Dynamic SoC Power Management with Distributed Sensors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing power management systems for SoC-based electronic devices lack efficiency and flexibility in monitoring and controlling power consumption and device performance.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a dynamic power management hierarchy with distributed power sensors and a power management engine that collects power samples, generates power profiles, and applies both firmware-level and hardware-level power control operations to manage power budgets and throttling actions across different domains.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If power management is performed using traditional PMIC with conductive wires on main logic board, then power supply is provided to SoC, but parasitic effects and voltage drops occur reducing efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The power management system is segmented into multiple independent power sensors distributed across different domains (processor cluster domain, I/O domain, memory domain) rather than using a centralized PMIC approach. Each sensor independently monitors power characteristics in its specific domain, reducing the impact of parasitic effects and voltage drops by eliminating long conductive wire connections on the main logic board.
Solution Approach 2:
Power sensors act as intermediaries between the power rails and the power management engine. These sensors directly measure power characteristics at the source without requiring complex wire connections through the main logic board, thereby eliminating parasitic effects and voltage drops associated with traditional PMIC architectures.
2Productivity
If power samples are collected from multiple domains and processed in real-time, then power consumption and temperature are controlled efficiently, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides power management into separate domains (processor cluster domain, I/O domain, memory domain) with dedicated power sensors for each. This segmentation allows independent real-time monitoring and control of each domain's power characteristics without requiring a monolithic complex system, improving efficiency while managing complexity through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
Each power domain operates with its own power sensor that autonomously monitors and reports power characteristics to the power management engine. The system enables self-service power management where each domain independently tracks its own power consumption and temperature, reducing the need for complex centralized control while maintaining high power control efficiency.
3Measurement precision
If distributed power sensors are implemented across multiple domains, then measurement precision of power characteristics is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system is segmented into multiple independent power sensors positioned in different domains (processor cluster, I/O, memory). Each sensor provides precise local measurements of power characteristics in its specific domain, improving overall measurement precision by capturing domain-specific power behavior that a single centralized sensor would miss.
Solution Approach 2:
The power sensors are designed with multi-functionality, capable of measuring multiple power characteristics (power consumption, current, temperature) across different domains using the same sensor architecture. This universality improves measurement precision across all domains while avoiding the complexity of implementing separate specialized sensors for each measurement type.
Data Source
AI summary
This application is directed to power management at a processor system having a plurality of domains. Power samples are collected from the domains and combined to generate a system temperature profile including a temporal sequence of system temperature values. When the system temperature profile satisfies a first criterion, it is determined in real time whether a respective system temperature value of the system temperature profile satisfies a second criterion or a third criterion. In accordance with a determination that the respective system temperature value satisfies the second criterion, a power management engine determines power budgets of the domains on a firmware level and enables operations of the domains according to the power budgets. In accordance with a determination that the respective system temperature value satisfies the third criterion, a subset of domains are selected to apply a respective power throttling action directly on a hardware level.