Patent Abstract:
One embodiment relates to an apparatus that includes at least one circuit block and a voltage source configured to supply a first voltage to the at least one circuit block. The apparatus also includes a power delivery unit configured to be selectively activated based on a whether a quantity of power is to be delivered from the power delivery unit to the circuit block. A control unit is configured to, upon a change in power consumption of the at least one circuit block, activate the auxiliary power delivery unit to deliver the quantity of power to the circuit block. The auxiliary power delivery unit can quickly supply large currents since it does not necessarily rely on slow control loops using voltage sensing. Rather, the auxiliary power delivery unit often delivers pre-calculated current profiles to respond to the timing characteristic of the change of power consumption and of the voltage regulator.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    To ensure reliable operation of devices that contain digital circuits, designers attempt to limit or minimize fluctuations in supply voltage. The fluctuations of a supply voltage can have static and dynamic portions. The static portion is often attributable to tolerances of components within the circuitry used to generate the supply voltage. The dynamic portion of the fluctuations is often primarily attributable to changes in load (e.g., change in power requirements for a load). In conventional circuits, load changes with factors of up to 10 are quite commonplace, and can occur from one clock to the next, which often equates to a few nanoseconds. 
         [0002]      FIG. 1  shows a prior art digital circuit  100 . This digital circuit  100  has a voltage source  102  with a capacitor  104  coupled to its output, wherein the voltage source  102  feeds a circuit block  106  arranged on a circuit board or a chip  108 . The lines coupling the voltage source  102  to the circuit block  106  are symbolized by two parasitic resistors  110  and two parasitic inductors  112 . To optimize delivery of power from the voltage source  102 , blocking capacitors  114  are provided, which serve to buffer charge for load changes. 
         [0003]    As can be seen from  FIG. 2 , if the circuit block  106  is initially in a low current state during time  202  (e.g., requiring 50 mA) and is at time  204  switched to a high current state (e.g., requiring 350 mA), a sudden change in 300 mA of current is required (e.g., within a duration of 10 ns). In mobile telephones, for example, the low current state can be used for low performance applications (e.g., mp3 or speech processing), and the high current state can be used for high performance applications (e.g., high-speed data transfer and multi-media processing). The blocking capacitors  114  provided in  FIG. 1  are either too slow or too small to be able to balance out these sudden load changes, causing voltage fluctuations  206  and  208  to arise in the supply voltage VDD′ (relative to VSS′). These dynamic voltage fluctuations can be +/−50 mV, so that the supply voltage VDD′ can fluctuate between VDDmax and VDDmin. This fluctuation in amplitude at low supply voltages of around 1V can cause the switching speed of devices in the circuit block  106  to be reduced by up to 10% during periods of up to several ps. 
         [0004]    Although the use of blocking capacitors  114  may mitigate these supply voltage fluctuations  206 ,  208  somewhat, on-chip blocking capacitors alone are less than ideal for several reasons. For example, on-chip capacitors mostly have only low capacitances and are expensive in terms of their chip area requirement. Therefore, blocking capacitors are not in-and-of-themselves sufficient to eliminate or reduce the dynamic fluctuations of the supply voltage. 
         [0005]    Consequently, the inventors have developed improved techniques for eliminating or reducing the dynamic fluctuations in a supply voltage VDD′. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  illustrates a digital circuit according to prior art. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  illustrates a current change and the induced voltage fluctuations in the circuit of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  illustrates a circuit in accordance with some embodiments. 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  illustrates a load change in the use of the circuit of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  illustrates an example of a circuit in the context of a mobile communications device. 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  illustrates a load change in the use of the circuit of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  illustrates an example power delivery unit. 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  illustrates an example of a circuit unit in the context of a memory device. 
           [0014]      FIG. 9  illustrates a temperature dependent control signal in the use of the circuit of  FIG. 8 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 10  illustrates an example control signal generator in the use of the circuit of  FIG. 8 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 11  illustrates a circuit that includes a power delivery unit and a power consumption unit. 
