Power reduction apparatus and method
First Claim
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1. A chip, comprising:
- a functional circuit having transistors to implement logic, the transistors to be operated in a temperature range where their strength increases with an increase in temperature; and
a control unit to decrease a voltage supply to the functional circuit when temperature goes up during functional circuit active operation.
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Abstract
Provided is an approach to saving active power through lowering a supply voltage when operating temperature goes up, while substantially maintaining operating performance.
19 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A chip, comprising:
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a functional circuit having transistors to implement logic, the transistors to be operated in a temperature range where their strength increases with an increase in temperature; and a control unit to decrease a voltage supply to the functional circuit when temperature goes up during functional circuit active operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method, comprising:
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monitoring temperature and performance level for a functional circuit; and reducing a supply voltage to the functional circuit in an active operating mode in response to the temperature increasing while at least maintaining the desired performance level. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system, comprising:
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a chip having a processing core with at least one temperature sensor to monitor an operating temperature; and a voltage regulator to provide a voltage supply to the core, wherein the chip has a control unit to control the voltage regulator to reduce the voltage supplied to the core in response to the monitored temperature sufficiently increasing. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification