STABILITY CONTROL IN A VOLTAGE SCALING SYSTEM
First Claim
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1. An apparatus comprising:
- a data processor;
a hardware monitor to emulate a critical path of the data processor and measure a parameter associated with the emulated critical path, process the measurement value, and generate an interrupt signal if the processing result meets a criterion;
a power supply to provide power to the data processor and the hardware monitor; and
a controller to receive the interrupt signal from the hardware monitor and in response to the interrupt signal, controls the power supply to adjust an output voltage level of the power supply.
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Abstract
The subject matter of this application is embodied in an apparatus that includes a data processor, and a hardware monitor to emulate a critical path of the data processor and measure a parameter associated with the emulated critical path, process the measurement value, and generate an interrupt signal if the processing result meets a criterion. The apparatus also includes a power supply to provide power to the data processor and the hardware monitor, and a controller to receive the interrupt signal from the hardware monitor and in response to the interrupt signal, controls the power supply to adjust an output voltage level of the power supply.
43 Citations
51 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a data processor; a hardware monitor to emulate a critical path of the data processor and measure a parameter associated with the emulated critical path, process the measurement value, and generate an interrupt signal if the processing result meets a criterion; a power supply to provide power to the data processor and the hardware monitor; and a controller to receive the interrupt signal from the hardware monitor and in response to the interrupt signal, controls the power supply to adjust an output voltage level of the power supply. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus comprising:
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a data processor; a hardware monitor to measure a parameter associated with the data processor, process the measurement value, and generate an interrupt signal if the processing result meets a criterion; a power supply to provide power to the data processor and the hardware monitor; and a controller to receive the interrupt signal from the hardware monitor and in response to the interrupt signal, controls the power supply to adjust an output voltage level of the power supply. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A mobile device comprising:
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a data processor; a data bus; a hardware monitor to measure a parameter associated with the data processor, the hardware monitor being coupled to the data bus, the hardware monitor being configured to process the measurement value and generate an interrupt signal if the processing result meets a criterion; a power supply to provide power to the data processor and the hardware monitors; a look-up table having target voltage values and preset parameter values, in which each target voltage value and preset parameter value corresponds to one or more conditions; and a controller to use open loop control to control an output voltage level of the power supply based on the target voltage values obtained from the look-up table, and to use closed loop control to control the output voltage level of the power supply based on feedback provided by the hardware monitor, wherein when using the closed loop control, the controller receives the interrupt signal from the hardware monitor, and in response to the interrupt signal, adjusts the power supply output voltage level. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method comprising:
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providing power to a data processor by using a power supply; measuring a parameter associated with the data processor using a hardware monitor; at the hardware monitor, processing the measurement and generating an interrupt signal if the processing result meets a criterion; at a controller, upon receiving the interrupt signal, controlling the power supply to adjust the power supply output voltage level. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method of operating a mobile device, the method comprising:
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providing power to a data processor by using a power supply; using the data processor to execute an application program; and reducing power consumption of the data processor by using an adaptive voltage scaling process comprising; measuring a parameter associated with the data processor using a hardware monitor; sending measurement values from the hardware monitor to a controller through a data bus; and using the controller to control the power supply to adjust the power supply output voltage level according to the measurement values; and reducing the amount of bus bandwidth used by the transmission of the measurement values from the hardware monitor to the controller by processing the measurement values at the hardware monitor and sending the measurement values to the controller if the processing results meet a criterion. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification