Method and apparatus for managing global chip power on a multicore system on chip

• US 10,732,684 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2018
• Issued: 08/04/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Marvell Asia Pte Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Original Assignee: Marvell Asia Pte Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Inventors: Carlson, David A., Kessler, Richard E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, Terrell S
• Application Number:
  US16/210,987
• Publication Number:
  US 20190107874A1
• Time in Patent Office: 608 Days
• Field of Search: 713300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/28 Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/324 by lowering clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3243 Power saving in microcontroller unit
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/20 of receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2027/0016 Stabilisation of local oscillators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2027/0067 Phase error detectors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2027/0075 Error weighting
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

According to at least one example embodiment, a method and corresponding apparatus for controlling power in a multi-core processor chip include: accumulating, at a controller within the multi-core processor chip, one or more power estimates associated with multiple core processors within the multi-core processor chip. A global power threshold is determined based on a cumulative power estimate, the cumulative power estimate being determined based at least in part on the one or more power estimates accumulated. The controller causes power consumption at each of the core processors to be controlled based on the determined global power threshold. The controller may directly control power consumption at the core processors or may command the core processors to do so.

Claims

1. A method for controlling power consumption in a multi-core processor chip, the method comprising:

accumulating, at a controller within the multi-core processor chip, one or more power estimates associated with multiple core processors within the multi-core processor chip, the multiple core processors arranged in a serial configuration, the accumulating including causing at least one core processor of the multiple core processors to update a cumulative sum of power estimates to produce an updated cumulative sum and forward the updated cumulative sum to one other core processor or to the controller, based on a location of the at least one core processor within the serial configuration;

determining a cumulative power estimate based at least in part on the one or more power estimates accumulated;

determining a global power threshold based on the cumulative power estimate determined; and

causing power consumption at each core processor to be controlled based on the global power threshold determined.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein accumulating the one or more power estimates associated with multiple core processors includes receiving one or more cumulative sums of power estimates associated with one or more subsets of the multiple core processors within the multi-core processor chip.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein accumulating the one or more power estimates associated with multiple core processors includes receiving multiple power estimates corresponding to the multiple core processors within the multi-core processor chip.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising sending a read command from the controller to the at least one core processor, the sending causing the least one core processor to produce the updated cumulative sum and forward the read command with the updated cumulative sum.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein causing the at least one core processor to update the cumulative sum includes asserting a sum wire, the sum wire coupling the controller to the at least one core processor.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the global power threshold is further based on a corresponding average of the cumulative power estimate over time, relative to a desired target power, and wherein the method further comprises:

increasing the global power threshold determined in an event the cumulative power estimate determined and the corresponding average over time are both smaller than the desired target power.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the global power threshold is further based on a corresponding average of the cumulative power estimate over time, relative to a desired target power, and wherein the method further comprises:

decreasing the global power threshold determined in an event the cumulative power estimate determined is larger than the desired target power.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the global power threshold is further based on a corresponding average of the cumulative power estimate over time, relative to a desired target power, and wherein the desired target power is a constant set by a user or a manufacturer of the multi-core processor chip.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the global power threshold is further based on a corresponding average of the cumulative power estimate over time, relative to a desired target power, and wherein the desired target power is dynamically set based at least in part on measured temperature values of the multi-core processor chip.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

accumulating one or more representations of clock activities associated with one or more coprocessor blocks within the multi-core processor chip; and

determining one or more power estimates associated with the one or more coprocessor blocks based at least in part on the one or more representations accumulated,

wherein determining the cumulative power estimate for the multi-core processor chip is further based on the one or more power estimates associated with the one or more coprocessor blocks.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein determining the one or more power estimates associated with the one or more coprocessor blocks is further based on a lookup table.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein accumulating the one or more representations of the clock activities associated with the one or more coprocessor blocks includes:

counting, at each coprocessor block, clock activity cycles associated with the same coprocessor block;

generating a representation of the clock activity associated with the coprocessor block by mapping a predefined number of counted clock activity cycles into a single symbol within the representation of the clock activity associated with the coprocessor block; and

receiving, by the controller, the representation of the clock activity associated with the coprocessor block.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein causing power consumption at each core processor to be controlled includes instructing each core processor to control power consumption of the core processor based on the global power threshold.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein instructing each core processor to control power consumption includes sending an indication of the global power threshold determined to each core processor.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising comparing, by each core processor, the global power threshold with a local power limit.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein causing power consumption at each core processor to be controlled includes adjusting a master clock frequency.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the global power threshold is further based on a corresponding average of the cumulative power estimate over time, relative to a desired target power.

