Patent Document

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The technical field of this invention is power supply control for electronic devices. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A prior art System on Chip (SoC) employing semiconductor features sizes of 28 nm implements automatic dynamic voltage scaling (AVS) with an external voltage regulator. Typically the AVS is limited to a certain voltage range determined by the differential in voltages allowed between a static random access memory (SRAM) bit cell minimum voltage and surrounding logic. For this prior art device the AVS voltage is typically scaled between 1 V and 0.72 V. 
     The flip flop designs in the corresponding circuit library may retain their state at even lower voltages. In a known semiconductor manufacturing process, the retention voltage is around 0.5 V. Potential leakage current savings could be accomplished by lowering the voltage even below the typical automatic DVS scaled voltage. In an example digital signal processor of the Texas Instruments TMS320C6600 family, lowering the voltage below the AVS voltage could reduce the leakage current by 40 to 60% when the DSP is idle. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A power supply for an electronic circuit enables a low effort retention mode. During a normal mode a circuit module is supplied a first voltage sufficient for a controlled circuit to operate. During the low effort retention mode the circuit module is supplied with a second voltage lower than the first voltage. The second voltage is sufficient for flop-flops to retain their state but not sufficient to guarantee proper circuit operation. The two voltages can be produced by separate voltage regulators. The second voltage can be produced by a voltage drop (droop) from the first voltage. The preferred embodiment includes a System On Chip and two external voltage regulators or one external voltage regulators and an on-chip droop circuit for each circuit module. 
     In the preferred embodiment a single integrated circuit includes a circuit module and a droop switch circuit supplied by a voltage regulator. In a normal mode a PMOS source-drain channel connects the voltage regulator power to the circuit module power input or isolates them dependent upon a power switch input. In a low power mode a second PMOS connected between the first PMOS gate and output diode connects the first PMOS. This supplied the circuit module from the voltage regulator power as reduced in voltage by a diode forward bias drop. This lower voltage should be sufficient for flip-flops in the circuit module to retain their state while not guaranteeing logic operation. There may be a plurality of chain connected droop switch each powering a corresponding circuit module. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other aspects of this invention are illustrated in the drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a prior art system on chip system driven by a voltage regulator to which this invention is applicable; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a first embodiment of this invention employing two voltage regulators; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a second embodiment of this invention employing a single voltage regulator where each controlled power domain includes a voltage drooping circuit; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates the inputs and outputs of a power switch including a voltage drooping circuit according to the second embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates the cooperation of a chain of the power switches illustrated in  FIG. 4  are used; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the power switch including a voltage drooping circuit according to the second embodiment of this invention illustrated in  FIG. 4 ;  FIG. 7  illustrates a practical embodiment of circuit  600  illustrated in  FIG. 6 ; and 
         FIG. 8  illustrates another practical embodiment of circuit  600  illustrated in  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a typical prior art SOC power management scheme. System on chip (SOC)  100  includes power state controller  101  and plural power domains  111 ,  112  and  113 . Power domains  111 ,  112  and  113  represent parts of SOC  100  including useful circuits in separately controlled power domains. The number of such power domains and their exact function within SOC  100  are not important to this invention. External voltage regulator  120  supplies an adjustable voltage in the range from 1.1 V to 0.72 V from a power source. This power source may have a voltage of 3.3 V or of 1.8 V. 
     The state elements (flip flops and latches) within power domains  111 ,  112  and  113  may hold their state value at voltages as low as 0.5 V to 0.6 V. Typically the rest of SOC  100  circuits will not be functional at such a voltage. This could be due to the library characterization and timing closure not comprehending the lower voltage operation or the lower voltage could be outside the range of functional operation of SOC  100 . Some part of SOC  100  may have to be functional all the time. These parts may include control power state sequencing circuits, clocks and the like. Thus the AVS input supply voltage to SOC  100  cannot be scaled to the lower voltage range of 0.5 V to 0.6 V. An entire separate power domain (typically implemented using power switches inside a physical design) can be lowered in voltage to the lower voltage range of 0.5 V to 0.6 V to implement a low effort retention scheme. Typically when a power domain is power-gated, the outputs are isolated, clocks are switched off etc. Upon entry into that mode, the voltage supply to the power domain can be lowered to enable a low voltage retention mode. This mode enables an additional retention state with very low effort and software can be modified to offer better idle/standby power management. As previously noted, most circuits will not operate at this reduced voltage. Because the power domain state is retained, recovery from the power down state to fully operation will be faster than recovery from a power OFF state. 
