Performance control of frequency-adapting processors by voltage domain adjustment
US8527801B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 30, 2010 |
| Grant date | Sep 3, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 3, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02D10/00
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A performance control technique for a processing system that includes one or more adaptively-clocked processor cores provides improved performance/power characteristics. An outer feedback loop adjusts the power supply voltage(s) provided to the power supply voltage domain(s) powering the core(s), which may be on a per-core basis or include multiple cores per voltage domain. The outer feedback loop operates to ensure that each core is meeting specified performance, while the cores also include an inner feedback loop that adjusts their processor clock or other performance control mechanism to maximize performance under present operating conditions and within a margin of safety. The performance of each core is measured and compared to a target performance. If the target performance is not met for each core in a voltage domain, the voltage is raised for the voltage domain until all cores meet the target performance.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.