Temperature management for integrated circuits
First Claim
1. In a single integrated circuit (IC) chip having first and second functional circuits occupying distinct first and second regions of the chip, a system for selective regional temperature control, comprising:
- a first temperature sensor within the region of the first functional circuit and a first clock rate adjusting circuit supplying operational frequency to the first functional circuit;
a second temperature sensor within the region of the second functional circuit and a second clock rate adjusting circuit supplying operational frequency to the second functional circuit; and
logic control circuitry connected to the first and second temperature sensors and to the first and second clock rate adjusting circuits;
wherein the logic control circuitry signals the first clock rate adjusting circuit to lower clock rate to the first functional circuit in response to increasing temperature sensed by the first temperature sensor, and signals the second clock rate adjusting circuit to lower clock rate to the second functional circuit in response to increasing temperature sensed by the second temperature sensor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for controlling temperature buildup in an IC employs a temperature sensor to provide an indication of the IC temperature to a control circuit which is configured to provide an operational clock rate to the IC which is less than the system clock rate, based on a function of the temperature of the IC or its package. In one embodiment temperature sensors are implemented as solid-state circuitry within different functional areas of a single IC, such as a microprocessor, In other embodiments, operating voltage is lowered as operating frequency is lowered. In yet another embodiment temperature sensing of multiple processors in a system is provided to a controller or controllers which are configured to allocate workload between the processors as a means to limit temperature rise, as well as to lower operational clock rate and to lower operating voltage.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. In a single integrated circuit (IC) chip having first and second functional circuits occupying distinct first and second regions of the chip, a system for selective regional temperature control, comprising:
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a first temperature sensor within the region of the first functional circuit and a first clock rate adjusting circuit supplying operational frequency to the first functional circuit; a second temperature sensor within the region of the second functional circuit and a second clock rate adjusting circuit supplying operational frequency to the second functional circuit; and logic control circuitry connected to the first and second temperature sensors and to the first and second clock rate adjusting circuits; wherein the logic control circuitry signals the first clock rate adjusting circuit to lower clock rate to the first functional circuit in response to increasing temperature sensed by the first temperature sensor, and signals the second clock rate adjusting circuit to lower clock rate to the second functional circuit in response to increasing temperature sensed by the second temperature sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for controlling temperature of individual microprocessors in a multiprocessor system, wherein the microprocessors are interconnected by a bus, comprising:
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a first temperature sensor in contact with a first microprocessor in the multiprocessor system; a second temperature sensor in contact with a second microprocessor in the multiprocessor system; a bus controller connected to the bus; and logic control circuitry connected to the first and second temperature sensors and to the bus control circuitry; wherein the logic control circuitry monitors the temperature of the first and second microprocessors, and signals the bus controller to route microprocessor tasks preferentially to the microprocessor at the lower temperature. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. A method for selective regional temperature control in a microprocessor chip having first and second distinct functional circuits occupying distinct first and second regions of the chip respectively, comprising steps of:
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(a) sensing the temperature of the first region with a first temperature sensor within the first region, and of the second region with a second temperature sensor within the second region; (b) providing an indication of the temperature of each region to a logic control circuit connected to a clock rate adjusting circuit in turn connected to the first and second functional circuits; and (c) altering clock rate to the first and second functional circuits individually as a function of the temperature indicated by the first and second temperature sensors respectively. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method for controlling temperature of individual microprocessors in a multiprocessor system, wherein the microprocessors are interconnected by a bus, comprising steps of:
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(a) sensing temperature of individual microprocessors in the multiprocessor system; (b) reporting the sensed temperatures to a logic control circuit; and (c) signalling a bus controller connected to the bus to route microprocessor tasks preferentially to microprocessors at the lowest temperatures. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification