The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 21, 2009
Filed:
Dec. 13, 2005
Kanak B. Agarwal, Austin, TX (US);
Damir A. Jamsek, Austin, TX (US);
Kevin J. Nowka, Georgetown, TX (US);
Kanak B. Agarwal, Austin, TX (US);
Damir A. Jamsek, Austin, TX (US);
Kevin J. Nowka, Georgetown, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A digital circuit with dynamic power and performance control via per-block selectable operating voltage level permits dynamic tailoring of operating power to processing demand and/or compensation for process variation. A set of processing blocks having a power supply selectable from two different power supply voltage levels is provided. The power level of the overall circuit is set by selecting the power supply voltage for each block to yield a combination of blocks that meets operating requirements. Alternatively, one circuit per pair from a set of pairs of redundant logic blocks supplied by the different power supply voltage levels can be selected to meet the operating requirements. The unselected blocks can be disabled by disabling foot devices or disabling transitions at the inputs to the unselected blocks. Performance measurement and feedback circuits can be included to tune the power consumption and performance level of the circuit to meet an expected level.