Available Technology
Multi-Core Voltage Regulator: A Fully Integrated 3-Level DC/DC Converter
Technology:
Fully integrated 3-Level DC/DC converter for decreased power consumption in SoCs
Markets Addressed
In recent years, multi-processor chip architectures have emerged to increase performance of mobile electronics. With this increase in performance, applications that historically ran only on stationary computers have migrated onto mobile handsets. At the same time, expectations for all-day battery life [decreased processor power consumption] in portable devices have increased significantly. As such, modern handset processors need to be fast enough to run traditional computer-like applications while consuming much less power. These demands create an opportunity for the technology offered here, which can reduce handset processor power consumption by up to 50% tapping into the $45 billion a year handset processor market.
This technology is specifically relevant to mobile applications such as SoCs and processors found in:
• Smartphone processors
• Tablet computers
• Laptop Computers
Innovations and Advantages
Historically, one of the most effective ways to reduce the amount of power drawn by a mobile handset was to reduce the handset’s processor voltage when processor demand was low as demonstrated in the photo below.
This voltage was historically changed across a whole chip. This was sufficient for older single element processors and their related applications. Modern handset processors however, now integrate on a single chip, multiple processing elements each specialized for specific tasks.
Above is an example of a typical state-of-the-art chip with multiple processing elements specialized for specific tasks. The amount each element is utilized changes based on the application and fluctuates over time. However, each processing element receives the same voltage regardless of utilization. For example, a graphics processor element is heavily used when playing a game, but not used when listening to music. Further, within a game, the graphics processor is more heavily used in scenes with a lot of action when compared to relatively inactive scenes. Consequently, utilization of each processing element in the processor chip changes dramatically across user activities, but the voltages dedicated to each element does not.
In current handset processors, electrical power is wasted because [1] Multiple processing elements share a single voltage, which does not reflect the utilization of individual elements and, [2] Voltage change is slow lacking the ability to rapidly fluctuate to meet changing processing element demand.
The technology offered here provides the design of a circuit block capable of rapid per-element voltage control. For example, to conserve electricity in an apartment, a resident may turn off lights when no one is using a particular room. Similarly in a modern handset processor, voltage of under-utilized elements can be reduced to save power as reflected in the image above.
Additionally, individual voltage control per processing element can reduce processor element voltage within 10 nanoseconds, making the change 1000 times faster than current technologies. With this technology, processor voltage can now reflect the rapidly varying processor utilization much more closely.
Through the implementation of circuit blocks that increase the cost of a traditional chip by a mere 5-10%, the technology offered here combines individual processor element control with rapid voltage response giving the ability to reduce multiprocessor power consumption by up to 50%.
Additional Information
Intellectual Property Status: U.S. provisional patent application.
Current State of Technology:
A prototype MCVR chip has been designed at Harvard University in a technology compatible with handset processors and has been tested to prove functionality. The chip can be easily integrated into handset processors.
Publication:
Wonyoung Kim, David Brooks, and Gu-Yeon Wei. “ A Fully-Integrated 3-Level DC/DC Converter for Nanosecond-Scale DVS with Fast Shunt Regulation ” To Appear, IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC-11), Feb. 2011.
Website:
The Brooks website.
Press Release:
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Inventor(s):
Brooks, David M.
Kim, Wonyoung
Wei, Gu-Yeon
Categories:
For further information, please contact:
Sam Liss, Director of Business Development
(617) 495-4371
Reference Harvard Case #3950