     This invention may be implemented in the following ways. A first embodiment employs multiple AVS power supplies. A second embodiment includes a single AVS power supply and all power domains capable of the low effort retention mode include internal power supply drooping to reach the lower voltage. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an example of the first embodiment of this invention having plural AVSs. SOC  200  includes power state controller  201  corresponding to power state controller  101  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . SOC  200  typically includes plural power supply domains as illustrated in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 2  illustrates a single power domain  211  as an example of a power domain that does not employ the low effort retention mode. Power domain  211  receives electric power directly from first voltage regulator in the same manner as power state controller  201 . SOC  200  may include plural such power domains. SOC  200  may further include one or more power domains which may enter the low effort retention mode.  FIG. 2  illustrates power domain  213  as an example power domain that may enter the low effort retention mode. SOC  200  may include plural such power domains. 
     SOC  200  is supplied power by two AVSs. External first voltage regulator  221  supplies an adjustable voltage in the range from 1.1 V to 0.72 V from the power source. As described in conjunction with  FIG. 1 , this power source has a voltage of 3.3 V or of 1.8 V. Power from first voltage regulator  221  is supplied to power state controller  201 , power domain  211  and to power supply multiplexer  212 . Second voltage regulator  222  supplies an adjustable voltage in the range from 0.5 V to 1.1 V from a power source  120 . This second voltage is supplied to power supply multiplexer  212 . 
     Power supply multiplexer  212  determines which power supply powers power domain  213 . During normal operations power supply multiplexer  212  selects power from first voltage regulator  221 . On entering the low effort retention mode power supply multiplexer  212  selects power from second voltage regulator  222 . As noted above power domain  213  is typically power-gated, the outputs are isolated, clocks are switched off on entering the low effort retention mode in a manner not shown in  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates the second embodiment of this invention. SOC  300  includes power state controller  301  similar to power state controller  101  illustrated in  FIG. 1  and power state controller  201  illustrated in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 3  illustrates a single power domain  311  as an example of a power domain that does not employ the low effort retention mode. Power domain  311  receives electric power directly from first voltage regulator in the same manner as power state controller  301 . SOC  300  may include plural such power domains. SOC  300  includes power domains with drooping  312  and  313 . Each of power domains with drooping  312  and  313  receive electric power from external voltage regulator  321 . Voltage regulator  321  is similar to voltage regulator  121  illustrated in  FIG. 1  and first voltage regulator  221  illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Voltage regulator  321  receives 3.0 V or 1.8 V input power and supplies an adjustable voltage in the range from 1.1 V to 0.72 V. During normal operations power domains  312  and  313  operate on power at the received voltage without implementing the built-in voltage droop. On entering the low effort retention mode the droop circuits in power domains  312  and  313  reduce the voltage of the supplied power to the retention mode voltage of 0.5 V to 0.6 V. 
     Table 1 lists a comparison of the electric power consumed and the time needed to recover full operation for various operating modes. The normal mode is fully powered. The clock gated mode supplies the full voltage to the circuit but freezes the clock inputs. The retention mode is this invention. The power gated mode removes both electric power and clocks from the circuit. 
                                     TABLE 1                           Relative                   Power               Mode   Consumed   Recovery cycles/time                           Normal   1x   0/0           Clock Gated   0.8x   1 to 2 cycles/nS           Retention Mode   0.1x to 0.3x   few 10&#39;s of cycles/nS           Power Gated   0.01x   few 1000&#39;s of cycles/μS                        
As shown in Table 1 this invention provides a good intermediate power level versus recovery time. This invention uses less power than clock gating the circuit and requires less recovery time than power gating the circuit.
 
