KR-20260067278-A - DIGITAL LINEAR VOLTAGE REGULATOR AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

KR20260067278AKR 20260067278 AKR20260067278 AKR 20260067278AKR-20260067278-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a digital linear voltage regulator, comprising: a pass transistor array that includes a plurality of pass transistors and controls the output current of the digital linear voltage regulator by turning on or turning off the pass transistors; a sensing unit that detects the output voltage of a load circuit connected to the pass transistor array and generates digital data according to the amount of change of the output voltage; a storage unit that stores the digital data and stores control information related to the turn-on or turn-off operation of the pass transistors for controlling the output current based on the digital data; and a pass transistor control unit that turns on or turns off the pass transistors based on the control information; wherein the invention may further include a learning unit that takes the output voltage and a learning reference voltage as inputs, learns the correlation between the output voltage and the output current so that the output current according to the output voltage is compensated, and provides the result of the learning to the storage unit so that the control information is updated.

Inventors

박준은
송민규

Assignees

성균관대학교산학협력단

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20250225
Priority Date: 20241105

Claims (19)

In a digital linear voltage regulator, A pass transistor array comprising a plurality of pass transistors, wherein the pass transistors are turned on or turned off to regulate the output current of the digital linear voltage regulator; A sensing unit that detects the output voltage of a load circuit connected to the above-mentioned pass transistor array and generates digital data according to the amount of change in the output voltage; A storage unit that stores the digital data and stores control information related to the turn-on or turn-off operation of the pass transistor for controlling the output current based on the digital data; and A pass transistor control unit that turns on or turns off the pass transistor based on the above control information; comprising, A digital linear voltage regulator further comprising: a learning unit that takes the output voltage and a learning reference voltage as inputs to learn the correlation between the output voltage and the output current so that the output current according to the output voltage is compensated, and provides the result of the learning to the storage unit so that the control information is updated.
In Article 1, The above learning unit is, A comparison unit that compares the magnitudes of the output voltage and the learning reference voltage; and A digital linear voltage regulator comprising: a learning result output unit that outputs a result obtained by the learning to update the control information based on the comparison result of the comparison unit.
In Article 2, The above learning unit is a digital linear voltage regulator that generates a current compensation accuracy evaluation trigger signal after the output voltage is stabilized.
In Article 2, The above learning unit determines whether the output voltage is included within a threshold range, and if the output voltage is included within the threshold range, generates a current compensation accuracy evaluation trigger signal, and A digital linear voltage regulator characterized by the above comparison unit comparing the magnitudes of the output voltage and the learning reference voltage based on the above current compensation accuracy evaluation trigger signal.
In Article 2, The above learning unit determines the update direction of the above storage unit so that the control information is updated, thereby forming a digital linear voltage regulator.
In Article 5, The above learning unit is, If the output voltage is higher than the learning reference voltage as a result of comparison by the above comparison unit, the update direction is set to -1 to reduce the number of pass transistors that must be turned on by the control information, and A digital linear voltage regulator characterized by increasing the number of pass transistors that must be turned on by the control information by setting the update direction to +1 when the output voltage is lower than the learning reference voltage as a result of comparison by the comparison unit.
In Article 1, A digital linear voltage regulator characterized by the above learning unit learning the correlation between the output voltage and the output current based on reinforcement learning.
In Article 1, The above-mentioned sensing unit is, A voltage fluctuation detection unit that detects the output voltage, determines whether the output voltage exceeds a threshold range, and generates a voltage regulation trigger signal when the output voltage exceeds the threshold range; and A digital linear voltage regulator comprising: a voltage error detection unit that calculates an error between the output voltage and a reference voltage based on the above voltage regulation trigger signal, and converts the error into a digital signal to generate quantized data.
In Article 8, The above voltage fluctuation detection unit is, A first comparator that generates the voltage regulation trigger signal when the output voltage exceeds the upper limit reference voltage of the threshold range; and A digital linear voltage regulator comprising: a second comparator that generates a voltage regulation trigger signal when the output voltage is less than the lower limit reference voltage of the threshold range.
In Article 8, A digital linear voltage regulator characterized in that the storage unit receives the quantization data from the voltage error detection unit and stores the quantization data as control information.
In a digital linear voltage regulator, A pass transistor array comprising a plurality of coarse-pass transistors having a first size and a plurality of fine-pass transistors having a second size, wherein either of the coarse-pass transistors and the fine-pass transistors is turned on or turned off to regulate the output current of the digital linear voltage regulator; A sensing unit that detects a change in output voltage according to a change in load current of a load circuit connected to the above-mentioned pass transistor array and generates digital data according to the change in output voltage; A coarse and fine group storage unit that stores the above digital data and stores control information related to the turn-on or turn-off operation of either the coarse-pass transistor and the fine-pass transistor for controlling the output current based on the above digital data; and A coarse and fine group pass transistor control unit that turns on or turns off either the coarse pass transistor or the fine pass transistor based on the above control information; wherein A digital linear voltage regulator further comprising: a course and fine group learning unit that takes the output voltage and a learning reference voltage as inputs to learn the correlation between the output voltage and the output current so that the output current according to the output voltage is compensated, and provides the result of the learning to the course and fine group storage unit so that the control information is updated.
In Article 11, A digital linear voltage regulator characterized in that the first size has a width greater than the second size.
