Abstract:
Methods of operating an integrated circuit include determining a difference between a reference level and a level of a power supply voltage at a processor circuit of the integrated circuit, generating a digital code responsive to the determined difference and transmitting the digital code to a power management integrated circuit that provides power to the integrated circuit. The power management integrated circuit may adjust the power supply voltage responsive to the transmitted code. Integrated circuits and data processing systems are also provided.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0010483 filed on Feb. 7, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The inventive subject matter relates to power management for processor integrated circuits and, more particularly, to apparatus and methods for controlling a power supply voltage provided to a processor. 
         [0003]    Mobile devices, such as smart phones, typically manage power in order to increase their battery life. Power management integrated circuits (PMICs) are typically used to manage power in mobile devices. Typically, a PMIC provides a power to an application processor of the mobile device, as well as to other device components, such as memory devices. When the power supply voltage drops due to overload on the application processor or the length of a power line, the application processor may stop or generate errors. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    According to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter, methods of operating an integrated circuit include determining a difference between a reference level and a level of a power supply voltage at a processor circuit of the integrated circuit. A digital code is generated responsive to the determined difference and transmitted to a power management integrated circuit that provides power to the integrated circuit via, for example, a communications bus. 
         [0005]    Determining a difference between a reference level and a level of a power supply voltage at a processor circuit of the integrated circuit may include comparing the power supply voltage to an analog reference voltage to generate an analog comparison signal. Generating a digital code responsive to the determined difference may include generating the digital code from the analog comparison signal. 
         [0006]    Determining a difference between a reference level and a level of a power supply voltage at a processor circuit of the integrated circuit may include generating a digital power supply voltage signal from the power supply voltage and comparing the digital power supply voltage to a digital reference signal to generate a digital comparison signal. Generating a digital code responsive to the determined difference may include generating the digital code from the digital comparison signal. 
         [0007]    In further embodiments, an integrated circuit includes a processor circuit configured to be powered by a power management integrated circuit via a power line, The integrate circuit further includes a voltage detector circuit configured to determine a difference between a reference level and a level of a power supply voltage at the processor circuit and a code generator circuit configured to generate a digital code responsive to the determined difference and to transmit the digital code to the power management integrated circuit. 
         [0008]    In some embodiments, the voltage detector circuit may include an analog-to-digital converter circuit configured to generate a digital power supply voltage signal responsive to the power supply voltage and a digital comparator circuit configured to generate a digital comparison signal responsive to a comparison of the digital power supply voltage signal and a digital reference signal. In further embodiments, the voltage detector circuit may include a comparator circuit configured to generate an analog comparison signal responsive to a comparison of the power supply voltage to an analog reference signal. The integrated circuit may further include an I 2 C interface circuit configured to support communication of the digital code to the power management integrated circuit. 
         [0009]    In additional embodiments, a data processing system includes a power management integrated circuit and a processor integrated circuit coupled to the power management integrated circuit by a power line and a communications bus. The processor integrated circuit includes a processor circuit coupled to the power line, a voltage detector circuit configured to determine a difference between a reference level and a level of a power supply voltage at the processor circuit and a code generator circuit configured to generate a digital code responsive to the determined difference and to transmit the digital code to the power management integrated circuit via the communications bus. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The above and other features and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a power management system according to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter; 
           [0012]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  are detailed block diagrams of a voltage detector illustrated in  FIG. 1  according to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a detailed block diagram of a power management device illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of operations of the power management system illustrated in  FIG. 1 , 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a computer system including the power management system illustrated in  FIG. 1  according to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter; 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a computer system including the power management system illustrated in  FIG. 1  according to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a computer system including the power management system illustrated in  FIG. 1  according to further embodiments of the inventive subject matter. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0018]    Exemplary embodiments now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. The exemplary embodiments may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
         [0019]    It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items and may be abbreviated as “/”. 
         [0020]    It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first signal could be termed a second signal, and, similarly, a second signal could be termed a first signal without departing from the teachings of the disclosure. 
