POWER DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND METHODS WITH DYNAMIC LOOK-UP TABLE

• US 20090005885A1
• Filed: 06/29/2007
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Qahouq, Jaber Abu, Huang, Lilly
• Granted Patent: US 7,869,228 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/324 by lowering clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

According to some embodiments, information about a power delivery stage is determined for a plurality of operating condition values. The determined information may then be stored in a dynamic look-up table of an adaptive tracking controller engine according to some embodiments. Other embodiments are described.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining information about a power delivery stage for a plurality of operating condition values; and

storing the determined information in a dynamic look-up table of an adaptive tracking controller engine.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing information from the dynamic look-up table to dynamically program the power delivery stage.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determined information is associated with a control parameter over a plurality of operating condition values, and the dynamic look-up table stores information about the power delivery stage for the plurality of operating condition values.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said programming is associated with an adaptive control scheme using at least one control parameter.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the control parameter is associated with at least one of:

(i) a switching frequency, (ii) a current sharing ratio, (iii) a dead-time period, (iv) a drive voltage, or (v) a number of switches.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said programming is associated with a plurality of control parameters and the dynamic look-up table has a multi-dimensional architecture.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a tracking loop associated with the adaptive tracking controller engine is periodically adjusted to (i) reduce power loss or (ii) improve dynamic performance.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each operating condition value is associated with at least one of:

(i) a load consumption values (ii) an input voltage value, (iii) a temperature value, (iv) a battery charge status, or (v) a duty cycle value.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said storing is performed in connection with a number of different types of operating conditions.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the adaptive tracking controller engine is alternately associated with a plurality of power converters, each power converter being associated with a dynamic look-up table.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the power delivery stage is associated with a voltage regulator for an electronics device.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

an adaptive tracking controller engine associated with a power delivery system;

an input to the adaptive tracking controller engine to receive information associated with a control parameter over a plurality of operating condition values; and

a dynamic look-up table to store information about the power delivery system for the plurality of operating condition values.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the power delivery system is associated with a voltage regulator integrated within at least one of:

(i) a processor, or (ii) a system on chip design.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the adaptive tracking controller engine is alternately associated with each one of a plurality of power delivery systems.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the dynamic look-up table is adaptive and has a multi-dimensional architecture.