Methods and apparatuses for dynamic thermal control

• US 20070067136A1
• Filed: 08/25/2005
• Published: 03/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Culbert, Michael, Cox, Keith, Conroy, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,374,730 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/130
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for dynamically budgeting power usage to control temperatures in a data processing system. In one aspect, a data processing system includes: a first sensor to determine an ambient temperature of an environment in which the data processing system is; and a controller (e.g., a microcontroller or a microprocessor) coupled to the sensor to control operations of the data processing system according to the ambient temperature. In one example, the data processing system further includes a second sensor to determine an actual temperature of a component of the data processing system. In one example, a controller is coupled to the temperature sensors to determine an operating setting of the data processing system based on a prediction of a temperature of the data processing system which is a function of the plurality of actual temperatures and the operating setting of the data processing system.

Claims

1. A data processing system, comprising:

a first sensor to determine an ambient temperature of an environment in which the data processing system is; and

a controller coupled to the sensor to control operations of the data processing system according to the ambient temperature.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a second sensor to determine an actual temperature of a component of the data processing system;

wherein the controller is to control the operations of the data processing system further according to the actual temperature of the component.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller controls the operations of the data processing system based on a prediction of a temperature of the component which is a function of the ambient temperature, the actual temperature of the component, and a current operating state of the component.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the controller selects one from combinations of one or more voltage settings and one or more frequency settings to control operations of the data processing system;

and the operating state of the component includes a voltage setting and a frequency setting.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprises:

a voltage source, the voltage source capable of shifting from a first voltage to a second voltage to change a setting of the data processing system without restarting or stopping the data processing system; and

a frequency source, the frequency source capable of shifting from a first frequency to a second frequency to change a setting of the data processing system without restarting or stopping the data processing system.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller is one of:

a microcontroller; and

a microprocessor.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the second sensor is to determine the actual temperature of the component periodically for the controller to determine an operating setting periodically.

8. A data processing system, comprising:

a plurality of temperature sensors to determine a plurality of actual temperatures for the data processing system; and

a controller coupled to the plurality of temperature sensors to determine an operating setting of the data processing system based on a prediction of a temperature of the data processing system which is a function of the plurality of actual temperatures and the operating setting of the data processing system.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the prediction of the temperature of the data processing system is based on heat generated from the power consumption according to a worst-case workload for the operating setting.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of actual temperatures comprise an actual temperature at a location in the data processing system at a first time instance;

the prediction of the temperature is for the same location at a time period after the first time instance; and

the operating setting is determined to limit the predicted temperature under a threshold.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of actual temperatures further comprise an actual temperature at a location in the data processing system toward which heat generated from the power consumption dissipates;

the time period is shorter than a time constant of the data processing system.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the controller is one of:

a microcontroller; and

a microprocessor;

wherein the operating setting is for at least one of;

a Central Processing Unit (CPU) microprocessor;

a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) microprocessor; and

a bus.

13. A machine readable medium containing executable computer program instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause said system to perform a method to control the data processing system, the method comprising:

determining an ambient temperature of an environment in which the data processing system is; and

controlling operations of the data processing system according to the ambient temperature.

14. The medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

determining an actual temperature of a component of the data processing system;

wherein the data processing system is controlled further according to the temperature of the component.

15. The medium of claim 14, wherein said controlling comprises:

selecting one from a plurality of operating settings according to the ambient temperature and the actual temperature of the component.

16. The medium of claim 15, wherein the plurality of operating settings comprise combinations of one or more voltages and one or more frequencies.

17. The medium of claim 16, wherein said controlling further comprises:

shifting from a first voltage to a second voltage according to the one of the plurality of operating settings; and

shifting from a first frequency to a second frequency according to the one of the plurality of operating settings.

18. The medium of claim 15, wherein the one of the plurality of operating settings is selected to limit a predicted temperature of the component under a threshold;

wherein the predicted temperature of the component is a function of the ambient temperature, the actual temperature of the component, and an operating setting.

19. The medium of claim 18, wherein determining the actual temperature of the component is performed periodically to perform said selecting periodically.

20. The medium of claim 18, wherein the ambient temperature causes cooling of the component in the function;

and an operating setting causes heating of the component in the function.

21. The medium of claim 18, wherein the operating setting determines an upper limit of power consumption;

and the predicted temperature of the component is predicted based on the upper limit of the power consumption.

22. The medium of claim 15, wherein the one of the plurality of operating settings comprises a first setting for the component and a second setting for a further component.

23. A machine readable medium containing executable computer program instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause said system to perform a method to control the data processing system, the method comprising:

determining a plurality of actual temperatures for the data processing system; and

adjusting an operating setting of the data processing system according to a predicted temperature which is a function of the plurality of actual temperatures and the operating setting of the data processing system.

24. The medium of claim 23, wherein the operating setting determines an upper limit of power consumption of at least a portion of the data processing system;

and the predicted temperature is based on heat generated from the power consumption according to the upper limit.

25. The medium of claim 24, wherein the plurality of actual temperatures comprise actual temperatures at locations in the data processing system at a first time instance;

the predicted temperature is for the same location at a time period after the first time instance; and

the operating setting is adjusted to limit the predicted temperature under a threshold.

26. The medium of claim 25, wherein the plurality of actual temperatures further comprise an actual temperature at a location in the data processing system toward which heat generated from the power consumption dissipates.

27. The medium of claim 25, wherein the time period is shorter than a time constant of the data processing system.

28. The medium of claim 23, wherein the method further comprises:

determining an allowable amount of power consumption of a heat source for a time period subsequent to the determination of at least one of the actual temperatures, the allowable amount of power consumption to limit the predicted temperature under a threshold;

wherein the operating setting is adjusted according to the allowable amount of power consumption.