In a digital linear voltage regulator, A pass transistor array comprising a plurality of pass transistors, wherein the pass transistors are turned on or turned off to regulate the output current of the digital linear voltage regulator; A sensing unit that detects the output voltage of a load circuit connected to the above-mentioned pass transistor array and generates digital data according to the amount of change in the output voltage; A storage unit that stores the digital data and stores control information related to the turn-on or turn-off operation of the pass transistor for controlling the output current based on the digital data; and A pass transistor control unit that turns on or turns off the pass transistor based on the above control information; comprising, The system further includes a learning unit that takes the output voltage and the learning reference voltage as inputs to learn the correlation between the output voltage and the output current so that the output current according to the output voltage is compensated, and provides the result of the learning to the storage unit so that the control information is updated; The above pass transistor control unit is, A first pass transistor control unit that controls the number of pass transistors turned on to control the output current to be first compensated; and A digital linear voltage regulator comprising: a second pass transistor control unit that controls the number of pass transistors that are turned on and turned off after the first compensation, thereby controlling the output current to be secondarily compensated after the first compensation.
In a method for controlling a digital linear voltage regulator, A step of detecting the output voltage of a load circuit connected to a pass transistor array that regulates the output current of the digital linear voltage regulator by turning on or off a plurality of pass transistors; A step of determining whether the output voltage exceeds a first threshold range; A step of generating a first trigger signal and calculating the error between the output voltage and the reference voltage when it is determined that the output voltage has deviated from the first threshold range; A step of converting the above error into a digital signal to generate quantized data; A step of storing the quantization data as control information related to the turn-on or turn-off operation of the pass transistor, and turning on or turning off the pass transistor based on the control information; and The method includes the step of learning the correlation between the output voltage and the output current so that the output current according to the output voltage is compensated by using the output voltage and the learning reference voltage as inputs, and updating the control information based on the results of the learning; The step of ensuring the above update is, A step of determining whether the output voltage is included within a second threshold range; and A method for controlling a digital linear voltage regulator, comprising the step of generating a second trigger signal when the output voltage is included within the second threshold range and comparing the magnitude of the output voltage with the learning reference voltage.
In Article 14, The step of causing the above to be updated further includes the step of determining the direction of update of the control information, and A step of reducing the number of pass transistors that must be turned on by the control information by setting the update direction to -1 when the output voltage is higher than the learning reference voltage; and A method for controlling a digital linear voltage regulator, further comprising the step of increasing the number of pass transistors that must be turned on by the control information by setting the update direction to +1 when the output voltage is lower than the learning reference voltage.
In Article 14, The above-mentioned calculation step is, A control method for a digital linear voltage regulator comprising the step of generating a first trigger signal when the output voltage exceeds the upper limit reference voltage of the threshold range or when the output voltage is less than the lower limit reference voltage of the threshold range.
In Article 14, A control method for a digital linear voltage regulator characterized in that the first trigger signal is a voltage regulation trigger signal and the second trigger signal is a current compensation accuracy evaluation trigger signal.
As a computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program, The above computer program is, Includes instructions for the processor to perform a control method for a digital linear voltage regulator, and The above method is, A step of detecting the output voltage of a load circuit connected to a pass transistor array that regulates the output current of the digital linear voltage regulator by turning on or off a plurality of pass transistors; A step of determining whether the output voltage exceeds a first threshold range; A step of generating a first trigger signal and calculating the error between the output voltage and the reference voltage when it is determined that the output voltage has deviated from the first threshold range; A step of converting the above error into a digital signal to generate quantized data; A step of storing the quantization data as control information related to the turn-on or turn-off operation of the pass transistor, and turning on or turning off the pass transistor based on the control information; and The method includes the step of learning the correlation between the output voltage and the output current so that the output current according to the output voltage is compensated by using the output voltage and the learning reference voltage as inputs, and updating the control information based on the results of the learning; The step of ensuring the above update is, A step of determining whether the output voltage is included within a second threshold range; and A computer-readable recording medium comprising the step of generating a second trigger signal when the output voltage is included within the second threshold range and comparing the magnitude of the output voltage with the learning reference voltage.
As a computer program stored on a computer-readable recording medium, The above computer program is, Includes instructions for the processor to perform a control method for a digital linear voltage regulator, and The above method is, A step of detecting the output voltage of a load circuit connected to a pass transistor array that regulates the output current of the digital linear voltage regulator by turning on or off a plurality of pass transistors; A step of determining whether the output voltage exceeds a first threshold range; A step of generating a first trigger signal and calculating the error between the output voltage and the reference voltage when it is determined that the output voltage has deviated from the first threshold range; A step of converting the above error into a digital signal to generate quantized data; A step of storing the quantization data as control information related to the turn-on or turn-off operation of the pass transistor, and turning on or turning off the pass transistor based on the control information; and The method includes the step of learning the correlation between the output voltage and the output current so that the output current according to the output voltage is compensated by using the output voltage and the learning reference voltage as inputs, and updating the control information based on the results of the learning; The step of ensuring the above update is, A step of determining whether the output voltage is included within a second threshold range; and A computer program stored in a recording medium comprising the step of generating a second trigger signal when the output voltage is included within the second threshold range and comparing the magnitude of the output voltage with the learning reference voltage.

