Low cost on-die CMOS distributed voltage regulation for microcontrollers

A novel concept in on-die voltage regulation for power delivery is described. In contrast with traditional voltage regulation, a distributed architecture has been designed and implemented in a CMOS process. Distributed regulation employs multiple regulators distributed across the integrated circuit design placed according to the power consumption requirements of the power grid in the design. The core on-die de-coupling requirement is seen to reduce very significantly both due to the reduction in the operating voltage and correspondingly the operating currents as well as to the minimization of voltage differentials due to local regulation. The inherent regulating action of NFET-source follower regulating stages placed close to the load circuits allows for fast transient response. The design is scaleable and has low implementation cost primarily due to the reduction in de-coupling requirements.