Patent ID: 8370654

Claim:
An integrated circuit, comprising: a first operational circuit module receiving a first supply voltage from a first voltage regulator that is external to the integrated circuit; a first performance monitoring module, disposed on the integrated circuit, configured to generate at least a first indicator corresponding to at least one performance characteristic of the first operational circuit module; and a first voltage requirement determination and voltage feedback generator module, disposed on the integrated circuit, coupled to the first performance monitoring module, the first voltage requirement determination and voltage feedback generator module being configured to output a first feedback voltage signal having a voltage level that varies as a function of at least the first indicator, the first voltage regulator being configured to regulate the first supply voltage as a function of the first feedback voltage signal, the first voltage requirement determination and voltage feedback generator module including: a digital portion configured to generate a digital control signal based on the first indicator; a digital-to-analog converter module configured to convert the digital control signal to a voltage offset corresponding to a performance metric of the integrated circuit; and a combiner configured to combine the voltage offset with the first supply voltage to generate the first feedback voltage signal.