Power and thermal management based on a power supply output

• US 6,182,232 B1
• Filed: 01/29/1999
• Issued: 01/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Round Rock Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Micro Electronics Incorporated
• Inventors: Klein, Dean A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne, Ario
• Application Number:
  US09/239,635
• Time in Patent Office: 732 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300, 713/322, 713/320, 713/323, 713/324, 713/340
• US Class Current: 713/340
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3237 by disabling clock generation or distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/324 by lowering clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A method to manage power consumption in a computer system includes receiving a power signal from a power source (the power signal furnishing power to a portion of the circuit), generating a first signal indicating the power transferred from the power source to the portion of the computer system, and generating a second signal to effect a power management action based on the first signal. By way of example, the power source may be a switching or linear power supply, and the second signal may be a fan control signal, a processor halt signal, or a processor interrupt signal.

Claims

1. A method of thermal management in a computer system, comprising:

receiving a power signal from a power source, the power signal indicating an amount of power furnished to a portion of the computer system;

generating a first signal based on the power signal indicating a thermal condition of the computer system portion; and

generating a second signal to effect a power management action based on the first signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of receiving a power signal from a power source comprises receiving a power signal from a switching power supply.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the act of generating a first signal comprises generating a signal indicating a duty cycle of the power signal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of generating a second signal comprises generating a fan control signal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of generating a second signal comprises generating an interrupt signal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of generating a second signal comprises generating a processor halt signal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the act of generating a processor halt signal comprises generating a stop-clock signal.

8. A method of thermal management in a system, comprising:

monitoring an output of a power supply to determine usage of power;

determining if power usage exceeds one or more predetermined levels; and

activating one or more cooling devices if power usage exceeds at least one of the one or more predetermined levels.

9. A method, comprising:

receiving a power signal from a power source, wherein the power signal is a pulse width modulated signal, the pulse width modulated signal indicating an amount of power furnished to a portion of a computer system;

generating a representation of a duty cycle of the pulse width modulated signal; and

generating a second signal to effect a power management action based on a state of the representation.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein generating the representation includes generating a digital representation.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein generating the representation includes generating an analog signal.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein generating the second signal is performed when the analog signal exceeds a first threshold value.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising generating a third signal to effect a second power management action based on the analog signal exceeding a second threshold value.