Power conversion schemes in nanometer CMOS mixed-signal SoCs

An overview of various schemes for realizing a large number of on-chip power supply domains in mixed-signal System-on-Chip (SoCs) implemented in nanometer CMOS technologies are presented. This includes two-step power conversion schemes that employ a separate Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) to generate few shared highly-efficient power supplies, followed by secondary fully-integrated power converters to generate multiple on-chip power supplies inside the SoC. Three alternatives for implementing the secondary power converters will be discussed, which includes linear regulators as well as fully-integrated inductor-based and capacitor-based high-frequency switching regulators. An overview of single-step power conversion schemes based on Single-Inductor-Multiple-Output (SIMO) switching power converters will also be presented. The advantages and limitations of these various schemes in terms of power conversion efficiency and dynamic performance, as well as cost and size will be detailed. Some techniques to improve the above performance metrics will also be discussed.