Split-switcher voltage regulator architecture

1. A power management system, comprising:

an application processor including a switch control module configured to generate a control signal based on a comparison of a reference voltage and at least one of a plurality of monitored voltages within the application processor, wherein the reference voltage is generated based on a feedback signal corresponding to the control signal; and

a power management unit (PMU) configured to generate a regulated output voltage based on the control signal, wherein the PMU and the application processor are formed utilizing different size manufacturing process technologies.

2. The power management system according to claim 1 , wherein the PMU is formed utilizing a larger feature size manufacturing process technology than that of the application processor.

3. The power management system according to claim 2 , wherein the PMU is formed utilizing a 0.18 micrometer manufacturing process technology and the application processor is formed utilizing a 28 nanometer or less manufacturing process technology.

4. The power management system according to claim 1 , wherein the switch control module is configured to locally monitor the plurality of monitored voltages within the application processor.

5. The power management system according to claim 4 , wherein the switch control module includes a reference voltage generation module configured to generate the reference voltage and to generate the control signal based on the comparison of the reference voltage with the at least one of the plurality of monitored voltages.

6. The power management system according to claim 1 , wherein the switch control module includes one or more filter loops configured to filter the feedback signal corresponding to the control signal.

7. the power management system according to claim 6 , wherein the filter loops include:

a low-frequency filter loop configured to filter one or more low-frequency components of the feedback signal;

a high-frequency filter loop configured to filter one or more high-frequency components of the feedback signal, and

a discontinuous mode filter loop configured to filter the feedback signal when the PMU is operating in a discontinuous mode.

8. The power management system according to claim 1 , wherein the control signal is a pulse-width modulated (PWM) control signal.

9. An application processor, comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU) core; and

a control module configured to:

locally monitor one or more voltages within the CPU core, and

generate a control signal based on a comparison of a reference voltage and at least one of the one or more monitored voltages to adjust a regulated voltage supplied to the application processor by an externally-located power management unit (PMU),

wherein the reference voltage is generated based on a feedback signal corresponding to the control signal.

10. The application processor according to claim 9 , wherein the control module is configured to generate the control signal based on two or more monitored voltages and to provide the control signal to the PMU.

11. The application processor according to claim 9 , wherein the control module further comprises a reference voltage generation module, the reference voltage generation module being configured to:

generate the reference voltage;

compare the reference voltage with the at least one of the one or more monitored voltages; and

generate the control signal based on the comparison of the reference voltage and the at least one of the one or more monitored voltages.

12. The application processor according to claim 9 , wherein the control module further comprises filter loops configured to filter the feedback signal, the filter loops comprising:

a low-frequency filter loop configured to filter one or more low-frequency components of the feedback signal;

a high-frequency filter loop configured to filter one or more high-frequency components of the feedback signal, and

a discontinuous mode filter loop configured to filter the feedback signal when the PMU is operating in a discontinuous mode.

13. The application processor according to claim 9 , wherein the PMU is formed on a first semiconductor substrate type having a first feature size, and the application processor is formed on a second semiconductor substrate type having a second feature size.

14. The application processor according to claim 13 , wherein the first feature size is larger than the second feature size.

15. A power management method, comprising:

sensing one or more internal voltages of an application processor;

generating, by the application processor, a reference voltage and a control signal, wherein the generation of the control signal is based on a comparison of the reference voltage and the sensed internal voltages, and wherein the generation of the reference voltage is based on a feedback signal corresponding to the control signal; and

transmitting the control signal to a power management unit (PMU) to adjust a regulated voltage generated by the PMU, wherein the PMU is located on a separate substrate than that of the application processor.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the PMU is formed utilizing a larger feature size manufacturing process technology than that of the application processor.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the PMU is formed utilizing a 0.18 micrometer manufacturing process technology and the application processor is formed utilizing a 28 nanometer or less manufacturing process technology.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the PMU is formed on a first semiconductor substrate type having a first feature size, and the application processor is formed on a second semiconductor substrate type having a second feature size.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the first feature size is larger than the second feature size.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the control signal is a pulse-width modulated (PWM) control signal.