           [0017]      FIG. 12  illustrates a load change in the use of the circuit of  FIG. 11 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 13  illustrates an example of one manner in which an auxiliary power delivery unit can overcompensate for a load change in accordance with some embodiments. 
           [0019]      FIG. 14  illustrates an example of a circuit in the context of a memory device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0020]    The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may be evident, however, that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. 
         [0021]    To reduce supply voltage fluctuations, a circuit  300  as shown in  FIG. 3  is provided. The circuit shown in  FIG. 3  is similar to the circuit shown in  FIG. 1 , so that similar elements carry the same reference numerals and are not described in further detail. To reduce the voltage fluctuations shown in  FIG. 2 , the circuit  300  includes an auxiliary power delivery unit  302 . This power delivery unit  302  receives a control signal from a control signal generator  304 , such that the power delivery unit  302  is operable to supply auxiliary current in the event of a change in power requirements of the circuit block  106 , thereby reducing voltage fluctuations relative to previous solutions. Although the auxiliary power delivery unit  302  can be arranged to deliver this auxiliary “on demand” current off-chip at  306 , it can alternatively be arranged to deliver power on-chip at node  307 . In instances where the auxiliary power delivery unit  302  delivers its current on-chip at  307 , any negative impact of the wire inductances can be limited. 
         [0022]      FIG. 4  shows the current and voltage curves for circuit  300  over time, with a load change of +300 mA occurring within the circuit  300 . The voltage curve without the power delivery unit  302  is shown with a dashed line  402 , while the voltage curve in the presence of the auxiliary power delivery unit  302  is shown with a solid line  404 . As can be seen from the voltage curve of  FIG. 4 , if it is determined that a load change with increased load is imminent (e.g., at time  406 ), the control signal generator  304  activates the auxiliary power delivery unit  302  in such a way that the auxiliary power delivery unit  302  provides auxiliary current as the load change occurs. 
         [0023]    More specifically, when the current draw of the circuit block  106  actually starts to increase at  406 , the power delivery unit  302  supplies current in an amount proportional to what is required to accommodate the load change, such that the amount of voltage undershoot relative to previous solutions is significantly reduced. By reducing “undershoot”  402 , this configuration allows designers to reduce the nominal supply voltage VDDNom relative to previous solutions, while still ensuring that sufficient power is supplied to the circuit block  106  at all times. In reducing the nominal supply voltage VDDnom (relative to previous solutions), this configuration helps to facilitate lower power operation than previously achievable. For example, if the VDDNom is reduced by 5% (relative to previous solutions), the configuration of  FIG. 3  can provide a power reduction of approximately 10% in some instances, which is a significant improvement. 
         [0024]    In embodiments disclosed herein, the activation of the power delivery unit  302  is carried out without the use of voltage or current detectors that directly measure the current flow in the chip  108 . Rather, the power delivery unit  302  is activated by a control signal from the control signal generator  304 , which does not require measurement of current flow or voltage levels in the chip. For example, in one embodiment, the control signal is generated by a software program module based on when a change in mode occurs. For instance, if the circuit in  FIG. 3  is included as part of a mobile communications device (e.g., cell phone, personal digital assistant, iPhone®), the mobile communications device may abruptly switch between a relatively low-power processing mode (e.g., playing an .mp3 audio file) and a high-power high-speed wireless communications mode (e.g., IP TV). When this change in mode occurs, software running on the mobile communications device can induce a change in the control signal generator  304  which, in turn, changes the state of the control signal. This change in state of the control signal activates the power delivery unit  302  so that it supplies auxiliary power to accommodate the switch to the relatively high-power mode without undesirable voltage swing. 
         [0025]      FIGS. 5-6  are now discussed in the context of a mobile communications device  500 , which includes a voltage regulator  502 , a baseband processor  504 , and an auxiliary power delivery unit  506  (e.g., power delivery unit  302  in  FIG. 3 ). In this embodiment, the power delivery unit  506  includes a timing sequence generator  508  and a number of current elements  510 . In some embodiments, the current elements  510  can comprise transistors, wherein the transistors can have different length-to-width ratios in some implementations. 
