I-Corps: Near-Threshold-Voltage Regulation Module

这个i-Corps项目的广泛影响/商业潜力在低功率电子产品方面意义重大，特别是在可穿戴设备和植入式医疗设备市场。随着电子设备尺寸的不断缩小，它们面临着电力消耗、发热和散热的复杂问题。随着设备变得越来越复杂，并且此类设备的用户要求更高的实用性和连接性，迫切需要以更低的功耗提供更多的功能、减少热管理和延长电池寿命。近阈值电压(NTV)模块化稳压器适用于商用集成电路，为这些问题提供了一种创新的解决方案。这种NTV模块化稳压技术的商业影响可以通过节省功耗和削减开发成本来实现，以获得新一代低功耗电子产品的资格。当模块化设计工具用于各种应用时，可以预见到类似的节省和更广泛的影响，这些应用使用传统的CMOS电路，并能够无缝更新新技术，而不需要大量的开发成本。这个i-Corps项目进一步开发了一种适用于半导体集成电路(IC)产品的接近阈值电压(NTV)的模块化稳压器。该调节器通过在略高于设计自动设置的NTV区域的运行速度来降低许多商用IC的功耗。它降低了IC内部工作电压，使其能够在95%以上的调整率下平稳运行，同时将噪声影响降至最低。有了这个模块，IC将不需要外部电压调节器，从而进一步减少电路板上的未使用空间。该模块可以适应IC，而不会对其原始VLSI设计进行昂贵和剧烈的更改，特别是避免了制造商昂贵的技术流程转移。许多采用片上系统(SoC)架构的设备将实现在不更改核心电路的情况下将该模块用作布局的一部分的优势。由于该模块可通过设计进行工艺调整，因此SoC不需要依赖软件解决方案来调节功耗。有了NTV模块，现有的IC可以很容易地适应新兴的CMOS技术，从而维持或恢复它们的性能周期。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is significant on low power electronics, especially in markets for wearable devices and implantable medical devices. As electronic devices continue to shrink in size they are faced with compounded issues of power consumption, heat generation and dissipation. As the devices become more sophisticated and the users of such devices demand more utility and connectivity, a need for providing more functionality with less power consumption, decreased heat management, and extended battery life is in critical demand. The Near-Threshold-Voltage (NTV) modular regulator is adaptable to commercially available integrated circuits and provides an innovative solution to these issues. The commercial impact of this NTV modular regulator technology could be realized by saving power consumption and by cutting expenses in development costs to qualify for new generation of low-power electronics. Similar savings and an even broader impact may be envisioned when the modular designing tool is used for a variety of applications using legacy CMOS circuitry and enabling seamless updates to newer technology without substantial development costs.This I-Corps project further develops a Near-Threshold-Voltage (NTV) modular regulator that is practical for semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) products. The regulator reduces power consumption of many commercially available ICs by running at slightly higher than NTV regions auto-set by the design. It lowers the IC internal operating voltages and enables them to run smoothly at above 95% regulation while minimizing the noise effects. With this module, the ICs will not require external voltage regulators, which further minimizes the unused space on circuit boards. The module is adaptable to ICs without making expensive and drastic changes to their original VLSI designs, especially avoiding the costly technology process transfers for manufacturers. Many devices utilizing System-On-a-Chip (SoC) architectures will realize the advantages of using this module as part of the layout without changing the core circuitry. As the module is process adjustable by design, the SoC does not need to rely on software solutions to regulate power consumption. With the NTV module, existing ICs can easily adapt to emerging CMOS technologies thus sustaining or reviving their period of performance.