Forward-looking fan control using system operation information
First Claim
1. A method comprising the steps of:
- monitoring an operational characteristic of a system; and
predicting heat removal requirements for the system based on the operational characteristic,wherein the monitoring comprisesperiodically measuring a clock frequency of the processor, andgenerating a running average of past clock frequency measurements to provide the operational characteristic.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Predictions may be made regarding heat removal requirements depending on certain operational characteristics of an information processing system which have been monitored over time. A fan may be controlled based on the observed operational characteristics and based on the predictions made regarding the heat removal requirements for the system. For example, system utilization by applications may be monitored, possibly along with system performance parameters such as power level and frequency. These and other operational characteristics may be used to predict heat generation so that a fan may be controlled to anticipate temperature changes and thereby flatten temperature curves over time. This may be done in addition to monitoring the ambient temperature of the system and reacting to temperature spikes that may have already occurred.
208 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method comprising the steps of:
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monitoring an operational characteristic of a system; and predicting heat removal requirements for the system based on the operational characteristic, wherein the monitoring comprises periodically measuring a clock frequency of the processor, and generating a running average of past clock frequency measurements to provide the operational characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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2. A method comprising the steps of:
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monitoring an operational characteristic of a system; and predicting heat removal requirements for the system based on the operational characteristic, wherein the step of monitoring the operational characteristic of the system comprises the steps of; periodically measuring a power level of the processor; and generating a running average of past power level measurements to provide the operational characteristic.
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13. A method for controlling fan speed in a computer system, the method comprising the steps of:
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periodically measuring an operational characteristic of the computer system; predicting a heat removal requirement of the computer system based at least in part on at least one past measurement of the operational characteristic; and controlling a fan to operate at a fan speed dependent at least in part on the predicted heat removal requirement.
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14. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one computer readable medium; encoded information on the at least one computer readable medium for monitoring an operational characteristic of a system; and encoded information on the at least one computer readable medium for predicting a heat removal requirement for the system based on the operational characteristic, wherein the encoded information for monitoring includes encoded information for periodically measuring the operational characteristic, wherein the encoded information for predicting includes encoded information for predicting the heat removal requirement based on more than one past measurement of the operational characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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20. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one computer readable medium; encoded information on the at least one computer readable medium for monitoring an operational characteristic of a system; and encoded information on the at least one computer readable medium for predicting a heat removal requirement for the system based on the operational characteristic, wherein the encoded information for monitoring the operational characteristic of the system comprises, encoded information for periodically measuring a clock frequency of the processor, and encoded information for generating a running average of past clock frequency measurements to provide the operational characteristic.
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21. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one computer readable medium; encoded information on the at least one computer readable medium for monitoring an operational characteristic of a system; and encoded information on the at least one computer readable medium for predicting a heat removal requirement for the system based on the operational characteristic, wherein the encoded information for monitoring the operational characteristic of the system comprises, encoded information for periodically measuring a power level of the processor, and encoded information for generating a running average of past power level measurements to provide the operational characteristic.
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Specification