Noise modulation for on-chip noise measurement
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- determining an on-chip noise signal at an on-chip determination point on a computer chip;
converting, using a voltage-controlled oscillator, the on-chip noise signal to a frequency-varying signal;
providing the frequency-varying signal to an off-chip noise estimation unit that is external to the computer chip, the off-chip noise estimation unit comprising at least one member of the group consisting of an integrated circuit and a processor with associated memory;
executing, by the off-chip noise estimation unit, windowing operations on the frequency-varying signal to yield a subset of the frequency-varying signal;
executing, by the off-chip noise estimation unit, time-to-frequency domain conversion operations to convert the subset of the frequency-varying signal to a corresponding frequency domain signal; and
determining, by the off-chip noise estimation unit, a voltage level associated with the on-chip noise signal based, at least in part, on frequency information extracted from the frequency domain signal and a relationship between an input voltage provided to the voltage-controlled oscillator and an output frequency generated by the voltage-controlled oscillator.
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Abstract
Functionality for estimating characteristics of an on-chip noise signal can be implemented on a processing module. An on-chip noise signal is determined at an on-chip determination point of a computer chip. The on-chip noise signal is converted to a frequency-varying signal using a voltage-controlled oscillator implemented on the computer chip. The frequency-varying signal is measured at an off-chip measurement point and frequency information is extracted from the frequency-varying signal. The frequency information is converted to a voltage level associated with the on-chip noise signal based on the relationship between an input voltage provided to the voltage-controlled oscillator and an output frequency generated by the voltage-controlled oscillator.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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determining an on-chip noise signal at an on-chip determination point on a computer chip; converting, using a voltage-controlled oscillator, the on-chip noise signal to a frequency-varying signal; providing the frequency-varying signal to an off-chip noise estimation unit that is external to the computer chip, the off-chip noise estimation unit comprising at least one member of the group consisting of an integrated circuit and a processor with associated memory; executing, by the off-chip noise estimation unit, windowing operations on the frequency-varying signal to yield a subset of the frequency-varying signal; executing, by the off-chip noise estimation unit, time-to-frequency domain conversion operations to convert the subset of the frequency-varying signal to a corresponding frequency domain signal; and determining, by the off-chip noise estimation unit, a voltage level associated with the on-chip noise signal based, at least in part, on frequency information extracted from the frequency domain signal and a relationship between an input voltage provided to the voltage-controlled oscillator and an output frequency generated by the voltage-controlled oscillator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification