Bus Interconnect Clock Frequency Scaling for Power Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
In system-on-a-chip (SOC) designs, bus interconnects face challenges in balancing power consumption and performance, as lowering bus clock frequency reduces power but increases latency, while maintaining high frequency for performance consumes more power.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a bus interconnect with a controller that scales the bus clock frequency based on bandwidth and latency conditions, allowing for dynamic adjustment to optimize power consumption while maintaining performance requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the bus clock frequency is lowered to reduce power consumption, then power consumption is reduced, but latency increases and performance degrades
Solution Approach 1:
The bus interconnect implements dynamic clock frequency scaling where the clock frequency is adjusted in real-time based on current bandwidth and latency conditions. The controller monitors traffic patterns and dynamically changes the clock frequency to match actual performance requirements, avoiding both excessive power consumption at high frequencies and excessive latency at low frequencies.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of the bus interconnect by scaling the clock frequency based on measured bandwidth and latency conditions. The controller adjusts the frequency parameter dynamically, transitioning between different frequency states to optimize the trade-off between power consumption and performance based on actual traffic demands.
2Productivity
If the bus clock frequency is maintained at high levels to ensure performance, then latency is reduced and bandwidth is maintained, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bus interconnect implements dynamic clock frequency scaling where the clock frequency is adjusted in real-time based on current bandwidth and latency conditions. The controller monitors traffic patterns and dynamically changes the clock frequency to match actual performance requirements, avoiding both excessive power consumption at high frequencies and excessive latency at low frequencies.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller continuously monitors bandwidth and latency conditions of the bus interconnect and uses this feedback information to adjust the clock frequency. This closed-loop control ensures that the frequency is optimized based on actual performance metrics, maintaining required bandwidth while minimizing power consumption by avoiding unnecessarily high frequencies when full performance is not needed.
Data Source
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AI summary
Bus clock frequency scaling for a bus interconnect and related devices, systems, and methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, the bus interconnect comprises an interconnect network configurable to connect a master port(s) to a slave port(s). A bus interconnect clock signal clocks the interconnect network. The controller is configured to receive bandwidth information related to traffic communicated over the master port(s) and the slave port(s). The controller is further configured to scale (e.g., increase or decrease) the frequency of the bus interconnect clock signal if the bandwidth of the master port(s) and/or the slave port(s) meets respective bandwidth condition(s), and/or if the latency of the master port(s) meets a respective latency condition(s) for the master port(s). The master port(s) and/or slave port(s) can also be reconfigured in response to a change in frequency of the bus interconnect clock signal to optimize performance and conserve power.