Automatic Power Management for SoC and NoC Agents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current power management systems for System-on-Chip (SoC) and Network-on-Chip (NoC) lack an efficient and dynamic method to automatically configure power domains, voltage domains, and power profiles, leading to suboptimal power usage and increased overhead due to ad-hoc protocols and limited configurability.
Innovation Solution
An input specification is developed to automatically define and manage power domains, voltage domains, and power profiles for SoC/NoC elements, enabling dynamic power management by assigning power domains, adjusting power profiles, and optimizing power sequences, while considering traffic profiles, connectivity, and hardware states.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If ad-hoc power management protocols are used for SoC/NoC elements, then power management can be implemented, but system overhead increases and configurability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The power management system automatically configures power domains, voltage domains, and power profiles without requiring manual ad-hoc protocols. The system self-manages power settings by processing input specifications and generating appropriate configuration, eliminating the need for complex external power management protocols and reducing system overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts power management parameters including power domain assignments, voltage domain settings, and power profile configurations based on input specifications. By changing these parameters automatically rather than using fixed ad-hoc protocols, the system achieves both configurability and reduced overhead.
2Productivity
If static power management configuration is used, then implementation is simple, but power efficiency deteriorates under varying workloads
Solution Approach 1:
The power management system transitions from static configuration to dynamic adjustment. It automatically adapts power domains, voltage domains, and power profiles based on varying workload conditions and input specifications, maintaining power efficiency across different operational scenarios without requiring manual reconfiguration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system processes input specifications that contain information about traffic profiles, connectivity, and hardware states to dynamically adjust power management settings. This feedback mechanism allows the system to optimize power efficiency based on actual operating conditions while managing complexity through automated decision-making.
3Ease of operation
If manual power domain and voltage domain assignment is performed, then fine-grained control is achieved, but design time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system accepts input specifications that predefine power domain and voltage domain assignments along with power profiles. By processing these preliminary configurations automatically, the system achieves fine-grained control over power domains and voltage domains without requiring manual assignment during the design phase, significantly reducing design time and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual mechanical process of assigning power domains and voltage domains is replaced by an automated computational system. The system processes input specifications and automatically generates the appropriate power management configuration, eliminating time-consuming manual assignment while maintaining fine-grained control capabilities.
4Adaptability or versatility
If power management is optimized for specific workloads, then power efficiency improves, but adaptability to different workloads decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The power management system is designed to handle multiple workload types through a universal framework. It processes diverse input specifications containing traffic profiles, connectivity information, and hardware states to generate appropriate power configurations for different workloads, achieving both adaptability and energy efficiency through a single multi-functional system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from input specifications about traffic profiles and hardware states to dynamically optimize power consumption for the current workload while maintaining the capability to adapt to different workload types. This feedback-driven approach ensures energy efficiency is optimized for each specific workload without sacrificing overall adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
Example implementations described herein are directed to the generation of a specification for automatic power management of a network on chip and/or a system on chip. Such example implementations can include automatically generating a specification comprising at least one of a power domain, an always-on indicator, a voltage domain, a voltage level, and a clock frequency for each of one or more agents of a System on Chip (SoC) and a Network on Chip (NoC), the voltage domain indicative of power supply of the each agent, and the power domain indicative of one or more power switch rules applied to the each agent.