Lattice Semiconductor Corporation
Reconfigurable and scalable hardware management architecture

Abstract:

In one embodiment, a reconfigurable and scalable hardware management architecture includes a digital controller for controlling two or more analog sense-and-control (ASC) circuits, where each ASC monitors voltage, current, and temperature of one or more power supplies, ICs, or a circuit board. The controller and ASCs are connected in a star architecture, where each ASC is connected to the controller via a different, dedicated interface to communicate regarding the power supplies being monitored. The controller and the ASCs are also connected in a bus architecture via a shared interface. The architecture can be re-configured by adding one or more additional ASCs or by removing one or more existing ASCs, where each additional ASC is (i) connected to a different I/O interface of the digital controller via a different, dedicated interface and (ii) connected to the digital controller and the two or more existing ASCs via the shared interface.