         [0021]    The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” or “includes” and/or “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
         [0022]    Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the exemplary embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and/or the present application, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a power management system  1  according to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Referring to  FIG. 1 , the power management system  1  includes a processor  10  and a power management device  20  which provides a power supply voltage PV to the processor  10 . The processor  10  and the power management device  20  form a data processing system. 
         [0024]    The processor  10  may be implemented as an application processor which executes an application. The processor  10  includes a power input unit  12 , a voltage detector  13 , a code generator  14 , and an interface  15 . 
         [0025]    The power management device  20  may be implemented as a power management integrated circuit (PMIC). The power management device  20  provides the power supply voltage PV to the power input unit  12  via a power line  11 . 
         [0026]    The processor  10  may also include a plurality of power pins for driving the processor  10  and a plurality of data pins for communicating data with an external device. The power line  11  is connected to the power input unit  12 . The power input unit  12  may be connected to a power pin having the largest voltage drop among the power pins. 
         [0027]    The voltage detector  13  detects the level of the power supply voltage PV received from the power input unit  12  and generates a detection signal. The voltage detector  13  compares the voltage level of the detection signal with the voltage level of a reference signal and generates a comparison signal CS. The voltage detector  13  transmits the comparison signal CS to the code generator  14 . The comparison signal CS includes information about the drop of the power supply voltage PV, e.g., information about a difference between an output voltage of the power management device  20  and an input voltage of the power input unit  12 . 
         [0028]    For instance, when a driving voltage for driving the processor  10  normally is 1.5 V, the voltage level of the reference signal is set to 1.5 V. The power management device  20  will provide the power supply voltage PV of 1.5 V to the processor  10  via the power line  11 , but the power supply voltage PV actually received by the processor  10  will be lower than 1.5 V due to voltage loss in the power line  11 . In other words, when the power supply voltage PV applied to the processor  10  is lower than 1.5 V, the operation of the process  10  may stop or errors may occur in the processor  10 . 
         [0029]    To prevent the errors from occurring or the operation from stopping, the processor  10  needs to be stably provided with the power supply voltage PV from the power management device  20 . To stably provide the power supply voltage PV to the processor  10 , the power management device  20  needs information about the level of the power supply voltage PV input to the power input unit  12 . 
         [0030]    The code generator  14  generates a digital code DC corresponding to the comparison signal CS. The code generator  14  transmits the digital code DC to the power management device  20  via the interface  15 . The digital code DC includes information about the drop of the power supply voltage PV transmitted from the power management device  20  to the processor  10 . The power management device  20  may adjust the level of the power supply voltage PV according to the digital code DC. 
         [0031]    The interface  15  includes an inter-integrated circuit (I 2 C) interface. I2C™ is a serial computer bus developed by Philips and is used to connect a low-speed peripheral device to, for example, a motherboard, an embedded system, or a mobile phone. The processor  10  and the power management device  20  may be integrated into a single chip to form a system-on-chip (SOC). 
         [0032]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  are detailed block diagrams of a voltage detector illustrated in  FIG. 1  according to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2A , a voltage detector  13 _ 1  includes a comparator  13 _ 1   a  and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC)  13 _ 1   b.  The comparator  13 _ 1   a  detects the level of the power supply voltage PV received from the power input unit  12  and generates a detection signal. The comparator  13 _ 1   a  compares the voltage level of the detection signal with the voltage level of a reference signal Vref and generates a comparison signal CS. The comparator  13 _ 1   a  transmits the comparison signal CS to the ADC  13 _ 1   b.  The ADC  13 _ 1   b  converts the comparison signal CS into a digital value and transmits the digital value to the code generator  14 . 
         [0033]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2B , a voltage detector  13 _ 2  includes an ADC  13 _ 2   a  and a comparator  13 _ 2   b.  The ADC  13 _ 2   a  converts the power supply voltage PV into a digital value and transmits a digital power supply voltage to the comparator  13 _ 2   b.  The comparator  13 _ 2   b  compares the level of the digital power supply voltage with the voltage level of a digital reference signal DVref and generates a comparison signal CS. The comparison signal CS may be a digital signal corresponding to a difference between the digital power supply voltage and the digital reference signal DVref. The comparator  13 _ 2   b  transmits the comparison signal CS to the code generator  14 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 3  is a detailed block diagram of the power management device  20  illustrated in  FIG. 1 , Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 3 , the power management device  20  includes a voltage generator  21  and a switch  22 . 
         [0035]    The voltage generator  21  generates a plurality of driving voltages V 1  through V 6  for driving the processor  10 . When the power management system (or the data processing system)  1  is a smart phone, for example, the voltage generator  21  may be powered by a battery. 
         [0036]    The voltage generator  21  generates the plurality of driving voltages V 1  through V 6  taking account of the fact that the power supply voltage PV provided to the processor  10  will drop across the power line  11 . For instance, when a driving voltage of the processor  10  is 1.5 V, the voltage generator  21  may generate 1.3 V (V 1 ), 1.4 V (V 2 ), 1.5 V (V 3 ), 1.6 V (V 4 ), 1.7 V (V 5 ), and 1.8 V (V 6 ). 
         [0037]    The switch  22  may select and output as the power supply voltage PV one of the driving voltages V 1  through V 6  output from the voltage generator  21  in response to the digital code DC output from the processor  10 , For instance, when the digital code DC is 4 bits in length, the switch  22  outputs 1.5 V (V 3 ) as the power supply voltage PV in response to the digital code DC of 1000, outputs 1.6 V (V 4 ) as the power supply voltage PV in response to the digital code DC of 1001, and outputs 1.7 V (V 5 ) as the power supply voltage PV in response to the digital code DC of 1010. 
         [0038]    In other words, since the digital code DC corresponds to a difference between an output voltage of the power management device  20  and an input voltage of the power input unit  12 , when the difference is 0.2 V, the switch  22  may output as the power supply voltage PV a voltage 0.2 V higher than a previous power supply voltage in response to the digital code DC instructing to increase the voltage by 0.2 V. 
         [0039]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of the operations of the power management system  1  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 4 , the power management device  20  applies the power supply voltage PV to the processor  10  via the power line  11  in operation S 11 . The voltage detector  13  detects the level of the power supply voltage PV output form the power input unit  12  and generates a detection signal in operation S 12 . 
         [0040]    The voltage detector  13  compares the detection signal with the reference signal Vref or DVref, generates the comparison signal CS, and transmits the comparison signal CS to the code generator  14  in operation S 13 . The code generator  14  generates the digital code DC corresponding to the comparison signal CS in operation S 14 . The code generator  14  feeds back the digital code DC to the power management device  20  via the interface  15  in operation S 15 . The power management device  20  may increase the level of the power supply voltage PV in response to the digital code DC corresponding to a voltage lost across the power line  11  and/or the power input unit  12  in operation S 16 . 
         [0041]    The processor  10  transmits information about the level of the power supply voltage PV received via the power line  11  to the power management device  20  via a data (communications) bus  16  having an n-bit width (where “n” is a natural number). The information in a form of a digital value, i.e., the digital code DC is not affected by voltage drop when it is transmitted via the data bus  16 . Accordingly, the power management device  20  receives the digital code DC, i.e., the information indicating the drop of the power supply voltage PV, and applies the power supply voltage PV increased by the amount of the drop to the processor  10 . 
         [0042]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a computer system  30  including the processor  10  illustrated in  FIG. 1  according to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Referring to  FIG. 5 , the computer system  30  including the processor  10  and the power management device  20  illustrated in  FIG. 1  may be implemented as a personal computer (PC), a network server, a tablet PC, a lap-top computer, an e-reader, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), an MP3 player, or an MP4 player. 
