IC Standby Voltage Control for Fast Wake-Up and Low Leakage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Integrated circuits (ICs) in deep sub-micron technology face significant static current leakage and high standby power consumption due to the need for rapid voltage regulator restarts during wake-up from standby mode, leading to slower response times and increased power usage.
Innovation Solution
An IC architecture with a reset device, standby control device, and power supply control device that maintains functional sub-units in a powered-on state during standby mode and controls power supply voltage within a preset range below normal operating voltage, using a delay circuit to stagger the operation of non-standby sub-units, thereby reducing wake-up time and static power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If voltage regulators are powered off during standby mode to reduce static current leakage, then standby power consumption is reduced, but wake-up time increases due to the need to restart voltage regulators
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by maintaining voltage regulators in a low-power state rather than completely powering them off during standby mode. The voltage regulators remain in a reduced-power state where they consume minimal current but retain enough operational state to quickly resume normal operation, thereby reducing both standby power consumption and wake-up time compared to complete power-off approaches
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameter of voltage regulators from binary (on/off) to a three-state model (normal operation, low-power standby, and powered off). By introducing a low-power standby state where voltage regulators operate at reduced voltage or current levels rather than being completely shut down, the system achieves lower static current leakage while maintaining faster wake-up capability
2Loss of energy
If all functional devices are powered off during standby mode, then static power consumption is minimized, but system response time deteriorates when waking up
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments functional devices into different power management groups: critical functional sub-units that remain powered on during standby, non-critical sub-units that are powered off, and voltage regulators that are placed in low-power state. This segmentation allows the system to achieve low static power consumption for non-critical components while maintaining fast response capability for critical functions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different power states to different functional sub-units based on their criticality. Critical sub-units maintain full operational power, non-critical sub-units are powered off to minimize consumption, and voltage regulators operate in an intermediate low-power state, optimizing the balance between power consumption and response speed locally for each component
3Speed
If voltage regulators are restarted instantly upon wake-up signal, then system responsiveness is improved, but static current leakage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The voltage regulators are maintained in a preliminary low-power state during standby rather than being completely powered off, allowing them to quickly resume normal operation when wake-up is signaled. This preliminary state retention reduces the time needed to restart while avoiding the high static current leakage associated with complete power-off and restart cycles
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is applicable to the field of electrics and provides an integrated circuit (IC) and a standby controlling method thereof. The IC comprises a reset device, a standby control device, a functional device and a power supply control device. The functional device at least comprises a functional unit that does not operate in a standby mode. The power supply control device is configured to supply power to the functional device, the standby control device and the reset device. The standby control device is configured to control the power supply control device to control a power supply voltage of the functional unit to be within a preset range below a normal operating voltage when a standby status signal is detected, and restore the power supply voltage into the normal operating voltage when a wake-up signal is detected; and the reset device is configured to reset the functional device when the system standby status signal is detected and release the resetting of the functional device when the wake-up signal is detected. The IC of the present invention reduces the time required by the IC to wake up from the standby mode while ensuring that the whole functional device has low static power consumption.