Advanced Micro Devices Corporation

Dervinn Deyual Caldwell

Charles Mitchell

Qadeer Ahmad Qureshi

Lance L Smith

Patrick Evan Maupin

Joseph A Brcich

Gerald G Isaac

An integrated circuit such as a processor measures its own temperature with a temperature sensor. The measured temperature is compared to an upper limit value stored in the integrated circuit. An output terminal of the integrated circuit is asserted according to the comparison. In one mode of operation, the output terminal is asserted when the measured temperature is greater than the upper limit value and deasserted when the measured temperature goes below a lower limit value. A second output terminal is asserted when the temperature is above a second upper limit value, thereby indicating that temperature has exceeded a safe limit.

Method and apparatus for using an on-board temperature sensor on an integrated circuit

A processor includes an input/output (I/O) register that is mapped into input/output (I/O) address space. The processor also includes a base address register that is loaded with a base address. The base address register may be a model specific register (MSR). The input/output register is accessed with an input/output instruction at an address determined according to the base address and an offset therefrom. The base address register may be accessible to software operating at a high privilege level and not accessible to software operating at a lower privilege level, while the I/O register is accessible to software operating at the lower privilege level. The processor determines when an I/O access is to the processor I/O register and accesses that I/O register without causing an input/output bus cycle that would otherwise occur.

Using a model specific register as a base I/O address register for embedded I/O registers in a processor

Method and system for preventing electronic overstress during powering up a processor with voltage detection capabilities employing a mechanism for detecting the voltage requirements of the processor to be coupled into a motherboard and accordingly adjusts the power supply of the motherboard to the processor voltage requirements. The detection mechanism includes sensing of logic signals by sensing a voltage from one or more pins of the processor. Those pins are internally connected to ground or internally not connected thus facilitating sensing of logic signals prior to powering up the processor. The probed signals are used to control the power supplied to the processor by adjustment mechanisms applied to power regulator or programmable logic devices. Since the detection of the proper operating voltage requirements of the processor and the consequent adjustment of the voltage power to be supplied to the processor occur during the powering up of the processor, electrical over stress and potential damage of the processor are eliminated.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Dervinn Deyual Caldwell