         [0026]    During operation, the baseband processor  504  provides a control signal  512  indicative of a pre-determined current profile to be supplied by the power delivery unit  506 . The timing sequence generator  508  translates the control signal  512  into a series of signals that individually activate the individual current elements  510 . For example, if more current is desired, the timing sequence generator  508  can turn on more (and/or larger) transistors. Conversely, if less current is desired, the timing sequence generator can turn on fewer (and/or smaller) transistors. 
         [0027]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , during time  602  the baseband processor  504  is initially in a low-current mode having a first current I 1 , corresponding to, for example, a user running an .mp3 player application on the mobile communications device. During this time, the voltage regulator  502  is capable of providing the power required by the baseband processor  504 , so the auxiliary power delivery unit  506  remains off at this time. 
         [0028]    However at time  604 , the baseband processor changes to a higher-current mode having a second current I 2 , corresponding to, for example, a user running a high speed communications service on the mobile communications device. Because the baseband processor  504  changes its current requirements so suddenly (e.g., within a few nanoseconds), the control loop of the voltage regulator with response times of several μs, when acting by itself, is unable to keep the voltage level at the required level and undershoots could occur. Therefore, to compensate for the voltage regulator&#39;s inability to account for this sudden increase in current demand, the auxiliary power delivery unit  506  delivers a suitable current to meet at least most of the demand increase of the baseband processor (see  608 ). The voltage regulator  502  is then able to cope with the auxiliary current demand since only a minor change is left. The regulator then slowly ramps the current up to the required level (see  606 ), whereas the auxiliary power delivery unit reduces its current (see  608 ). In this way, the sum of the currents from the voltage regulator and auxiliary power delivery unit collectively meet the increased demands of the baseband processor. 
         [0029]    Determining an expected load increase for a change in operating mode can be done during the circuit design, i.e. prior to the beginning of operation. This determination relies on the observation that the power dissipation of the circuit block (e.g., baseband processor) depends predominantly on the clock frequency and the number of active registers (flip-flops) used for a mode of operation. Thus, a change in current demand by the circuit block (e.g., baseband processor  504 ) is typically more strongly influenced by how many registers or gates are active, on average, during a given mode. Within the given mode, the change in current demand is often largely independent of the actual data processed in that mode. For these reasons, a sudden increase in current demand is therefore primarily determined by a sudden increase of the clock frequency and/or by a sudden increase of the number of active registers. The latter takes place while using the clock-gating technique, the former is due to the frequency scaling technique. Since clock frequency and the number of active, i.e. clocked, registers are known in advance for each mode of operation, the corresponding increase of current demand (e.g., predetermined current profiles) can be determined prior to the beginning of operation. 
         [0030]    The determination of the load increase can further be done during component verification using engineering samples of the chip. During the chip test the increase of current demand can be measured, and the power delivery unit on final versions of the chip can be configured in such a way, that a suitable current profile is delivered during actual operation. 
         [0031]    Since amplitude and timing characteristic of the current profiles delivered by the supply delivery unit does not depend on a control loop using voltage measurement and feedback, the delivery of the auxiliary current can be done practically instantaneously. 
         [0032]    Although  FIG. 6  shows the power delivery unit being enabled at the same time that the baseband processor increases its power consumption (e.g., on the same clock pulse at  604 ), other embodiments are also possible. For example, in other embodiments, the power delivery unit  506  can deliver auxiliary current to the baseband processor  504  just before the baseband processor demands increased power. This may be advantageous because it helps to ensure that the supply voltage from the voltage regulator  502  remains sufficiently high to enable proper functionality. 
         [0033]    Further, although  FIG. 6  shows the current delivered by the power delivery unit  506  as corresponding precisely to the increase in current required by the circuit block  106 , in other embodiments the power delivery unit can “overcompensate” for the increase in current required by the circuit block  106 . See  FIG. 13  further herein for additional details. 
