of which includes a digital circuitry and at least one output control line, and a power controller coupled to the control lines. The output control lines develop clock control signals based upon a functional block's knowledge of the direction of data flow. The power controller the reduces power by deactivating functional blocks that are not needed as indicated by the clock control signals. More specifically, a system with power conservation includes a number of functional blocks capable of processing data, each of the functional blocks including a modulated clock input and N+1 clock control lines which reflect the direction of data flow, where N is a number of neighbors of a particular functional block, and a clock controller having an input clock, the clock controller being coupled to the modulated clock inputs and the clock control lines of the functional blocks. The clock controller is operative to modulate the input clock in accordance with the signals on the clock control lines to provide modulated clocks to each of the plurality of functional blocks. A method for reducing power consumption includes the steps of: a) receiving control signals from a number of functional blocks; b) selectively deactivating a particular functional block upon a request from that functional block or from another functional block; and c) activating the particular functional block upon a request from another functional block.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates generally to digital electronic equipment, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for reducing power consumption for personal computer systems.There are variety of reasons why computer designers wish to reduce power consumption in personal computers. Portable computers, for example, typically depend on batteries for power. Obviously, the less power consumed by the portable computer circuitry and peripherals, the longer the batteries will last. In addition to portable computer applications, it is also often desirable to have desktop computers that consume less power. This is because reduced power consumption reduces energy costs and, in a cumulative sense, reduces the negative environmental impacts of excessive energy consumption. Furthermore, desktop computers designed to consume less power also generate less heat, which means that they can be made smaller and with reduced cooling requirements.The prior art has taken several ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for reducing power consumption in digital electronic circuits and, more particularly, in personal com

Problems solved by technology

For example, if peripherals are turned off to reduce power consumption, they are not immediately available when they are needed.

This causes the time-costly procedure of powering up the required peripheral and waiting for it to become fully operational prior to conti

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