     State retention could be implemented in a SOC circuit using retention cells in the standard cell library. This technique is commonly used. This technique adds lot of effort including cell library development, characterization and power domain implementation. The on-chip supply drooping based retention of this invention implements full retention. With this invention cell library changes are limited to few standard cells. Thus this invention is scalable. 
       FIGS. 4, 5 and 6  illustrate a power switch used on a SOC to implement this invention.  FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing the inputs and outputs. Power switch  400  receives a power source V DD  and generates a power output V DD   _   LSW . Power switch  400  receives inputs DROOPIN and PGODIN which control its operation. Power switch  400  is typically deployed in a chain of power switches connected together. The DROOPOUT output of one power switch supplies the DROOPIN input of a next power switch in the chain. The PGOODOUT output supplies the PGOODIN input of the next power switch in the chain. Power switch  400  operates as shown in Table 2. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 DROOPIN 
                 PGOODIN 
                 Mode 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 0 
                 0 
                 OFF 
               
               
                   
                 0 
                 1 
                 Normal 
               
               
                   
                 1 
                 0 
                 Retention Mode 
               
               
                   
                 1 
                 1 
                 Retention Mode 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
       FIG. 5  illustrates an example  500  of the chain of switches  400  employed in the chain. The input signals DROOPIN and PGOODIN are supplied to corresponding inputs of the first power switch in the chain, power switch  510 . As previously described, the DROOPOUT output of power switch  510  supplies the DROOPIN input of power switch  520  and the PGOODOUT output of power switch  510  supplies the PGOODIN input of power switch  520 .  FIG. 5  illustrates three power switches,  510 ,  520  . . .  570 , but more or fewer power switches could be provided within the scope of this invention. Each power switch  510 ,  520  . . .  570  controls power supplied to a corresponding partition  515 ,  525  . . .  575  of power domain  505 .  FIG. 5  illustrates partitions  515 ,  525  . . .  575 , but more or fewer partitions could be provided within the scope of this invention with each partition having a corresponding power switch. The chain of power switches  510 ,  520  . . .  570  prevents the source of signals PGOODIN and DROOPIN from exceeding a fan out limitation. Note that example  500  illustrated in  FIG. 5  corresponds to a single power domain with drooping such as illustrated at  312  and  313  of  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary diagram of circuit  600  implementing power switch  510 ,  520  . . .  570 . The PGOODIN input drives invertor  610  consisting of a series connection of PMOS transistor  611  and NMOS transistors  612 ,  613  and  614 . The PGOODIN input drives a common connection to the gates of PMOS transistor  611  and NMOS transistors  612 ,  613  and  614 . The output of inverter  610 , taken from between PMOS transistor  611  and NMOS transistor  612 , drives the gate of PMOS transistor  621  in a manner further described below and the input of inverter  615 . Due to the nature of PMOS and NMOS transistors, PMOS transistor  611  is conductive opposite to NMOS transistors  612 ,  613  and  614 . Switches  601  and  602  control operation of circuit  600  in a manner detailed below. 
     The source-drain channel of PMOS transistor  621  is connected between the V DD  input and the V DD   _   LSW  output. The gate of PMOS transistor  621  is connected to the output of inverter  610  through the source-drain channel of NMOS transistor  733 . Assuming that switch  601  is closed and switch  602  is open (DROOPIN=0), PMOS transistor  621  connects V DD  to V DD   _   LSW  on a  1  input on PGOODIN. PMOS transistor  612  isolates V DD  from V DD   _   LSW  on a  0  input on PGOODIN. Inverter  615  assures that the output PGOODOUT has the same digital sense as input PGOODIN to drive the next power switch in the chain. Capacitor  640  smoothes the output V DD   _   LSW . 
     The DROOPIN input signal is supplied to the input of inverter  631 . The output of inverter  631  is supplied to the input of inverter  632 . Inverter  632  assures that the output DROOPOUT has the same digital sense as input DROOPIN to drive the next power switch in the chain. Switches  601  and  602  are controlled as shown in Table 3. 
                                     TABLE 3                       DROOPIN   Switch 601    Switch 602                           Inactive (0)   Closed   Open           Active (1)   Open   Closed                        
