Distributed Network of LDO Microregulators Providing Submicrosecond DVFS and IR Drop Compensation for a 24-Core Microprocessor in 14nm SOI CMOS

Abstract

A distributed network of LDO microregulators (uREGs) senses and corrects the voltage at multiple points on a power supply grid in a multi-core microprocessor to reduce IR drops and associated performance loss. Adding a switched-capacitor (SC) accelerator to the charge pump of each uREG speeds up output voltage transitions by 17X for greater DVFS savings. Line and load regulations are 6.7mV/V and 1.5mV/A, respectively. The regulator also achieves a power efficiency of 89.9% and a current efficiency of 98.5%, while reaching a peak power density of 91.1W/mm2