Component reliability budgeting system

• US 7,689,845 B2
• Filed: 10/03/2008
• Issued: 03/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tahoe Research Limited (f/k/a Learndale Limited) (Vector Capital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Tang, Stephen H., Tschanz, James W., De, Vivek K., Narendra, Siva G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao; Chun
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stoynov; Stefan
• Application Number:
  US12/245,360
• Publication Number:
  US 20090033308A1
• Time in Patent Office: 543 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300, 713/320, 714/47, 700/79
• US Class Current: 713/320
• 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 a plurality of supply voltages supplied to an electrical component;

acquiring a plurality of temperatures of the electrical component;

determining a margin, which reflects reliability of the electrical component and is allowed by current workload and environment conditions, wherein the determining comprises

comparing the plurality of supply voltages to a maximum supply voltage allowed;

comparing the plurality of temperatures to a maximum temperature allowed; and

creating a reliability trending of the electrical component based on the plurality of supply voltages and the plurality of temperatures; and

altering one or more operational parameters of the electrical component based on the determined margin.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise 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 altering the one or more operational parameters of the electrical component comprises:

increasing a frequency of operation of the electrical component if the margin exceeds a predetermined threshold; and

decreasing the frequency of operation if the margin is below the predetermined threshold.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein altering the one or more operational parameters of the electrical component comprises dynamically scaling at least one of a frequency of operation of or a supply voltage to the electrical component to optimize power consumption by and a performance requirement from the electrical component.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein determining the margin comprises determining an extent to which an operational life of the electrical component has been depleted.

6. 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 determine a margin, which reflects reliability of the electrical component and is allowed by current workload and environment conditions, and to alter one or more operational parameters of the electrical component based on the determined margin, wherein the determining comprises

comparing the plurality of supply voltages to a maximum supply voltage allowed; and

comparing the plurality of temperatures to a maximum temperature allowed, wherein the control unit further creates a reliability trending of the electrical component based on the plurality of supply voltages and the plurality of temperatures.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise at least one of a frequency of operation, a body bias, a supply voltage, or a workload.

8. An apparatus according to claim 6, 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.

9. An apparatus according to claim 6, 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.

10. An apparatus according to claim 6, 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.

11. An apparatus according to claim 6, 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.

12. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit increases a frequency of operation of the electrical component if the margin exceeds a predetermined threshold, and decreases the frequency of operation if the margin is below the predetermined threshold.

13. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit dynamically scales at least one of a frequency of operation of or a supply voltage to the electrical component to optimize power consumption by and a performance requirement from the electrical component.

14. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit determines an extent to which an operational life of the electrical component has been depleted.

15. 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 determine a margin, which reflects reliability of the electrical component and is allowed by current workload and environment conditions, and to alter one or more operational parameters of the electrical component based on the determined margin, wherein the determining comprises

comparing the plurality of supply voltages to a maximum supply voltage allowed; and

comparing the plurality of temperatures to a maximum temperature allowed, wherein the control unit further creates a reliability trending of the electrical component based on the plurality of supply voltages and the plurality of temperatures; and

a double data rate memory coupled to the microprocessor.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise at least one of a frequency of operation, a supply voltage, or a workload.

17. A system according to claim 15, wherein the control unit dynamically scales at least one of a frequency of operation of or a supply voltage to the electrical component to optimize power consumption by and a performance requirement from the electrical component.

18. A system according to claim 15, wherein the control unit determines an extent to which an operational life of the electrical component has been depleted.

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

code to acquire a plurality of supply voltages supplied to an electrical component;

code to acquire a plurality of temperatures of the electrical component;

code to determine a margin, which reflects reliability of the electrical component and is allowed by current workload and environment conditions, wherein the determining comprises

comparing the plurality of supply voltages to a maximum supply voltage allowed;

comparing the plurality of temperatures to a maximum temperature allowed; and

creating a reliability trending of the electrical component based on the plurality of supply voltages and the plurality of temperatures; and

code to alter one or more operational parameters of the electrical component based on the determined margin.

20. A medium according to claim 19, wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise at least one of a frequency of operation, a supply voltage, or a workload.

21. A medium according to claim 19, wherein the code to determine the margin comprises code to determine an extent to which an operational life of the electrical component has been depleted.