         [0034]    Turning now to  FIG. 7 , one can see an auxiliary power delivery unit  700  (e.g., power delivery unit  506 ). As can be seen from  FIG. 7 , the power deliver unit has several power delivery elements  702  in the form of transistors. These transistors interface on one side to VDD, the gates of the transistors being connected in each case to flip-flops  704 . The flip-flop elements  704  are running at clock clk and receive the data from a register unit  706 . The register unit  706  can contain patterns of instruction sequences, which are passed to the flip-flops. If, for example, a gate signal is at a logical 1, the corresponding NFET transistor becomes conducting, which generates an auxiliary current source. If, for example, there is to be a load increase, as shown in  FIG. 6  (at  604 ), then the individual transistors must successively deliver current, so that a current flow is generated as shown with  608  in  FIG. 6 . For this, an instruction sequence must be passed from the register unit  706  to the flip-flops  704  in such a way that, in the example shown, a large number of flip-flops are initially at a logical 1, and the flip-flops are gradually switched to logical 0 so auxiliary current is delivered with the desired time characteristics. Although  FIG. 7  shows NFET transistors, PFET transistors could also be used, provided the logical 1s and 0s are inverted as is appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art. Naturally, any form of control of the transistors is possible, so long as they can be made individually conducting. In some embodiments, multiple (or all) transistors can have the same length-to-width ratios, but in other embodiments the transistors can have different length-to-width ratios. In one embodiment the width of a transistor ‘n+1’ could be twice as great as the width Wn of the transistor ‘n’. Since the power delivery is proportional to the transistor width, a smooth time characteristic can be achieved with a scaling of this nature. 
         [0035]      FIG. 8  shows another embodiment where an auxiliary power delivery unit  802  is included in the context of a memory device  800  (e.g., a SRAM memory device) being in a standby mode. In this mode of operation, only slowly varying currents are to be supplied to the memory. These current comprise the leakage current of the transistors. This current strongly depends on the temperature, and can vary by factors up to 50 or 100 within the allowable range of temperature. The memory device  800  includes a primary power supply  804  that provide an internal supply voltage to a memory array  806 . The primary power supply  804  includes a reference circuit  808  configured to provide a reference voltage, and a voltage regulator  810  configured to supply the internal supply voltage based on both the reference voltage and an external supply voltage. The auxiliary power delivery unit  802  includes a transistor  812  and a control signal generator  814 . 
         [0036]    In this example, rather than being generated by a software program module as in some previous embodiments, a control signal from the control signal generator  814  can be generated in temperature dependent fashion as shown in  FIG. 9 , for example. For example, at temperatures less than a threshold temperature, the control signal can deactivate the transistor  812 . Conversely, for temperatures above the threshold temperature (e.g., above 85° C.), the control signal can activate the power delivery unit  802 , thereby supplying auxiliary power to the memory array  806  for temperature above the threshold temperature. This advantageously compensates for the fact that the memory cells in the array use more power as the temperature increases. Thus, the control signal generator and auxiliary power delivery unit cooperatively support the standby functionality, and allow the use of a smaller voltage regulator than in previous implementations. 
         [0037]      FIG. 14  shows another embodiment of an auxiliary power delivery unit  1402  in the context of a memory device (e.g., a SRAM memory device). In this example, the memory device includes a memory array  1404  arranged on at least one integrated circuit  1400 , wherein the memory array  1404  includes at least two blocks of memory cells (e.g., a first block of memory cells  1406  and a second block of memory cells  1408 ). The second block of memory cells  1408  is often smaller than the first block of memory cells  1406  (e.g., second memory block is 1/10 total size of array and first memory block is 9/10 of total size of array), although it could also be larger or equal in other embodiments. The first block of memory cells  1406  receives power in the form of an internal VDD, which is supplied primarily by the primary power supply  1410 . However, under some conditions (e.g., high temperature), the first block of memory cells  1406  may draw more power than the primary power supply  1410  is capable of providing. Therefore, an auxiliary power delivery unit  1402  is also included. 
