Computer system thermal management
First Claim
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1. A thermal management method for a computer system having a thermal device and a timer, the method comprising:
- establishing a thermal window;
causing the timer to generate an interrupt at a specified interval;
processing the interrupt by determining if a current temperature is outside the established thermal window and, if so, notifying an operating system.
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Abstract
A thermal management technique for a computer system having a thermal device and a timer includes establishing a thermal window having low and high temperature thresholds, causing the timer to generate an interrupt at a specified interval, and processing the interrupt. During interrupt processing, if the thermal device indicates the current temperature is outside the established thermal window, the thermal window is adjusted by resetting the low and high temperature thresholds to bracket the current temperature and then notifying the operating system that a thermal event has occurred.
72 Citations
47 Claims
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1. A thermal management method for a computer system having a thermal device and a timer, the method comprising:
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establishing a thermal window; causing the timer to generate an interrupt at a specified interval; processing the interrupt by determining if a current temperature is outside the established thermal window and, if so, notifying an operating system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A thermal management method for a computer system executing an advanced configuration and power interface operating system having a thermal device and a timer, the method comprising:
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determining an initial temperature of the computer system; establishing a thermal window by setting a low temperature threshold to the initial temperature minus a specified temperature difference and setting a high temperature threshold to the initial temperature plus the specified temperature difference; initializing the timer to generate a system management interrupt at a specified interval; processing the interrupt by determining a current temperature of the computer system and, if the current temperature is outside the established thermal window, then resetting the low temperature threshold to a value corresponding to the current temperature minus the specified temperature difference, resetting the high temperature threshold to a value corresponding to the current temperature plus the specified temperature difference, and notifying the operating system that a thermal event has occurred. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer system comprising:
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a bus; a host processor electrically coupled to the bus and adapted to execute an advanced configuration and power interface operating system; an input-output device electrically coupled to the bus; a thermal device electrically coupled to the bus and thermally coupled to a device of the computer system; a timer electrically coupled to the bus and adapted to generate an interrupt at a specified interval; and a thermal circuit operatively coupled to the thermal device and the timer and adapted to; receive the interrupt, obtain a temperature value from the thermal device, and determine if the temperature value is outside a predefined thermal window and, if it is, adjust the predefined thermal window and notify the operating system by a system control interrupt. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer program for thermal management of a computer system adapted to execute an advanced configuration and power interface operating system and having a thermal device, the computer program being stored on a media readable by the computer system and comprising instructions for causing the computer system to:
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establish a thermal window; cause a timer to generate an interrupt at a specified interval; process the interrupt by obtaining a current temperature value from the thermal device and, if the current temperature is outside the established thermal window, notifying the operating system that a thermal event has occurred. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for use in thermal management in a computer system adapted to execute an operating system that includes a thermal device that senses a temperature in the computer system but does not initiate delivery of thermal information to the operating system except when the sensed temperature passes out of a programmable preset thermal window, the method comprising;
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maintaining a thermal window having low temperature and high temperature threshold values; and adjusting the thermal window in response to the sensed temperature if the sensed temperature is outside the thermal window. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification