Design and Verification of Speed-Independent Multiphase Buck
Transcription
Design and Verification of Speed-Independent Multiphase Buck
Design and Verification of Speed-Independent Multiphase Buck Controller Danil Sokolov1 , Victor Khomenko1 , Andrey Mokhov1 , Alex Yakovlev1 , David Lloyd2 1 Newcastle University, UK; 2 Dialog Semiconductor, UK Motivation • Efficient implementation of power converters is paramount • • • Extending the battery life of mobile gadgets Reducing the energy bill for PCs and data centres (5+3% of global electricity production) Need for responsive and reliable control circuitry - little digital Millions of control decisions per second for years • An incorrect decision may permanently damage the circuit • • Poor EDA support Synthesis is optimised for data processing - big digital • Ad hoc solutions are prone to errors and cannot be verified • 2 / 19 Basic buck converter: Schematic over-current (oc) I_max Th_pmos buck control gp_ack gp PMOS oc uv zc R_load gn_ack NMOS gn Th_nmos zero-crossing (zc) V_0 under-voltage (uv) • V_ref In the textbook buck a diode is used instead of NMOS transistor 3 / 19 Basic buck converter: Informal specification current PMIN NMIN NMIN PMIN PMIN UV ZC OC ZC late ZC N FF O UV O S O S O M O O PM OS M N FF PM O PMOS OFF NMOS OFF N S ON F OS OF NM OS N PM no ZC OC N O F S F O O NM OS UV PM N PM MO O SO S O N FF P NM MO O SO S O N FF I_max time OC early ZC no ZC – under-voltage without zero-crossing • late ZC – under-voltage before zero-crossing • early ZC – under-voltage after zero-crossing • 4 / 19 Multiphase buck converter: Schematic over-current (oc) I_max Th_pmos gp_ack1 buck oc1 gp1 PMOS[1] NMOS[1] gn1 zc1 gn_ack1 Th_nmos V_0 control I_max Th_pmos gp_ackN ocN PMOS[N] uv NMOS[N] R_load gpN hl gnN zcN gn_ackN Th_nmos zero-crossing (zc) V_0 under-voltage (uv) high-load (hl) V_min V_ref 5 / 19 Multiphase buck converter: Informal specification • Normal mode Phases are activated sequentially • Phases may overlap • • High-load mode • • All phases are activated simultaneously Benefits Faster reaction to the power demand • Heat dissipation from a larger area • Decreased ripple of the output voltage • Smaller transistors and coils • 6 / 19 Synchronous design • Two clocks: phase activation (~5MHz) and sampling (~100MHz) Easy to design (RTL synthesis flow) Response time is of the order of clock period Power consumed even when idle Non-negligible probability of a synchronisation failure • Manual ad hoc design to alleviate the disadvantages Verification by exhaustive simulation 7 / 19 Asynchronous design • Event-driven control decisions Prompt response (a delay of few gates) No dynamic power consumption when the buck is inactive Other well known advantages Insufficient methodology and tool support • Our goals • • • • Formal specification of power control behaviour Reuse of existing synthesis methods Formal verification of the obtained circuits Demonstrate new advantages for power regulation (power efficiency, smaller coils, ripple and transient response) 8 / 19 High-level architecture: Token ring 9 / 19 High-level architecture: Stage 10 / 19 High-level architecture: Activation 11 / 19 High-level architecture: Activation 11 / 19 WAIT element 12 / 19 WAIT element • STG specification • ME-based solution Read-consume conflict between output and input. • Gate-level implementation can be removed 12 / 19 High-level architecture: Charging 13 / 19 High-level architecture: Charging ZC ZC O S O S O N FF PMOS OFF NMOS OFF O S O O PM OS M N FF PM O ON F OS OF NM OS PM N NMIN M PMIN N NMIN N O F S F O O NM OS PM N PM MO O SO S O N FF P NM MO O SO S O N FF PMIN UV early ZC OC 13 / 19 Synthesis flow • Manual decomposition of the system into modules To create formal specification from informal requirements (feedback loop with engineers) • To simplify specification and synthesis • Some modules are reusable • Some modules (WAIT and O PPORTUNISTIC M ERGE) are potential standard components • Each component is specified using STGs • Automatic synthesis into speed-independent circuits • 14 / 19 ZC_HANDLER module 15 / 19 ZC_HANDLER module • STG specification 15 / 19 ZC_HANDLER module • Speed-independent implementation 15 / 19 Formal verification • STG verification All standard speed-independence properties • PMOS and NMOS are never O N simultaneously (no short circuit) • Some timers are used in a mutually exclusive way and can be shared • • Circuit verification Conforms to the environment • Deadlock-free and hazard-free under the given environment • 16 / 19 Tool support: W ORKCRAFT • Framework for interpreted graph models (STGs, circuits, FSMs, dataflow structures, etc.) Interoperability between models • Elaborated GUI • • Includes many backend tools P ETRIFY – STG and circuit synthesis, BDD-based • P UNF – STG unfolder • MPS AT – unfolding-based verification and synthesis • PC OMP – parallel composition of STGs • 17 / 19 Tool support: W ORKCRAFT 18 / 19 Conclusions • Fully asynchronous design of multiphase buck controller Quick response time: few gate delays, all mutexes are outside the critical path • Reliable: no synchronisation failures • • Design flow is automated to large extent • • • • Automatic logic synthesis Formal verification at the STG and circuit levels New standard components (WAIT and O PPORTUNISTIC M ERGE) Future work • • • • Measurements! Development of WORKCRAFT to support hierarchical design Co-simulation and co-verification of digital/analogue circuits Better integration with the Synopsys and Cadence flows 19 / 19