Energy minimization using multiple supply voltages
IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems - Special issue on low power electronics and design
High-efficiency multiple-output DC-DC conversion for low-voltage systems
IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems - Special section on low-power electronics and design
Energy Efficient Microprocessor Design
Energy Efficient Microprocessor Design
Power efficiency of voltage scaling in multiple clock, multiple voltage cores
Proceedings of the 2002 IEEE/ACM international conference on Computer-aided design
Optimal voltage allocation techniques for dynamically variable voltage processors
Proceedings of the 40th annual Design Automation Conference
From ASIC to ASIP: The Next Design Discontinuity
ICCD '02 Proceedings of the 2002 IEEE International Conference on Computer Design: VLSI in Computers and Processors (ICCD'02)
A New Design Cost Model For The 2001 Itrs
ISQED '02 Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Quality Electronic Design
Minimizing expected energy in real-time embedded systems
Proceedings of the 5th ACM international conference on Embedded software
Proceedings of the Conference on Design, Automation and Test in Europe
Proceedings of the 50th Annual Design Automation Conference
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Power dissipation has become a critical design constraint for the growth of modern multicore systems due to increasing clock frequencies, leakage currents, and system parasitics. To overcome this urgent crisis, this article presents an embedded platform for on-chip power management of a multicore System-on-Chip (SoC). The design involves the development of two key components, from the hardware to the software level. From the hardware perspective, a multiple-supply power management unit is proposed and is implemented using a Single-Inductor Multiple-Output (SIMO) DC-DC converter. To dynamically respond to the sensed instantaneous power demands and to accurately control the power delivery to the processor cores, the power management unit employs a software-defined adaptive global/local power allocation feedback controller. The proposed controller is designed using the hardware-software codesign methodology to uniquely control the SIMO converter during various operation scenarios. This is achieved using several embedded software control algorithms that operate synergetically to ensure efficient and reliable system operation. The hardware-software codesign technique also allows the SIMO controller to be integrated with future microprocessor cores. Therefore, by employing the vast amount of on-chip resources, the converter can perform effective power processing to provide the most power-optimal voltages at the hardware level. Such an embedded power management module leads to an integrated, power-aware, and autonomous SoC design that is independent of additional external hardware control, thereby reducing on-chip area and system complexity. In this design, each power output from the SIMO converter provides a step-up/down voltage conversion, thereby enabling a wide range of variable supply voltage. An adaptive global/local power allocation control algorithm is employed to significantly improve Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) tracking speed and line/load regulation, while still retaining low cross-regulation. Designed with a 180nm CMOS process, the converter precisely provides three independently variable power outputs from 0.9 V to 3.0 V, with a total power range from 33 mW to 900 mW. A very fast load transient response of 3.25 μs is achieved, in response to a 67.5-mA full-step load current change. The design thus provides a cost-effective power management solution to achieve a robust, fast-transient, DVFS-compatible multicore SoC.