Thermal design power (TDP), sometimes called thermal design point, is the maximum amount of heat generated by a computer chip or component (often a CPU, GPU or system on a chip) that the cooling  system in a computer is designed to dissipate under any workload.  The TDP is typically not the largest amount of heat the CPU could ever generate (peak power), such as by running a power virus, but rather the […]

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The term PMIC refers to a class of integrated circuits that perform various functions related to power requirements. A PMIC may have one or more of the following functions: • DC to DC conversion             • Battery charging             • Power-source selection             • Voltage scaling             • Power sequencing A PMIC may include battery management, voltage regulation, and charging functions. It may […]

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Digital System EV battery-type cycles vary according to the underlying battery type.  A battery cycle consists of going from a minimal charge state to a full charge state and back to minimal charge state after re-use of the stored energy. EV Lithium-Ion batteries initially supported ~2000 battery cycles, while newer designs reach ~5000 battery cycles. As the number […]

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Digital System Power for GPUs is an area of intense development, as small improvements in power can have dramatic impacts to the planet. One recent chip development, the Apple M1 chip with eight cores: four low power, four high power; was mentioned earlier as asymmetric cores for different types of processing requirements to reduce overall power […]

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Digital System Power for Robotics might be related to arm motion, reducing the power required for taking certain actions in an optimal way; or robotic power considerations might relate to an EV active-suspension, for example.  The robotic arm may be plugged into the grid, while the EV active-suspension is most likely a mobile battery? In either […]

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