In-situ performance monitor employing threshold based notifications (TheBaN)

Abstract

In-situ performance monitoring offers significantly better voltage scaling potential than classic ring-oscillator based approaches as it eliminates the uncertainty due to local random variations. The major challenge of such an approach is the timely generation of signaling events to control the voltage level at the most energy efficient point still offering reliable operation. In this paper we present a novel threshold based notification scheme together with a detailed analysis of corner cases. The presented measurement results are based on an implementation in a digital signal processor in a 40nm low-power technology achieving an effective voltage margin as low as 5mV.