Fan speed change control
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system comprising:
- determining a temperature relating to the electronic system;
determining a change in a value of a variable relating to fan speed which corresponds to said determined temperature; and
if there is a nonzero determined corresponding change in a value of said variable relating to fan speed, causing the speed of a fan to change in accordance with said determined corresponding change.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for controlling the speed of a fan for an electronic system. In some embodiments of the invention, temperatures are associated with changes in the value of a variable relating to fan speed. In one of these embodiments, there is a range of temperatures where the fan speed is fixed. In one embodiment of the invention, where there is a plurality of temperature readings associated with a fan, the temperature reading which would result in the highest fan speed is operative. In one embodiment of the invention, the fan speed control is capable of automatic self-adjustment.
93 Citations
39 Claims
-
1. A method of controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system comprising:
-
determining a temperature relating to the electronic system; determining a change in a value of a variable relating to fan speed which corresponds to said determined temperature; and if there is a nonzero determined corresponding change in a value of said variable relating to fan speed, causing the speed of a fan to change in accordance with said determined corresponding change. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method of controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system, comprising:
-
determining a temperature relating to the electronic system; checking whether said temperature has a predetermined relationship with a predetermined temperature level or range; and if said temperature has a predetermined relationship, adjusting at least one parameter which affects a correspondence between temperature and change in a value of a variable relating to fan speed. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A method of controlling a speed of a fan in an electronic system, comprising:
-
determining a temperature relating to the electronic system; determining a temperature range which includes said determined temperature; determining a temperature direction; determining a corresponding change in duty cycle over time, or function thereof, for said determined temperature range and determined temperature direction; determining a new duty cycle based on said corresponding duty cycle change over time, or a function thereof; and outputting a PWM signal with said new duty cycle.
-
-
23. A method of controlling a speed of a fan in an electronic system, comprising:
-
determining a plurality of temperatures relating to the electronic system which are associated with the fan; for each of said plurality of determined temperatures, calculating a value of a variable relating to fan speed or a function thereof corresponding to said each determined temperature; selecting a value of said variable or a function thereof which would lead to a highest fan speed out of said calculated values; and outputting a control signal reflecting said selection. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A method of controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system including a central processing unit, comprising:
-
determining a temperature relating to said electronic system; checking whether said temperature has a predetermined relationship with a predetermined temperature level or range; and if said temperature has a predetermined relationship, adjusting at least one parameter which affects fan speed; wherein said checking and adjusting occur outside of the central processing unit, and wherein said at least one parameter is selected from a group comprising;
slope of a range where a variable relating to fan speed is proportional to temperature, slope of a range where duty cycle is proportional to temperature, maximum value of a variable relating to fan speed, maximum duty cycle, minimum value of a variable relating to fan speed, minimum duty cycle, predetermined level where adaptation occurs, predetermined range where adaptation occurs, predetermined relationship to be checked, impact of time duration during which a predetermined relationship holds on adaptability, correspondence between ambient temperatures and parameters, correspondence between value of a variable relating to fan speed and temperature direction, correspondence between value of a variable relating to fan speed and temperature change, correspondence between value of a variable relating to fan speed and rate of temperature change, and correspondence between value of the variable relating to fan speed with time temperature is at a same level or range.
-
-
29. A system for controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system, comprising:
a temperature monitoring and fan control module, wherein said temperature monitoring and fan control module is configured to receive temperature readings relating to the electronic system, configured to determine changes in the values of at least one variable which correspond to said temperature readings, and configured to generate control signals capable of causing a fan to change or maintain speed in accordance with said determined changes. - View Dependent Claims (30)
-
31. A system for controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system, comprising:
a temperature monitoring and fan control module, wherein said temperature monitoring and fan control module is configured to receive temperature readings relating to the electronic system, configured to check whether a received temperature reading has a predetermined relationship with a predetermined temperature level or range; and
configured to adjust at least one parameter which affects a correspondence between temperature and change in the value of a variable relating to fan speed, if said received temperature reading has a predetermined relationship.
-
32. A system for controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system, comprising:
-
means for determining a temperature relating to the electronic system; means for determining a temperature range which includes said determined temperature; means for determining a temperature direction; means for determining a corresponding change in duty cycle over time, or function thereof, for said determined temperature range and determined temperature direction; means for determining a new duty cycle based on said corresponding duty cycle change over time, or a function thereof; and means for outputting a PWM signal with said new duty cycle.
