Article: Power Delivery in a Modern Processor
By: Danjel McGougan (danjel.delete@this.mcgougan.se), May 13, 2020 6:52 am
Room: Moderated Discussions
David Kanter (dkanter.delete@this.realworldtech.com) on May 11, 2020 7:37 am wrote:
> Friends, posters, and lurkers,
>
> Power delivery is one of the most significant challenges in modern processors. The power
> delivery network (PDN) must meet the demanding requirements of modern CMOS technology,
> supply power with excellent efficiency, and swiftly respond to changes in power draw.
>
> I just published a new post that goes into detail on power
> delivery: https://www.realworldtech.com/power-delivery/
>
> It includes a brief discussion of system level power delivery, Intel's FIVR, and decoupling capacitors.
>
> As always, please take a look and comments/feedback/questions welcome here!
>
> David
>
Thank you for a great article!
Just a minor nitpick:
You mention lithium-ion batteries in laptops on page 2 and say that they output 3.7V DC. While it is true that an individual cell nominally outputs 3.7V, the battery pack of a typical laptop have multiple cells in series delivering a higher voltage. Typically there are 3 or 4 cells in series delivering ~11V or ~15V nominally from the battery pack.
> Friends, posters, and lurkers,
>
> Power delivery is one of the most significant challenges in modern processors. The power
> delivery network (PDN) must meet the demanding requirements of modern CMOS technology,
> supply power with excellent efficiency, and swiftly respond to changes in power draw.
>
> I just published a new post that goes into detail on power
> delivery: https://www.realworldtech.com/power-delivery/
>
> It includes a brief discussion of system level power delivery, Intel's FIVR, and decoupling capacitors.
>
> As always, please take a look and comments/feedback/questions welcome here!
>
> David
>
Thank you for a great article!
Just a minor nitpick:
You mention lithium-ion batteries in laptops on page 2 and say that they output 3.7V DC. While it is true that an individual cell nominally outputs 3.7V, the battery pack of a typical laptop have multiple cells in series delivering a higher voltage. Typically there are 3 or 4 cells in series delivering ~11V or ~15V nominally from the battery pack.