Modular IC Power Optimization via Voltage Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional power management strategies for integrated circuits often compromise system performance to reduce power consumption, as they cannot finely tune voltage and clock speed settings for individual transistors within a module, limiting the ability to minimize power consumption without impacting performance.
Innovation Solution
The system and method employ CMOS transistors with multiple threshold voltages and modular organization, allowing for customized voltage and clock speed adjustments for distinct functional modules within an integrated circuit, enabling dynamic power management that minimizes power consumption while maintaining optimal performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If power supply voltage is reduced to minimize power consumption, then energy efficiency improves, but system performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated circuit is divided into multiple functional modules, each with its own power supply voltage control. This segmentation allows independent voltage adjustment for each module, enabling power optimization without uniformly degrading overall system performance. Each module can operate at the minimum voltage required for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
Different functional modules are assigned different power supply voltages based on their specific performance requirements. Modules requiring high performance receive higher voltages, while non-critical modules receive lower voltages. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by applying power reduction only where acceptable, maintaining performance where needed.
2Use of energy by moving object
If power supply to a module is reduced or shut off, then power consumption decreases, but functionality is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The power supply voltage to each functional module is dynamically adjusted based on real-time performance requirements and power management policies. Rather than static power reduction or complete shutdown, the system continuously adapts voltage levels, maintaining functionality when needed while minimizing power consumption during low-demand periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the power supply voltage parameter for individual modules based on operational conditions. By adjusting this critical parameter, the system can transition modules between different operational states (full performance, reduced performance, or idle) without complete power cutoff, preserving functionality while optimizing power usage.
3Use of energy by moving object
If voltage is reduced for power savings, then energy efficiency improves, but transistor operation reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Each functional module receives a locally optimized voltage level matched to its specific transistor requirements and performance needs. Critical modules maintain higher voltages for reliable transistor operation, while non-critical modules accept lower voltages. This local differentiation ensures transistor reliability is maintained where necessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-configures voltage levels for each functional module based on their inherent performance requirements and operational characteristics. This preliminary setup ensures that when modules are activated, they receive appropriate voltage levels that guarantee reliable transistor operation from the start, avoiding reliability issues that would arise from abrupt voltage reduction.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for regulating power consumption within an integrated circuit (IC) with a modular design. The IC is designed so that any one distinct functional module within the IC utilizes only transistors with a substantially same or similar critical voltage level, which may for example be the threshold voltage of the transistors. Consequently, the supply voltage delivered to each functional modules can be lowered to the minimum voltage necessary to enable the transistors within the module to operate. Similarly, modules within the IC may be designed with transistors which share a common value for a substrate bias voltage or a clock speed, or with a combination of common values for several electrical factors. In this way, it is possible to reduce power consumption by fine-tuning the voltages supplied to (or clock speeds driving) specific modules, in a way which is custom-tuned to each module.