Switches  601  and  602  operate oppositely. When switch  601  is closed switch  602  is open and vice versa. When DROOPIN is inactive, switch  601  is closed and switch  602  is open. Circuit  600  operates according to the state of PGOODIN. For PGOODIN=1, circuit  600  supplies electric power to the corresponding partition by connecting the V DD  input to the V DD   _   LSW  output via PMOS  621 . For PGOODIN=0, circuit  600  cuts off electric power from the corresponding partition. When DROOPIN is active, switch  601  is open and switch  602  is closed. Circuit  600  is no longer controlled by the state of PGOODIN. Instead, circuit  600  connects electric power to the corresponding partition by connecting the V DD  input to the V DD   _   LSW  output via a diode forward bias drop through the PMOS transistor  621 . Thus V DD   _   LSW  is diode drop (about 0.2 V to 0.3 V) less than V DD . This enables the low retention voltage to be applied to the corresponding power module.
 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a practical embodiment of circuit  600  illustrated in  FIG. 6 . Switches  601  and  602  are embodied by NMOS transistor  733  and PMOS transistor  734 . The source-drain path NMOS transistor  733  connects the gate of PMOS transistor  621  to inverter  611  when DROOPIN is inactive (Normal mode) and is open otherwise. This embodies first switch  601 . The source-drain path of PMOS transistor  734  connects the gate of PMOS transistor  621  to the second terminal of its source-drain path when DROOPIN is active (Retention mode) and is open otherwise. This embodies second switch  602 . 
     Due to the nature of PMOS and NMOS transistors, NMOS transistor  733  is conductive opposite to PMOS transistor  734 . When DROOPIN is 0, NMOS transistor  733  is conducting and NMOS transistor  734  is not conducting. Accordingly, the gate of PMOS transistor  621  is connected to the output of inverter  610  to be driven conductive or non-conductive according to the state of PGOODIN. As shown in Table 2 the corresponding power domain is driven OFF or NORMAL based upon the state of PGOODIN. Note when PGOODIN is 1, PMOS transistor  621  is conductive connecting the V DD  input to the V DD   _   LSW  output. When PGOODIN is 0, PMOS transistor  621  is non-conductive isolating the V DD  input from the V DD   _   LSW  output. 
     When DROOPIN is 1, NMOS transistor  733  is not conducting and NMOS transistor  734  is conducting. In this situation the state of PGOODIN is not controlling. The source-drain channel of NMOS transistor  734  connected the gate to PMOS transistor  621  to a terminal of its source-drain channel. PMOS transistor  621  connects the V DD  input to the V DD   _   LSW  output via a diode forward bias drop through the PMOS transistor  621 . Thus V DD   _   LSW  is diode drop (about 0.2 V to 0.3 V) less than V DD . This enables the low retention voltage to be applied to the corresponding power module. 
     Selection of an NMOS type for transistor  733  and a PMOS type for transistor  734  is not required. Switch  601  could be embodied by a PMOS transistor. In order to preserve the states shown in Table 3, this PMOS transistor must be driven in an opposite phase than illustrated in  FIG. 7 . This opposite phase could be a connection of the gate of this transistor directly to DROOPIN at the input of inverter  631  or from the output of inverter  632 . Switch  602  could be embodied by an NMOS transistor. This NMOS transistor must be driven in an opposite phase than illustrated in  FIG. 7  such as directly by DROOPIN at the input of inverter  631  or from the output of inverter  632 . The conductivity type (N channel or P channel) is not important as long as the states conform to Table 3. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a further alternative for embodying switch  601 .  FIG. 8  is similar to  FIG. 7  and like parts have like reference numbers. In  FIG. 8  switch  601  is embodied by a parallel combination of NMOST transistor  733  and PMOS transistor  833 . The gate of PMOS transistor  833  is connected to the DROOPIN input. PMOS transistor  833  pulls up the gate of PMOS transistor  621  to the full supply to turn off PMOS transistor  621  completely when DROOPIN=0 and PGOODIN=0. In the circuit of  FIG. 8  NMOS transistor  733  ensures that when DROOPIN=0 and PGOODIN=1 gate of PMOS transistor  621  is fully pulled down to 0 V causing PMOS transistor  621  to fully conduct. 
     This embodiment of the invention does not require extra power supplies brought on-chip nor specialized register cell designs. Such specialized register cell designs are common across almost all other retention solutions. Such specialized register cell designs typically bring some additional complexity to those circuits including specialized clocking and control signaling or both. This embodiment of the invention uses a single custom power switch design with almost any standard cell library. Such power switches are robustly designed with respect to process, temperature and voltage (PTV) variations. This is the key differentiator of this solution. 
     This embodiment of the invention requires only one standard cell change in the power switch. Thus the design effort to adopt this embodiment of the invention is very low. Since this embodiment of the invention uses the power switch itself as the diode in the source biased mode, there is no additional area incurred in the power switch implementation.

Technology Category: 5