System level trade-offs of microprocessor supply voltage reduction

This paper examines the impact of decreasing microprocessor supply voltage on system efficiency and performance. While digital designers can decrease power consumption in a microprocessor by lowering its supply voltage, efficiency and performance trade-offs arise in the power supply that offset the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shenoy, P S, Buyukdegirmenci, V T, Bazzi, A M, Krein, P T
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Capacitance
Converters
Inductors
Microprocessors
Power demand
Voltage control
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:This paper examines the impact of decreasing microprocessor supply voltage on system efficiency and performance. While digital designers can decrease power consumption in a microprocessor by lowering its supply voltage, efficiency and performance trade-offs arise in the power supply that offset the power reduction. Conduction losses and switching losses in a buck converter are the primary losses in a switching voltage regulator, and they tend to increase with decreased output voltage. A lower supply voltage can cause control challenges, introduce sensitivity limitations, and reduce overall system efficiency. An efficiency and performance analysis is presented, based on a 12 V board-level power source employed with a low-output-voltage buck converter. The analysis demonstrates system-level limitations of supply voltage reduction.
ISSN:2381-0947
DOI:10.1109/ICEAC.2010.5702319