| 摘要 |
A device and method of enhancing the reliability and performance of integrated circuits, e.g., complementary metal-oxide semiconductor integrated circuits ("IC") is described. The device is an IC (e.g., digital, analog, and mixed-signal circuits) comprising a digital voltage control system ("VCS") having a temperature-adaptive digital DC-to-DC voltage converter. In one embodiment, the DC-to-DC converter comprises a delay-line-based temperature sensing circuit that continuously monitors temperature changes, and adjusts the frequency and process speed of the IC to compensate for any performance degradation caused by thermal effects by adjusting the voltage supplied to the IC (i.e., V<SUB>out</SUB>) to increase or decrease the frequency and process speed of the IC in proportion to any abnormal temperature changes in the IC.
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