COMPONENT RELIABILITY BUDGETING SYSTEM

• US 20090033308A1
• Filed: 10/03/2008
• Published: 02/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tahoe Research Limited (f/k/a Learndale Limited) (Vector Capital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: James W. Tschanz, Siva G. Narendra, Stephen H. Tang, Vivek K. De
• Inventors: Narendra, Siva G., Tang, Stephen H., Tschanz, James W., De, Vivek K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,689,845 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 323/299
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A system may include acquisition of a supply voltage information representing past supply voltages supplied to an electrical component, acquisition of a temperature information representing past temperatures of the electrical component, and control of a performance characteristic of the electrical component based on the supply voltage information and the temperature information. Some embodiments may further include determination of a reliability margin based on the supply voltage information, the temperature information, and on a reliability specification of the electrical component, and change of the performance characteristic based on the reliability margin.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

acquiring supply voltage information representing past supply voltages supplied to an electrical component;

acquiring temperature information representing past temperatures of the electrical component; and

changing a performance characteristic of the electrical component based on the supply voltage information and the temperature information.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the performance characteristic comprises at least one of a frequency of operation, a body bias, a supply voltage, or a workload.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the supply voltage information comprises a plurality of past supply voltages, and

wherein the temperature information comprises a plurality of past temperatures.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the supply voltage information comprises a single value based on a plurality of past supply voltages;

and

wherein the temperature information comprises a second single value based on a plurality of past temperatures.

5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a reliability margin based on the supply voltage information, the temperature information, and on a reliability specification of the electrical component, and

wherein the performance characteristic is changed based on the reliability margin.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein changing the performance characteristic comprises:

changing a body bias voltage of the electrical component.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein changing the performance characteristic comprises:

controlling a voltage regulator to change a supply voltage supplied to the electrical component.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a voltage sensor to determine a plurality of supply voltages supplied to an electrical component;

a temperature sensor to determine a plurality of temperatures of the electrical component; and

a control unit to change a performance characteristic of the electrical component based on the plurality of supply voltages and the plurality of temperatures.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the performance characteristic comprises at least one of a frequency of operation, a body bias, a supply voltage, or a workload.

10. An apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

a memory to store the plurality of supply voltages and the plurality of temperatures from the temperature sensor, and to provide the plurality of supply voltages and the plurality of temperatures to the control unit.

11. An apparatus according to claim 8, the control unit to change the performance characteristic based on a single value representing the plurality of supply voltages, and on a second single value representing the plurality of temperatures.

12. An apparatus according to claim 8, the control unit to determine a reliability margin based on the plurality of supply voltages, the plurality of temperatures, and on a reliability specification of the electrical component, and to change the performance characteristic based on the reliability margin.

13. An apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

a body bias circuit coupled to the control unit, the body bias circuit to receive an instruction from the control unit to change a body bias voltage of the electrical component.

14. An apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

a voltage regulator coupled to the control unit, the voltage regulator to receive an instruction from the control unit to change a supply voltage supplied to the electrical component.

15. An apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

a clocking unit coupled to the control unit, the clocking unit to receive an instruction from the control unit to change a frequency of operation of the electrical component.

16. A system comprising:

a microprocessor comprising;

a voltage sensor to determine a plurality of supply voltages supplied to the microprocessor;

a temperature sensor to determine a plurality of temperatures of the microprocessor; and

a control unit to change a performance characteristic of the microprocessor based on the plurality of supply voltages and the plurality of temperatures; and

a double data rate memory coupled to the microprocessor.

17. A system according to claim 16, wherein the performance characteristic comprises at least one of a frequency of operation, a supply voltage, or a workload.

18. A system according to claim 16, the control unit to determine a reliability margin based on the plurality of supply voltages, the plurality of temperatures, and on a reliability specification of the microprocessor, and to change the performance characteristic based on the reliability margin.

19. A system according to claim 16, further comprising:

a voltage regulator,

wherein the voltage regulator is to receive an instruction from the control unit to change a supply voltage supplied to the microprocessor.

20. A system according to claim 16, the microprocessor further comprising:

a clocking unit coupled to the control unit, the clocking unit to receive an instruction from the control unit to change a frequency of operation of the microprocessor.

21. A medium storing program code, the program code comprising:

code to acquire supply voltage information representing past supply voltages supplied to an electrical component;

code to acquire temperature information representing past temperatures of the electrical component; and

code to change a performance characteristic of the electrical component based on the supply voltage information and the temperature information.

22. A medium according to claim 21, wherein the performance characteristic comprises at least one of a frequency of operation, a body bias, a supply voltage, or a workload.

23. A medium according to claim 21, the program code further comprising:

code to determine a reliability margin based on the supply voltage information, the temperature information, and on a reliability specification of the electrical component, wherein the performance characteristic is changed based on the reliability margin.

24. A medium according to claim 21, wherein the code to change the performance characteristic comprises:

code to change a body bias voltage of the electrical component.

25. A medium according to claim 21, wherein the code to change the performance characteristic comprises:

code to control a voltage regulator to change a supply voltage supplied to the electrical component.