On-chip voltage regulation in advanced technologies

硅技术的扩展使单个芯片中的数十亿个晶体管成为可能，这增加了电子器件的晶体管密度和工作频率，同时降低了每个晶体管的成本和能耗。然而，这也给功率转换、输送和管理带来了巨大的挑战，同时又能将功率损耗和噪声降到最低。例如，在大型集成电路上只有一小部分晶体管可以在全电压/频率下操作以不超过热设计功率，并且大部分电路块在任何给定时间或者是不活动的或者处于降低功率状态以满足功率和热约束。这种利用限制促使半导体社区开发更有效的功率转换和分配电路。该研究项目的总体目标是优化电压调节器-转换器电路和配电网络，以最大限度地减少电压转换过程中的功率损耗和电源管理中整个电源传输网络的噪声。给定的目标要求电源管理电路在同一个芯片上，并与专用的电源传输网络一起优化。提出了这种电压转换器和电源管理电路的电路结构和设计方法，并将在28 nm全耗尽硅中实现硅上实现。该研究项目的结果预计将实现比现有技术更高效的电源转换，以及比片外解决方案更低的电源噪声。拟议项目将推进片上电压调节器和电源传输设计的最新技术，这将使行业和更广泛的社区受益。研究结果将在主要会议和期刊上发表，以传播知识。一些学生将在项目期间接受培训，与行业合作的性质将使他们在未来在这一领域工作的正确位置。

The scaling of silicon technologies has enabled multi-billions of transistors in a single chip, which increases the transistor density and operating frequency of the electronics while reducing the cost and energy consumption per transistor. However, this also imposes a significant challenge in power conversion, delivery and management with minimal power loss and noise. For example, only a fraction of the transistors on a large integrated circuit can operate at full voltage/frequency to not exceed the thermal design power, and a large proportion of the circuit blocks is either inactive or in a reduced-power state at any given time to satisfy the power and thermal constraints. This utilization limitation has urged the semiconductor community to develop more efficient power conversion and distribution circuits. The overall objectives of the research project are to optimize voltage regulator-converter circuits and power distribution networks to minimize the power loss during voltage conversion and the noise throughout the power delivery network in power management. The given objectives require power management circuit to be on the same die and optimized together with the dedicated power delivery network. Circuit structures and design methodologies of such voltage converters and power management circuits are proposed, and an on-silicon realization is to be implemented in 28nm Fully Depleted Silicon. The results of the research project are expected to achieve more efficient power-conversion as compared to the existing techniques and lower power supply noise as compared to off-chip solutions. The proposed project will advance the state-of-the-art in on-chip voltage regulator and power delivery designs, which will benefit both industry and broader community. The research results will be published in premier conferences and journals for the dissemination of knowledge. A number of students will be trained during the project period, and the nature of the collaboration with industry will poise them in the right position for working in this field in the future.