A dynamic thermal management circuit for system-on-chip designs

A novel fully integrated dynamic thermal management circuit for system-on-chip design is proposed and implemented in a VLSI device. Instead of worst-case thermal management used in conventional systems, this design yields continual monitoring of thermal activity and reacts to specified conditions. With the above system, we can incorporate on-chip power/speed modulation and an integrated multi-stage fan controller, which allows one to achieve nominal power dissipation and ensure operation within specification. Both architecture and circuitry are optimized for modern system-on-chip designs. This design yields intricate control and optimal management with little system overhead and minimum hardware requirements, as well as providing the flexibility to support different management algorithms. This circuit is fabricated in a TSMC 0.25 /spl mu/m process through MOSIS.