SBIR Phase I: Fast Slewing Voltage Regulator for Package Integrated Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling Applications

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将是大幅降低功耗，并显著减少稳压器的占地面积，同时仍然部署标准CMOS半导体工艺。 该项目将开发引领封装内稳压器商业趋势的产品，并将提高美国半导体行业的竞争力。减小的尺寸和成本以及芯片放置在封装中的能力使各种系统组件能够具有自己的电压调节器，由于更快的转换速率，这使得设备能够承载大数据和其他高级应用所需的日益复杂的应用。 此外，在数据中心使用该项目开发的技术将转化为更节能的电子基础设施，减少国家的二氧化碳排放及其对气候和环境的影响。这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在开发一种基于公司新颖的专有架构的封装内电压调节器，该架构将大幅降低功耗，显著减少电压调节器的占用空间，提高压摆率，同时仍保持在标准CMOS工艺范围内。 在过去的40年里，降压DC-DC电压调节器（VR）一直用于转换线路或电池供电的DC电压，为这些系统IC供电。IC制造商已经将这些VR的效率优化到饱和状态。为了实现系统效率的下一步功能，SoC本身的功耗必须通过新的方法来改善，以平衡所需功率与所提供的功率。同时，在工业和消费者市场中存在着减少这些电子产品的体积的不满足的愿望。该公司的集成稳压器技术将通过大幅降低其负载（系统IC）的功耗来应对这些挑战。其新型调制器架构的开关频率比当今的降压VR快几个数量级，还将显著减小稳压器的尺寸，从而减小系统占用空间，同时保持与大批量IC工艺相比的经济竞争力。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will be to dramatically decrease power consumption and significantly reduce the voltage regulator footprint while still deploying standard CMOS semiconductor processes. This project will develop products that will lead the commercial trend toward in-package voltage regulators, and will increase the competitiveness of the U.S. semiconductor industry. The reduced size and cost, and the ability for the chip to be placed in the package, enables the various system components to have their own voltage regulator, which, due to the faster slew rate, results in the ability for devices to host the increasingly sophisticated applications necessary for big data and other advanced applications. In addition, the use of the technology developed under this project in data centers will translate to more energy-efficient electronic infrastructure that contributes less to the nation's CO2 emissions and their impact on climate and the environment.This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project seeks to develop an in-package voltage regulator based on the company's novel proprietary architecture that will dramatically decrease power consumption, significantly reduce the voltage regulator footprint, and increase slew rates, while still remaining within the circle of standard CMOS processes. For the last 40 years the buck DC-to-DC voltage regulator (VR) has been used to convert line- or battery-powered DC voltages to supply these System ICs. IC makers have optimized the efficiency of these VRs to saturation. To achieve the next step function in system efficiency, the power dissipation in the SoC itself must be improved with new methodologies to balance needed versus delivered power. Meanwhile there is an insatiable desire to reduce the volume of these electronic products both in industry and consumer markets. The company's integrated voltage regulator technology will address these challenges by dramatically decreasing power consumption at its load: the system IC. Its new modulator architecture with switching frequencies orders of magnitude faster than today's buck VRs will also significantly reduce the size of the voltage regulator and thus system footprint while remaining economically competitive with high volume IC processes.