-
-
33. A system for controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system, comprising:
a temperature monitoring and fan control module, wherein said temperature monitoring and fan control module is configured to receive a plurality of temperature readings relating to the electronic system associated with a fan, configured for each of said plurality of received temperatures to calculate a value of a variable relating to fan speed or a function thereof corresponding to said each received temperature;
configured to select a value of a variable or a function thereof which would lead to a highest fan speed out of said calculated values; and
configured to output a control signal reflecting said selection.
-
34. A system for controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system including a central processing unit, comprising:
-
a temperature monitoring and fan control module, external to the central processing unit, configured to receive a temperature relating to said electronic system;
configured to check whether said temperature has a predetermined relationship with a predetermined temperature level or range; and
configured to adjust at least one parameter which affects fan speed, if said temperature has a predetermined relationship;wherein said at least one parameter is selected from a group comprising;
slope of a range where a variable relating to fan speed is proportional to temperature, slope of a range where duty cycle is proportional to temperature, maximum value of a variable relating to fan speed, maximum duty cycle, minimum value of a variable relating to fan speed, minimum duty cycle, predetermined level where adaptation occurs, predetermined range where adaptation occurs, predetermined relationship to be checked, impact of time duration during which a predetermined relationship holds on adaptability, correspondence between ambient temperatures and parameters, correspondence between value of a variable relating to fan speed and temperature direction, correspondence between value of a variable relating to fan speed and temperature change, correspondence between value of a variable relating to fan speed and rate of temperature change, and correspondence between value of the variable relating to fan speed with time temperature is at a same level or range.
-
-
35. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system the computer program product comprising:
-
computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine a temperature relating to the electronic system; computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine a change in a value of a variable relating to fan speed which corresponds to said determined temperature; and computer readable program code for causing the computer to cause the speed of a fan to change in accordance with said determined corresponding change, if there is a nonzero determined corresponding change in a value of said variable relating to fan speed.
-
-
36. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system, the computer program product comprising:
-
computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine a temperature relating to the electronic system; computer readable program code for causing the computer to check whether said temperature has a predetermined relationship with a predetermined temperature level or range; and computer readable program code for causing the computer to adjust at least one parameter which affects a correspondence between temperature and change in a value of a variable relating to fan speed, if said temperature has a predetermined relationship.
-
-
37. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for controlling a speed of a fan in an electronic system, the computer program product comprising:
-
computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine a temperature relating to the electronic system; computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine a temperature range which includes said determined temperature; computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine a temperature direction; computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine a corresponding change in duty cycle over time, or function thereof, for said determined temperature range and determined temperature direction; computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine a new duty cycle based on said corresponding duty cycle change over time, or a function thereof; and computer readable program code for causing the computer to output a PWM signal with said new duty cycle.
-
-
38. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for controlling a speed of a fan in an electronic system, the computer program product comprising:
-
computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine a plurality of temperatures relating to the electronic system which are associated with the fan; computer readable program code for causing the computer to calculate a value of a variable relating to fan speed or a function thereof corresponding to said each determined temperature for each of said plurality of determined temperatures; computer readable program code for causing the computer to select a value of said variable or a function thereof which would lead to a highest fan speed out of said calculated values; and computer readable program code for causing the computer to output a control signal reflecting said selection.
-
-
39. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for controlling a speed of a fan for an electronic system including a central processing unit, the computer program product comprising:
-
computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine a temperature relating to said electronic system; computer readable program code for causing the computer to check whether said temperature has a predetermined relationship with a predetermined temperature level or range; and computer readable program code for causing the computer to adjust at least one parameter which affects fan speed, if said temperature has a predetermined relationship; wherein said checking and adjusting occur outside of the central processing unit, and wherein said at least one parameter is selected from a group comprising;
slope of a range where a variable relating to fan speed is proportional to temperature, slope of a range where duty cycle is proportional to temperature, maximum value of a variable relating to fan speed, maximum duty cycle, minimum value of a variable relating to fan speed, minimum duty cycle, predetermined level where adaptation occurs, predetermined range where adaptation occurs, predetermined relationship to be checked, impact of time duration during which a predetermined relationship holds on adaptability, correspondence between ambient temperatures and parameters, correspondence between value of a variable relating to fan speed and temperature direction, correspondence between value of a variable relating to fan speed and temperature change, correspondence between value of a variable relating to fan speed and rate of temperature change, and correspondence between value of the variable relating to fan speed with time temperature is at a same level or range.
-
Specification