29. The medium of claim 23, wherein the operating setting comprises at least one of:

a voltage setting;

a frequency setting;

a spin rate setting; and

a fan speed setting.

30. The medium of claim 23, wherein the operating setting is for at least one of:

a Central Processing Unit (CPU) microprocessor;

a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) microprocessor;

a bus; and

a disk drive;

of the data processing system.

31. The medium of claim 23, wherein said adjusting the operating setting comprises:

adjusting a voltage source from a first voltage to a second voltage; and

adjusting a frequency source from a first frequency to a second frequency.

32. The medium of claim 31, wherein said adjusting is performed without stopping or restarting the data processing system.

33. A method to control a data processing system, the method comprising:

determining an ambient temperature of an environment in which the data processing system is; and

controlling operations of the data processing system according to the ambient temperature.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

determining an actual temperature of a component of the data processing system;

wherein the data processing system is controlled further according to the temperature of the component.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said controlling comprises:

selecting one from a plurality of operating settings according to the ambient temperature and the actual temperature of the component, wherein the plurality of operating settings comprise combinations of one or more voltages and one or more frequencies;

shifting from a first voltage to a second voltage according to the one of the plurality of operating settings; and

shifting from a first frequency to a second frequency according to the one of the plurality of operating settings.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the one of the plurality of operating settings is selected to limit a predicted temperature of the component under a threshold;

wherein the predicted temperature of the component is a function of the ambient temperature, the actual temperature of the component, and an operating setting.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein determining the actual temperature of the component is performed periodically to perform said selecting periodically;

the ambient temperature causes cooling of the component in the function; and

an operating setting causes heating of the component in the function.

38. A method to control a data processing system, the method comprising:

determining a plurality of actual temperatures for the data processing system; and

adjusting an operating setting of the data processing system according to a predicted temperature which is a function of the plurality of actual temperatures and the operating setting of the data processing system.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the operating setting determines an upper limit of power consumption of at least a portion of the data processing system;

the predicted temperature is based on heat generated from the power consumption according to the upper limit;

the plurality of actual temperature comprises an actual temperature at a location in the data processing system at a first time instance;

the predicted temperature is for the same location at a time period after the first time instance; and

the operating setting is adjusted to limit the predicted temperature under a threshold.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the plurality of actual temperatures further comprise an actual temperature at a location in the data processing system toward which heat generated from the power consumption dissipates;

and the time period is shorter than a time constant of the data processing system.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein said adjusting is performed without stopping or restarting the data processing system.

42. A data processing system, comprising:

means for determining an ambient temperature of an environment in which the data processing system is; and

means for controlling operations of the data processing system according to the ambient temperature.

43. The data processing system of claim 42, further comprising:

means for determining an actual temperature of a component of the data processing system;

wherein the data processing system is controlled further according to the temperature of the component.

44. The data processing system of claim 43, wherein said means for controlling comprises:

means for selecting one from a plurality of operating settings according to the ambient temperature and the actual temperature of the component, wherein the plurality of operating settings comprise combinations of one or more voltages and one or more frequencies;

means for shifting from a first voltage to a second voltage according to the one of the plurality of operating settings; and

means for shifting from a first frequency to a second frequency according to the one of the plurality of operating settings.

45. The data processing system of claim 44, wherein the one of the plurality of operating settings is selected to limit a predicted temperature of the component under a threshold;

wherein the predicted temperature of the component is a function of the ambient temperature, the actual temperature of the component, and an operating setting.

46. A data processing system, comprising:

means for determining a plurality of actual temperatures for the data processing system; and

means for adjusting an operating setting of the data processing system according to a predicted temperature which is a function of the plurality of actual temperatures and the operating setting of the data processing system.

47. The data processing system of claim 46, wherein the operating setting determines an upper limit of power consumption of at least a portion of the data processing system;

the predicted temperature is based on heat generated from the power consumption according to the upper limit;

the plurality of actual temperature comprises an actual temperature at a location in the data processing system at a first time instance;

the predicted temperature is for the same location at a time period after the first time instance; and

the operating setting is adjusted to limit the predicted temperature under a threshold.

48. The data processing system of claim 47, wherein the plurality of actual temperatures further comprise an actual temperature at a location in the data processing system toward which heat generated from the power consumption dissipates;

and the time period is shorter than a time constant of the data processing system.

49. The data processing system of claim 46, wherein said means for adjusting adjusts without stopping or restarting the data processing system.

50. A method of operating a data processing system, the method comprising:

predicting an operating temperature, of the data processing system, at a future time; and

setting an operating setting of at least one component of the data processing system based on, at least in part, the operating temperature, which was predicted.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the operating setting is set for the time period up to the future time;

and said predicting and said setting are performed in a periodic way.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the operating temperature is predicted based on a measurement of at least one current temperature.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the at least one current temperature comprises:

an ambient temperature; and

a temperature of a component of the data processing system.

54. A machine readable medium containing executable computer program instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause said system to perform a method of operating a data processing system, the method comprising:

predicting an operating temperature, of the data processing system, at a future time; and

setting an operating setting of at least one component of the data processing system based on, at least in part, the operating temperature, which was predicted.

55. The medium of claim 54, wherein the operating setting is for the time period up to the future time;

and the time period is in an order no larger than a thermal time constant of the data processing system.

56. The medium of claim 54, wherein the operating temperature is predicted based on a measurement of a current ambient temperature and a measurement of a current temperature of a component of the data processing system.

57. The medium of claim 54, wherein the operating setting is set to limit the operating temperature below a temperature threshold.