Reverse Voltage Binning for Integrated Circuit Power Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
As computing systems become smaller and faster, power loss due to leakage current increases, limiting chip performance enhancements due to maximum power constraints, with the fastest components dominating maximum power consumption even with selective voltage binning.
Innovation Solution
A method of determining a baseline operational voltage and power threshold for integrated circuit chips, then raising the performance of slower components by increasing their voltage while ensuring operational power does not exceed the threshold, allowing for performance binning without exceeding maximum power limits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the fastest components are operated at higher voltages to enhance chip performance, then chip performance is improved, but power consumption and leakage current increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of operating fast components at high voltage and slow components at low voltage (conventional approach), this patent inverts the approach by operating slow components at high voltage and fast components at low voltage. This inversion allows slow components to achieve adequate performance while fast components contribute less to overall performance, thereby reducing total power consumption and leakage current while maintaining chip-level performance targets.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the voltage parameter assignment strategy by reversing which components receive high versus low voltage assignments. This parameter change fundamentally alters the power-performance trade-off, enabling the system to achieve acceptable performance with lower overall power consumption by assigning high voltage to components that would benefit least from it in terms of performance improvement.
2Loss of energy
If selective voltage binning is applied to reduce power consumption, then power loss is reduced, but the fastest processes still dominate maximum power
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies reverse voltage binning where slow components (not fast components) are assigned to high-voltage bins. This inversion ensures that components contributing least to overall performance get the voltage boost, while fast components operate at lower voltages, thereby reducing their dominance in maximum power consumption while maintaining adequate chip-level performance.
3Productivity
If component voltage is increased to raise performance characteristic, then performance is improved, but operational power may exceed the power threshold
Solution Approach 1:
By inverting which components receive voltage boosts, the patent ensures that power increases are concentrated on slow components rather than fast components. Since fast components already operate near their performance ceiling, additional voltage provides diminishing returns, whereas slow components benefit more from voltage increases. This inversion strategy improves overall chip performance with lower total power expenditure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the assignment parameters of voltage to components, reversing the conventional mapping. This parameter reassignment allows the system to achieve performance improvements while staying within power thresholds by directing voltage increases to components where they provide the most performance benefit per unit of power consumed.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments provide systems, computer program products and computer implemented methods. In some embodiments, the system includes a computer-implemented method of binning at least one integrated circuit chip, the method including determining a baseline operational voltage for the at least one integrated circuit chip, determining a total operational power threshold for the at least one integrated circuit chip, determining an initial performance characteristic for a first component of the at least one integrated circuit chip, operating the first component at a driving voltage higher than the baseline voltage to raise the initial performance characteristic of the first component to a raised performance characteristic while ensuring that operational power does not exceed the operational power threshold and assigning the at least one integrated circuit chip to a performance bin based on the raised performance characteristic.