Logical steering to avoid hot spots on integrated circuits

摘要

A method and apparatus is provided for logical steering of instructions or operations to avoid power related hot spots on a microprocessor. The instructions are distributed to one of multiple units located within different areas of the integrated circuit. Each of the multiple functional units are identical or perform substantially the same function in response to the instruction. Power dissipation is measured within each of the areas in which a functionally equivalent unit is located. If the power dissipation within an area exceeds a predetermined amount or value, a localized heating problem exists within the area. The instruction is dispatched or routed to one of the other functional units located within an area not experiencing a localized heating problem, thus reducing the possibility of catastrophic failure due to overheating, decreasing overall chip power dissipation, increasing chip reliability, and increasing throughput.