         [0038]    Like FIG.  8 &#39;s auxiliary power delivery unit, FIG.  14 &#39;s auxiliary power delivery unit  1402  includes a transistor  1412  and a control signal generator  1414 . In this implementation, the control signal generator  1414  includes a p-type transistor  1416  and an error amplifier  1418 . The error amplifier  1418  includes a first pin  1420  to monitor the power required by the second block of memory cells  1408 , as represented by a monitored voltage. This monitored voltage is then compared to a reference voltage, Vref. If the power required by the second block of memory cells increases (e.g., due to an increase in temperature, voltage, or process considerations), the error amplifier adjusts the gate voltage supplied to the transistor  1416 , inducing an increase in power supplied to the second block of memory cells  1408 . Because the error amplifier  1418  provides power to gates of both transistors  1416 ,  1412 , an increase in power required by the second block of memory cells  1408  also causes a corresponding increase in power supplied to the first block of memory cells  1406 . In this way, the control signal generator  1414  provides auxiliary current to the array of memory cells to compensate for increased power requirements. 
         [0039]    Often the signal from the error amplifier goes through a low pass filter to reach the gate of transistor  1412 . Transistor  1412  is able to respond to low frequency variations of the current needed in the memory array, such as those dependant on temperature. In this way, transistor  1412  acts as a voltage regulator and provides auxiliary power to first block of memory cells  1406 , for instance when temperature increases. The path through transistor  1412  to internal VDD is outside any regulation loop, this relaxes the constraint on the both regulators  810 ,  412 . As a consequence, the power consumption of the two regulators ( 810 ,  1412 ) is significantly reduced. 
         [0040]      FIG. 10  shows an embodiment of a control signal generator, which, for example, can be consistent with control signal generator of  FIG. 8-9 . The control signal generator includes an inverter to buffer the output, a bootstrapped current source, as well as an arrangement of resistors and transistors. The control signal generator generates a temperature-dependent control signal, such as shown in  FIG. 9 , for example, where the temperature-dependent control signal is delivered at node  1000 . 
         [0041]      FIGS. 11-12  show another embodiment of a circuit  1100 , wherein the control signal generator  1102  selectively activates a power consumption unit  1104  (in addition selectively activating the previously discussed power delivery unit  1106 ). As shown in  FIG. 12 , the power consumption unit  1104  can be selectively activated when the circuit  106  changes from a high-current state to a low-current state at time  1202 . The power consumption unit  1104  often consumes more power when first enabled, and then consumes less power as time progresses, thereby helping to avoid current overshoot as shown by line  1204 . In combination with the power delivery unit  302  (which limits undershoot as shown by line  1206 ), the circuit of  FIG. 11  helps to limit undesirable voltage swings. 
         [0042]      FIG. 13  shows another embodiment where an auxiliary power delivery unit (e.g., auxiliary power delivery unit of  302  of  FIG. 3 ) can provide current overcompensation. In this example, rather than the current supplied by the auxiliary power delivery unit being at least approximately equal to the change in current drawn by a circuit block (e.g., circuit block  106  in  FIG. 3 ), the auxiliary power delivery unit provides auxiliary current having a current magnitude that is larger than the change in current drawn by the current block. In this instance, the circuit exhibits a slight overshoot on the supply voltage despite the load increase. For comparison, prior art circuits had a significant undershoot (see line  402 ), and previous embodiments had a very slight or no undershoot (see e.g., line  1206 ). This is advantageous in some instances, because it helps to guarantee that the supply voltage VDD′ remains greater than VDDnom at substantially all times after startup during normal operation. 
         [0043]    Although the disclosure has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (e.g., elements and/or resources), the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of the disclosure. In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims are to be construed to mean “one or more”. 
         [0044]    Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

Technology Classification (CPC): 8