A Fully Integrated On-Chip DC–DC Conversion and Power Management System

It is widely recognized that adaptive control of the power supply is one of the most effective variables to achieve energy-efficient computation. Most on-chip dc-dc conversion systems have relied on buck converters with off-chip LC filters. In this paper, we describe the development of a software controllable, fully integrated on-chip dc-dc downconversion system that combines switched-capacitor voltage dividers and linear regulators to efficiently regulate from 2.5 V down to about 0.65 V. The use of switched-capacitor supplies offers better efficiencies than what is achievable with linear regulators alone.