Slack Sensor Body Bias Control for Adaptive Voltage Regulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in dynamically controlling clock frequency and power supply voltage modifications, which complicates adaptive body biasing and voltage regulation in integrated circuits, particularly in silicon on insulator (SOI) technology, affecting performance and power consumption.
Innovation Solution
An adaptive body biasing circuit with delay modules, multiplexers, slack monitors, and control loops that adjust biasing voltages based on detection signals from slack times and process, voltage, and temperature sensors, allowing for dynamic adjustments of supply and body biasing voltages to optimize performance and power efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If adaptive body biasing control is implemented to improve performance and power control, then performance and power consumption are better controlled, but device complexity increases due to additional control circuits and sensors
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses slack sensors to automatically detect timing slack and trigger body biasing adjustments without external intervention. The control circuit self-regulates by monitoring its own timing margins and adjusting bias voltages accordingly, enabling the system to manage its own performance and power characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention implements a feedback mechanism where slack sensors continuously monitor timing slack, and the control circuit uses this information to dynamically adjust body biasing voltages. This closed-loop feedback enables automatic adaptation to changing operating conditions, resolving the contradiction between improved control and increased complexity.
2Use of energy by moving object
If dynamic clock frequency and power supply voltage modifications are implemented, then performance and power efficiency are improved, but control difficulty increases due to interdependencies between multiple parameters
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies body biasing control locally to specific circuit regions based on their individual timing slack characteristics. Rather than uniformly controlling the entire circuit, the invention tailors biasing adjustments to local timing requirements, simplifying the control problem by addressing only the specific regions that need optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention divides the circuit into multiple regions with independent slack sensors and control circuits. Each region can be independently optimized based on its own timing characteristics, breaking down the complex global control problem into simpler local control tasks that can be managed separately.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to an adaptive body biasing or voltage regulation circuit for a circuit region, comprising: a first delay module configured to delay a local clock signal to generate first and second output signals delayed by first and second delays; a multiplexer configured to select one of the first and second output signals; a first slack monitor circuit configured to generate a first detection signal indicating when a slack time of the first and second output signals is less than a first threshold; a voltage generation circuit configured to generate a supply voltage for the circuit region, or at least one biasing voltage for biasing wells of transistors in the circuit region, using a further control loop comprising a process, voltage and/or temperature sensor; and a control circuit configured to adjust a gain of the further control loop based on the first detection signal.