EH Switched Current Power Converter Switched Current Power - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

EH Switched Current Power Converter Switched Current Power Converter a breakthrough technology for microprocessor power a breakthrough technology for microprocessor power Arnold Alderman & Edward Herbert September 2005 1 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Arnold Alderman Arnold Alderman • CEO of Anagenesis, Inc., a technical marketing consulting firm located in Los Angeles and Phoenix • 22 years engineering and management at Boeing, GE, and Emerson Electric and other US power conversion companies • 16 years technical, product, and strategic marketing at Fairchild Semiconductor and International Rectifier • Author of numerous conference papers and articles • Has been conference keynote speaker, plenary speaker in conferences globally • Board Chairperson of the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) September 2005 2 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Edward Herbert Edward Herbert • Inventor, 34 issued patents - several applications pending • Held both design and engineering management positions at: IBM; Sundstrand Aviation; Hamilton Standard; Raytheon Submarine Signal Div.; Sikorsky Aircraft; and Dynamic Controls Corp. • Invented the Matrix transformer in late 80s • Founder and President of FMTT, Inc. • Inventor of several power factor correction circuits September 2005 3 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Statement of purpose Statement of purpose • Seeking an established company in the power supply industry that will license this technology and : – Develop the Switched Current Power Converter (SCPC) into a commercial product platform – Establish markets for SCPC – Work in partnership with us to license other industry suppliers – Establish the SCPC as an industry standard September 2005 4 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Target applications & market Target applications & market • Power converters for microprocessors (VRMs, VRDs, EVRDs) • Video processors • Game console processors • Other applications requiring high di/dt, high dv/dt and fast turn on and off September 2005 5 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Market trends Market trends • Faster di/dt • Faster dv/dt • Reducing system power consumption • Higher efficiency : Lower idle and standby power • Dynamically tailored power management: varying the processor clock frequency and the core voltage to core processing activity • Operating system (OS) power management: moved from the system bios • Increasing number of multi-core processors September 2005 6 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Reducing system power consumption Reducing system power consumption • The greatest dividend for reducing system power comes from enabling the processor to operate at lower power most of the time – 1.Very fast recovery. A processor must not enter a low power state unless it can resume processing quickly enough for the task – 2. Faster dv/dt. Allows better dynamic tracking of processor operational load – 3. Fast turn on and off: The most power is saved if the processor core is turned off. A very fast turn on is necessary to resume processing without dead time September 2005 7 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Present dv/dt dv/dt requirements: requirements: Present • VR 10.2: – 2.5 mV/µs – 450 mV in 36 steps of 12.5 mV – 5 µs/step plus 50 us settling time = 230 µs • VR 11 (inferred): – 6.7 mV/µs – 67 µs for 450 mV – settling time is not known September 2005 8 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Present di/dt requirements Present di/dt requirements • VR 10.2: – Max current slew rate: 1,200 A/µs – Max current step within 1 µs: 100 A • Decoupling capacitors on motherboard: – up to 16 x 560 µF Aluminum polymer – plus 54 x 10 µF MLCC September 2005 9 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Wasted processor power Wasted processor power From Lawrence Berkeley Labs report to CEC This processor is wasting power most of the time. A power supply with very fast transition time would allow it to be turned off most of the time, for very significant system power reduction September 2005 10 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Reduce clock and voltage Reduce clock and voltage From Intel paper at IBM Symposium 2004 • Significant system power savings result from operating the processor with a slower clock and reduced voltage • With a very fast dv/dt, the processor can operate at reduced power much more of the time September 2005 11 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Series sleep transistor in processor Series sleep transistor in processor • "Another innovative technique is the Dynamic Sleep Transistor, which adds a transistor in series with the power supply that can be turned off when a block of logic circuitry is in idle mode” (Technology@Intel Magazine, October 2005 ) • A power supply with fast dv/dt (1,500 mV/µs) and very fast transition time (2 µs) makes the series transistor unnecessary for turning power off. This saves significant power within the processor during operation September 2005 12 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Dynamic clock and voltage Dynamic clock and voltage • AMD: " … AMD Cool ‘n’ Quiet™ technology controls your system’s level of processor performance automatically, dynamically adjusting the operating frequency and voltage up to 30 times per second, according to the task at hand. When an application does not require full performance, significant amounts of power can be saved." • With the SCPC, the voltage can be adjusted continuously at up to 1500 mV/µs, or it can be turned off entirely in 2 µs, and restored to VID voltage and full current capability in 2 µs September 2005 13 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Too many power states Too many power states • There is a proliferation of power states: system states, sleeping states, processor power states, performance states and so forth. (A representative list is in the in the handout notes) • With very fast voltage tracking and very fast transitions, many of these states are unneeded, as many are poor compromises necessitated only by poor power supply dynamics September 2005 14 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH The Solution The Solution • The Switched Current Power Converter with Switched Charge Circuit voltage control is a true break-through technology providing: – Fastest possible di/dt – Fastest possible dv/dt – Fastest possible transition times (on, off, step voltage) – Easily expandable to multiple outputs – Very low standby power September 2005 15 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Key benefits Key benefits • Saves power: – Very fast dynamic response allows the processor to remain off or in lower power states for a greater percentage of the time • Saves board area: – The bulk capacitors can be eliminated • Saves cost: – Trades off capacitors for silicon – Less heat sinking • Increased flexibility: – System will benefit from individual high di/dt and high dv/dt power control for each core September 2005 16 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH SCPC impedance curve SCPC impedance curve • Dynamic and static impedance remains below 0.5 m Ω to 5 MHz. (Spice model with representative parasitic impedances per Intel VR 10.2.) • Conditions: 50 A peak-peak ac on 50 A dc • No bulk capacitors, only 560 µF MLCC September 2005 17 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Impedance comparison Impedance comparison • SCPC impedance on Intel graph: Performance with all MLCC capacitors removed September 2005 18 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH SCPC step response SCPC step response • Current step is 35 A to 85 A, 100 A/µs (Spice model with representative parasitic impedances.) • At 100 A/µs, the output voltage Vo is regulated throughout the transient. September 2005 19 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Step response comparison Step response comparison • SCPC step response on Intel graph: September 2005 20 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH SCPC voltage step response with SCC SCPC voltage step response with SCC Switched Current Power Converter with binary switched charge (Spice model with representative parasitic impedances.) • Blue curve is digital VID input command • Green curve is Vo • Red curve is load, Io Voltage adjust for • VID slew: 1,500 mV/µs high load (point Y) (Y) • No overshoot • Full rated current is immediately available SCC = Switch Charge Circuit September 2005 21 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies

EH Voltage step response, Intel graph Voltage step response, Intel graph • Voltage overshoot per Intel VR 10.2: 50 mv, 25 µs! September 2005 22 Switched Current Power Converter Ed Herbert Technologies