Description

Digital Linear Voltage Regulator and Control Method Thereof The present invention relates to a digital linear voltage regulator, and in particular to a technology for implementing the operating characteristics of a digital linear voltage regulator. To provide high-performance computing capabilities for the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI), a core element of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there is an increasing number of processors and HPC (high-performance computing) systems that incorporate AI accelerators. In addition, as memory capacity and interface speeds increase for processing large amounts of data, ultra-high-density high-bandwidth memory systems such as HBM (high-bandwidth memory) are being proposed. As the integration density and circuit operating frequency of these high-performance computing systems and next-generation memory systems increase, power consumption is growing exponentially, and consequently, the importance of efficient power management is gradually increasing. One of the proposed solutions in this regard is dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) or dynamic voltage-frequency scaling (DVFS), which involves individually providing optimal voltages that offer high power efficiency tailored to the performance requirements of each module or chip layer. Compared to using a single supply voltage, applying DVS or DVFS techniques offers the advantage of reducing power consumption while maintaining overall system performance by supplying voltages with optimal power efficiency necessary for computation on a per-circuit basis without wasting power. However, a disadvantage is that it is difficult to implement using conventional off-chip capacitor-based analog linear voltage regulators, as supplying optimal voltages to each circuit requires integrating multiple linear voltage regulators within the chip. Furthermore, since operation must be performed at low input voltages of less than 1V, existing analog linear voltage regulator structures utilizing analog amplifier-based error detectors face limitations in realizing the low-voltage operation required by DVS or DVFS. Digital linear voltage regulators have recently been proposed to overcome the limitations of analog linear voltage regulators as described above and to realize high-speed transient response in ultra-fine processes. Digital linear voltage regulators control the current supplied to the load circuit by controlling multiple pass transistors with digital signals, and have operational characteristics that contrast with conventional analog linear voltage regulators, which control pass transistors with analog signals. Since pass transistors are controlled with digital signals, analog amplifiers such as error amplifiers do not need to be used; consequently, they are advantageous for low-voltage operation and have the advantage of enabling high-speed operation of several GHz depending on the operating frequency. However, such high-speed operation requires a high-frequency clock signal, which has the disadvantage of consuming a large amount of power for clock generation and distribution. In addition, the usable clock frequency is limited in many system-on-chips, and digital linear voltage regulators using clocks with such limited frequency conditions face the problem of limited transient response characteristics. Digital linear voltage regulators using a conventional linear regulation method utilizing shift registers control the output voltage based on the result of comparing it with a reference voltage while changing the number of pass transistors one by one per cycle synchronously with the clock cycle to find the amount of current to be compensated according to changes in output voltage. As a result, the transient response characteristics are inevitably limited to the clock frequency, and problems such as limit cycle oscillation (LCO) in the steady state due to current quantization errors exist. The aforementioned background technology is technical information that the inventor possessed for the derivation of the present invention or acquired during the process of deriving the present invention, and it cannot be considered as publicly known technology disclosed to the general public prior to the filing of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the function of a digital linear voltage regulator according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating the function of a digital linear voltage regulator according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the waveforms of the output current and output voltage according to the change in load current of a digital linear voltage regulator according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation timing diagram of a digital linear voltage regulator according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a circuit configuration that can improve the voltag