User-Configurable AVS Circuit for Real-World IC Conditions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing AVS techniques struggle to accurately set supply voltages during IC operation due to varying conditions between production testing and real-life usage, leading to suboptimal power consumption and performance.
Innovation Solution
An IC with integrated sensors and an AVS circuit that allows user-defined parameter setting during host system testing, enabling adaptive voltage scaling based on real operating conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If open-loop AVS sets supply voltage during production per individual IC, then manufacturing efficiency is improved, but the ability to meet temporal variations in power demand deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a transition from static open-loop AVS to dynamic closed-loop AVS. The system continuously monitors actual supply voltage through sensors and adjusts voltage levels in real-time based on feedback, enabling the system to adapt to temporal power demands while maintaining manufacturing efficiency through automated control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent establishes a closed-loop control system where sensors measure actual supply voltage and feed this information back to the AVS controller. This feedback mechanism enables real-time adjustments to meet power demands, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing efficiency and adaptability to temporal variations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If closed-loop AVS adapts supply voltage during IC operation, then ability to meet temporal power demand is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple functions into the AVS circuit, including voltage monitoring, sensor data acquisition, and adaptive voltage adjustment, all within a single control unit. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, thereby managing device complexity while maintaining adaptability to power demands.
Solution Approach 2:
The closed-loop AVS system is designed to autonomously monitor and adjust supply voltage without external intervention. The controller automatically processes sensor feedback and implements voltage adjustments, reducing the need for complex external control mechanisms and simplifying the overall system architecture.
3Ease of operation
If AVS model uses fixed parameters from production testing, then ease of operation is improved, but AVS performance deteriorates due to varying conditions between production and real-life usage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from static fixed parameters to dynamic adjustable parameters in the AVS model. The system allows parameter updates based on real-life operating conditions, maintaining ease of operation through automated adjustment while improving reliability by adapting to actual usage environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables modification of AVS model parameters based on feedback from real-world operation. The system adjusts parameters such as voltage thresholds and scaling factors dynamically, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and AVS performance by allowing adaptive parameter changes without increasing operational complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An Integrated Circuit (IC) includes electronic circuitry, multiple sensors, and an Adaptive Voltage Scaling (AVS) circuit. The electronic circuitry is configured to be powered by one or more supply voltages. The multiple sensors are configured to measure values affected by the one or more supply voltages, and to produce multiple sensor outputs. The AVS circuit is configured to adaptively set the one or more supply voltages by applying to the sensor outputs an AVS model having one or more user-defined parameters, to generate performance data based on the sensor outputs, to export the performance data from the IC, to receive the one or more user-defined parameters into the IC in response to the performance data, and to configure the AVS model to operate in accordance with the received user-defined parameters.