         [0043]    The computer system  30  includes the processor  10 , the power management device  20  providing the power supply voltage PV to the processor  10 , a memory device  31 , a memory controller  32  controlling the data processing operation of the memory device  31 , a display  33 , and an input device  34 . 
         [0044]    The processor  10  may display data stored in the memory device  31  through a display  33  according to data input through the input device  34 . The input device  34  may include, for example, a pointing device, such as a touch pad or a computer mouse, a keypad, or a keyboard. The processor  10  may control the overall operation of the computer system  30  and the operations of the memory controller  32 . 
         [0045]    The memory controller  32 , which may control the operations of the memory device  31 , may be implemented as a part of the processor  10  or as a separate chip. 
         [0046]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a computer system  40  including the processor  10  illustrated in  FIG. 1  according to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Referring to FIG,  6 , the computer system  40  including the processor  10  and the power management device  20  illustrated in  FIG. 1  may be implemented as an image processing device, e.g., a digital camera, or a mobile communication device (e.g., a cellular phone or a smart phone) equipped with a digital camera. 
         [0047]    The computer system  40  includes the processor  10 ; the power management device  20  applying the adjusted power supply voltage PV to the processor  10 , a memory device  41 , a memory controller  42  controlling the data processing operation, such as a write operation or a read operation, of the memory device  41 , an image sensor  43  and a display  44 . 
         [0048]    The image sensor  43  included in the computer system  40  converts optical images into digital signals and outputs the digital signals to the processor  10  or the memory controller  42 . The digital signals may be displayed through the display  44  or stored in the memory device  41  through the memory controller  42  according to the control of the processor  10 . 
         [0049]    Data stored in the memory device  41  may be displayed through the display  44  according to the control of the processor  10  or the memory controller  42 . 
         [0050]    The memory controller  42 , which may control the operation of the memory device  41 , may be implemented as a part of the processor  10  or as a separate chip. 
         [0051]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a computer system  50  including the processor  10  illustrated in  FIG. 1  according to further embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Referring to  FIG. 7 , the computer system  50  including the processor  10  and the power management device  20  illustrated in  FIG. 1  may be implemented as a cellular phone, a smart phone, a PDA, a smart pad, or a radio communication system. The smart pad includes a tablet PC. 
         [0052]    The computer system  50  also includes a memory device  51  and a memory controller  52  controlling the operation of the memory device  51 . 
         [0053]    The memory controller  52  may control the data access operation, e.g., a write operation, an erase operation, or a read operation, of the memory device  51  according to the control of the processor  10 . Data read from the memory device  51  may be displayed through a display  53  according to the control of the processor  10  and the memory controller  52 . 
         [0054]    A radio transceiver  54  may transmit or receive radio signals through an antenna ANT. The radio transceiver  54  may convert radio signals received through the antenna ANT into signals that can be processed by the processor  10 . Accordingly, the processor  10  may process the signals output from the radio transceiver  54  and transmit the processed signals to the memory controller  52  or the display  53 . The memory controller  52  may store the signals processed by the processor  10  in the memory device  51 . The radio transceiver  54  may also convert signals output from the processor  10  into radio signals and outputs the radio signals to an external device through the antenna ANT. 
         [0055]    An input device  55  enables control signals for controlling the operation of the processor  10  or data to be processed by the processor  10  to be input to the computer system  50 . The input device  55  may include, for example, a pointing device, such as a touch pad or a computer mouse, a keypad, or a keyboard. 
         [0056]    The processor  10  may control the operation of the display  53  to display data output from the memory controller  52 , data output from the radio transceiver  54 , or data output from the input device  55 . 
         [0057]    The memory controller  52 , which controls the operation of the memory device  51 , may be implemented as a part of the processor  10  or as a separate chip. 
         [0058]    As described above, according to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter, a processor transmits digital information about the drop of a power supply voltage to a power management device via a data bus, thereby compensating for the drop of the power supply voltage. 
         [0059]    While the inventive subject matter has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in forms and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventive subject matter as defined by the following claims.