18. A multi-core processor chip comprising:

multiple core processors arranged in a serial configuration; and

a controller coupled to at least one of the multiple core processors, the controller configured to;

accumulate one or more power estimates associated with the multiple core processors within the multi-core processor chip, wherein in accumulating the one or more power estimates associated with the multiple core processors, the controller is configured to cause at least one core processor of the multiple core processors to update a cumulative sum of power estimates to produce an updated cumulative sum and forward the updated cumulative sum to one other core processor or to the controller, based on a location of the at least one core processor within the serial configuration;

determine a cumulative power estimate based at least in part on the one or more power estimates accumulated;

determine a global power threshold based on the cumulative power estimate determined; and

cause power consumption at one or more of the multiple core processors to be controlled based on the global power threshold determined.

19. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein, in accumulating the one or more power estimates associated with the multiple core processors, the controller is further configured to receive one or more cumulative sums of power estimates associated with one or more subsets of the multiple core processors.

20. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein, in accumulating the one or more power estimates associated with the multiple core processors, the controller is further configured to receive multiple power estimates corresponding to the multiple core processors.

21. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein the controller is further configured to send a read command to the at least one core processor, causing the at least one processor to produce the updated cumulative sum and forward the updated cumulative sum.

22. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 21, wherein to cause the at least one core processor of the multiple core processors to update the cumulative sum, the controller is further configured to assert a sum wire, the sum wire coupling the controller to the at least one core processor.

23. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein the controller is further configured to:

increase the global power threshold determined in an event the cumulative power estimate determined and a corresponding average of the cumulative power estimate over time are both smaller than a desired target power.

24. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein the controller is further configured to:

decrease the global power threshold determined in an event the cumulative power estimate determined is larger than a desired target power.

25. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein the controller is further configured to determine the global power threshold based on a corresponding average of the cumulative power estimate over time, relative to a desired target power, and wherein the desired target power is a constant set by a user or a manufacturer of the multi-core processor chip.

26. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein the controller is further configured to determine the global power threshold based on a corresponding average of the cumulative power estimate over time, relative to a desired target power, and wherein the desired target power is dynamically set based at least in part on measured temperature values of the multi-core processor chip.

27. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein the multi-core processor chip further includes one or more coprocessor blocks, and the controller is further configured to:

accumulate one or more representations of clock activities associated with the one or more coprocessor blocks; and

determine one or more power estimates associated with the one or more coprocessor blocks based at least in part on the one or more representations accumulated,

wherein determining the cumulative power estimate for the multi-core processor chip is further based on the one or more power estimates associated with the one or more coprocessor blocks.

28. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 27, wherein, in determining the one or more power estimates associated with the one or more coprocessor blocks, the controller is further configured to check a lookup table to determine the power estimate associated with each coprocessor block.

29. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 27, wherein, in accumulating one or more representations of the clock activities associated with the one or more coprocessor blocks, each coprocessor block is configured to:

count, at each coprocessor block, clock activity cycles associated with the same coprocessor block;

generate a representation of the clock activity associated with the coprocessor block by mapping a predefined number of counted clock activity cycles into a single symbol within the representation of the clock activity associated with the coprocessor block; and

send the representation of the clock activity associated with the coprocessor block to the controller.

30. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein, in causing power consumption at each core processor to be controlled, the controller is further configured to instruct each core processor to control power consumption of the core processor based on the global power threshold.

31. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 30, wherein, in instructing each core processor to control power consumption, the controller is further configured to send an indication of the global power threshold determined to each core processor.

32. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 31, wherein each core processor is configured to compare the global power threshold with a local power limit.

33. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein, in causing power consumption at each core processor to be controlled, the controller is further configured to adjust a master clock frequency.

34. The multi-core processor chip according to claim 18, wherein the controller is further configured to determine the global power threshold based on a corresponding average of the cumulative power estimate over time, relative to a desired target power.