Operating voltage adjustment for aging circuits

• Main Authors: Lewis, Dana Glenn, Piga, Leonardo, Sambamurthy, Sriram, Harwani, Anil, Rao, Karthik, Choi, Wonje, Hewitt, Larry David, Grenat, Aaron Joseph, Sundaram, Sriram, Paul, Indrani
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 28.11.2023
• Subjects: CALCULATING; COMPUTING; COUNTING; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; MEASURING; MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES; PHYSICS; TESTING

A system and method for updating power supply voltages due to variations from aging are described. A functional unit includes a power supply monitor capable of measuring power supply variations in a region of the functional unit. An age counter measures an age of the functional unit. A control unit notifies the power supply monitor to measure an operating voltage reference. When the control unit receives a measured operating voltage reference, the control unit determines an updated age of the region different from the current age based on the measured operating voltage reference. The control unit updates the age counter with the corresponding age, which is younger than the previous age in some cases due to the region not experiencing predicted stress and aging. The control unit is capable of determining a voltage adjustment for the operating voltage reference based on an age indicated by the age counter.