Hierarchical Performance Monitors for Supply Voltage Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
In semiconductor chips, the varying characteristics and manufacturing inequalities across different domains lead to inequal supply voltage-target operating speed relationships, making it challenging to determine a suitable supply voltage for optimal energy consumption, as existing monitoring systems fail to account for these differences effectively.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of hierarchical performance monitors, comprising local and global monitors, that generate feedback signals to adjust supply voltage levels based on functional relationships between voltage and frequency, ensuring the supply voltage is suitable for target operating frequencies across different domains.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single monitoring system is used for the entire chip, then the device complexity is reduced, but the measurement precision of supply voltage characteristics across different domains deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system is divided into multiple domain-level performance monitors, each independently monitoring supply voltage characteristics within its specific domain. This segmentation allows each monitor to capture local variations in supply voltage due to manufacturing inequalities and temperature differences, thereby improving measurement precision without requiring a single complex centralized system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a hierarchical monitoring structure where domain-level performance monitors are nested within各自 domains, and a chip-level performance monitor aggregates information from all domain monitors. This nested architecture allows the system to maintain both local precision (through domain monitors) and global oversight (through the chip-level monitor) while keeping individual monitor units simple and manageable.
2Measurement precision
If domain-specific monitoring is implemented, then the measurement precision of supply voltage characteristics improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each domain-level performance monitor uses a standardized design that can be replicated across multiple domains. This universal monitor architecture performs multiple functions: monitoring supply voltage, generating domain-specific feedback signals, and contributing to global chip-level monitoring. By reusing the same monitor design throughout the chip, the system achieves high measurement precision across all domains while avoiding the complexity of designing and maintaining multiple different monitor types.
3Reliability
If supply voltage is increased to ensure target operating frequency, then the operating speed reliability is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The performance monitors continuously monitor the relationship between supply voltage and operating speed in each domain, generating feedback signals that indicate whether the current supply voltage level is sufficient to achieve the target operating frequency. The supply voltage controller uses this feedback to dynamically adjust supply voltage levels, increasing voltage only when necessary to meet frequency targets and reducing voltage when targets are already met, thereby ensuring operating speed reliability while minimizing energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts supply voltage levels based on real-time monitoring of operating conditions and target frequency requirements. Instead of using a fixed high voltage to guarantee frequency targets, the supply voltage is adaptively changed according to actual domain performance, allowing the system to maintain reliability when needed while reducing energy consumption during normal operation.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method for controlling a supply voltage using hierarchical performance monitors includes a signal generator generating an operating frequency and a target operating frequency, a supply voltage generator generating the supply voltage, a plurality of local performance monitors, and a global performance monitor. Each of the plurality of local performance monitors implemented in each different domain is modelled on a relationship between a level of the supplied voltage supplied to each different domain of a predetermined system and an operating speed or the operating frequency of a predetermined circuit implemented in the interior of the domain. The plurality of local performance monitors, respectively, monitors continuously whether the level of the supply voltage supplied to the domain is suitable for the target operating frequency, and outputs a local feedback signal. The global performance monitor generates the global feedback signal based on the local feedback signals of the plurality of local performance monitors, the supply voltage generator adjusts the level of the supply voltage based on the global feedback signal, and the signal generator changes the operating frequency to the target operating frequency when the level of the supply voltage corresponds to the target operating frequency.