APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRONIC USER DEVICES

• US 20200133358A1
• Filed: 12/27/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2019
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Mishra, Columbia, Ruiz, Carin, Cao, Helin, Soe, Soethiha, Hermerding, II, James, Singh, Bijendra, Singh, Navneet
• Granted Patent: US 11,360,528 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/32 Means for saving power
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3231 Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/201 Cooling arrangements using cooling fluid
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/774 Generating sets of training patterns; Bootstrap methods, e.g. bagging or boosting
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/10 Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/165 using facial parts and geometric relationships
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/51 for comparison or discrimination
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3827 Portable transceivers

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for thermal management of electronic user devices are disclosed herein. An example electronic device disclosed herein includes a housing, a fan, a first sensor, a second sensor, and a processor to at least one of analyze first sensor data generated by the first sensor to detect a presence of a subject proximate to the electronic device or analyze second sensor data generated by the second sensor to detect a gesture of the subject, and adjust one or more of an acoustic noise level generated the fan or a temperature of an exterior surface of the housing based on one or more of the presence of the subject or the gesture.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a housing;

a fan;

a first sensor;

a second sensor; and

a processor to;

at least one of analyze first sensor data generated by the first sensor to detect a presence of a subject proximate to the electronic device or analyze second sensor data generated by the second sensor to detect a gesture of the subject; and

adjust one or more of an acoustic noise level generated the fan or a temperature of an exterior surface of the housing based on one or more of the presence of the subject or the gesture.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is to adjust the acoustic noise level by generating an instruction to increase a rotational speed of the fan.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is to adjust the temperature of the exterior surface of the device by controlling a power source of the device.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, further including a microphone, the processor to:

analyze third sensor data generated by the microphone to detect ambient noise in an environment including the device; and

adjust the acoustic noise level of the fan based on the ambient noise.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, further including a keyboard carried by the housing, wherein the processor is to detect an input via the keyboard and adjust the temperature of the exterior surface of the housing based on the detection of the input.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, further including a keyboard external to the housing, wherein the processor is to detect an input via the keyboard and adjust the temperature of the exterior surface of the housing based on the detection of the input.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is to adjust one the acoustic noise level to during cleaning of the fan and based on the distance of the user being within a threshold distance from the electronic device.

2. (canceled)

9. An apparatus comprising:

a user presence detection analyzer;

an image data analyzer;

a motion data analyzer, at least one of (a) the user presence detection analyzer to identify a presence of a user relative to an electronic device based on first sensor data generated by a first sensor of the electronic device or (b) at least one of the image data analyzer or the motion data analyzer to determine a gesture of the user relative to the device based on second sensor data generated by a second sensor of the electronic device;

a thermal constraint selector to select a thermal constraint for a temperature of an exterior surface of the electronic device based on one or more of the presence of the user or the gesture; and

a power source manager to adjust a power level for a processor of the electronic device based on the thermal constraint.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further including a device configuration analyzer to detect a presence of an external user input device communicatively coupled to the electronic device.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the second sensor data is image data and wherein the image data analyzer is to detect a position of an eye of the user relative to a display screen of the electronic device.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, further including a fan acoustic constraint selector to select a fan acoustic constraint for a noise level to be generated by a fan of the electronic device during operation of the fan.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the user presence detection sensor is further to determine a distance of the user from the electronic device, the fan acoustic constraint selector to select the fan acoustic constraint based on the distance.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the fan acoustic constraint selector is to select the fan acoustic constraint for the noise level to be generated by the fan during cleaning of the fan.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the image data analyzer is to detect that the user is wearing headphones based on image data generated by the second sensor, the fan acoustic constraint selector to select the fan acoustic constraint based on the ambient noise level based on the detection of the headphones.

11. (canceled)

12. (canceled)

15. (canceled)

19. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

identify one or more of (a) a presence of a user relative to an electronic device based on first sensor data generated by a first sensor of the electronic device, (b) a facial feature of the user based on second sensor data generated by a second sensor of the electronic device, or (c) a gesture of the user based on the second sensor data;

select a thermal constraint for a temperature of an exterior surface of the electronic device based on one or more of the presence of the user, the facial feature, or the gesture; and

adjust a power level for a processor of the electronic device based on the thermal constraint.

20. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to detect a presence of an external user input device communicatively coupled to the electronic device.

23. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to select a fan acoustic constraint for a noise level to be generated by a fan of the electronic device during operation of the fan.

24. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine an ambient noise level based on ambient noise data generated by a microphone of the electronic device, the fan acoustic constraint selector to select the fan acoustic constraint based on the ambient noise level.

26. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage of claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine a distance of the user from the electronic device and select the fan acoustic constraint based on the distance.

27. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage of claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to select the fan acoustic constraint for the noise level to be generated by the fan during cleaning of the fan.

21. (canceled)

22. (canceled)

25. (canceled)

28-36. -36. (canceled)