Patent ID: 6714891
Filing Date: 2004-03-30
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
An electronic system comprising:an integrated circuit (IC) die having a processor core, a chip core voltage input, and a chip core clock input; a processor power supply coupled to deliver chip core current to the processor core via the chip core voltage input; a control circuit coupled to the processor core to effect a reduction in processor performance and processor power consumption using one of (1) a variable voltage circuit coupled to enable the processor power supply to provide a lower chip core voltage, (2) a frequency control circuit coupled to the chip core clock input to provide a lower frequency clock signal, and (3) a modulation circuit coupled to the chip core clock input to provide a modulated clock signal; a temperature sensor coupled to sense the temperature of a component of the power supply that is to conduct a substantial part of the chip core current; and a processing circuit having an input coupled to a signal output of the temperature sensor, and an output coupled to the control circuit to request a reduction in, and not to completely stop, the performance of the processor core in response to the temperature of the power supply component having risen to a predetermined threshold, wherein the processor core, the processor power supply, the control circuit, the temperature sensor, and the processing circuit are installed in the same printed wiring board of the electronic system.