Methods and apparatus for thermal management of an integrated circuit die

• US 7,158,911 B2
• Filed: 04/09/2004
• Issued: 01/02/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation Of America (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Binns, Frank, Burton, Edward A., Gunther, Stephen H., Rankin, Linda J., Pippin, Jack D., Carmean, Douglas M., Bauer, John M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bui; Bryan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lau; Tung S.
• Application Number:
  US10/821,822
• Publication Number:
  US 20040195674A1
• Time in Patent Office: 998 Days
• Field of Search: 702/132, 361/1
• US Class Current: 702/132
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 7/015 using microstructures, e.g. made of silicon
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• 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: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

An integrated, on-chip thermal management system providing closed-loop temperature control of an IC device and methods of performing thermal management of an IC device. The thermal management system comprises a temperature detection element, a power modulation element, a control element, and a visibility element. The temperature detection element includes a temperature sensor for detecting die temperature. The power modulation element may reduce the power consumption of an IC device by directly lowering the power consumption of the IC device, by limiting the speed at which the IC device executes instructions, by limiting the number of instructions executed by the IC device, or by a combination of these techniques. The control element allows for control over the behavior of the thermal management system, and the visibility element allows external devices to monitor the status of the thermal management system.

Claims

1. A thermal management system for an integrated circuit die comprising:

a temperature sensor formed directly on the die, the temperature sensor including a reference voltage source providing a reference voltage, a second voltage source providing a second voltage proportional to a temperature of the die, and a comparator coupled with each of the reference voltage and second voltage sources, the comparator to provide a signal to an output of the temperature sensor indicative of the die temperature;

a power modulation element formed directly on the die, the power modulation element to reduce power consumption of the die in response to the output of the temperature sensor;

a control element formed directly on the die, the control element including at least one register to provide an enable/disable bit for the thermal management system; and

a visibility element formed directly on the die, the visibility element to indicate a status of the output of the temperature sensor.

2. The thermal management system of claim 1, wherein the second voltage source comprises a programmable voltage source providing a programmable voltage.

3. The thermal management system of claim 2, wherein the comparator provides a logical high signal if the programmable voltage substantially equals the reference voltage and provides a logical low signal if the programmable voltage is less than the reference voltage, and wherein the programmable voltage source can be programmed such that the logical high signal is provided at a selected threshold temperature.

4. The thermal management system of claim 1, further comprising a pulse dampener to at least partially remove electrical noise from the reference voltage.

5. The thermal management system of claim 1, further comprising an analog filter to detect voltage spikes present in the reference voltage and to add substantially identical voltage spikes to the second voltage.

6. The thermal management system of claim 1, further comprising a digital filter coupled to an output of the comparator, the digital filter including an up-down counter to count clock pulses, the up-down counter to increment once for each clock pulse detected when the comparator output is at a first state and to decrement once for each clock pulse detected when the comparator output is at a second state.

7. The thermal management system of claim 1, the control element further including at least one register selected from a group consisting of a register to selectively disengage a specified portion of the thermal management system, a register to enable the thermal management system in response to an occurrence of an external event, a register to force the thermal management system active while overriding a disable bit provided by the at least one register, and a register to allow external software and hardware to enable the thermal management system.

8. The thermal management system of claim 1, the visibility element including at least one device selected from a group consisting of a register to indicate a status of the temperature sensor output, a register to provide a sticky bit, a counter to count a number of lost clock cycles resulting from operation of the thermal management system, and circuitry to generate an interrupt when the temperature sensor output transitions to a different state.

9. The thermal management system of claim 1, the power modulation element to reduce the power consumption of the die by performing at least one action selected from a group consisting of lowering a supply voltage to the die, lowering a frequency of a clock signal provided by internal clock circuitry on the die, performing clock gating of the clock signal, performing clock throttling of the clock signal, selectively blocking clock pulses of the clock signal, disabling at least one of a plurality of functional units on the die, limiting instructions sent to at least one of the plurality of functional units, and changing a behavior of at least one of the plurality of functional units.

10. The thermal management system of claim 1, wherein the comparator provides a logical high signal if the second voltage substantially equals the reference voltage and provides a logical low signal if the second voltage is less than the reference voltage.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a die; and

a thermal management system formed directly on the die, the thermal management system including

a temperature sensor, the temperature sensor including a reference voltage source providing a reference voltage, a second voltage source providing a second voltage proportional to a temperature of the die, and a comparator coupled with each of the reference voltage and second voltage sources, the comparator to provide a signal to an output of the temperature sensor indicative of the die temperature;

a power modulation element to reduce power consumption of the die in response to the output of the temperature sensor;

a control element including at least one register to provide an enable/disable bit for the thermal management system; and

a visibility element to indicate a status of the output of the temperature sensor.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the second voltage source comprises a programmable voltage source providing a programmable voltage.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the comparator provides a logical high signal if the programmable voltage substantially equals the reference voltage and provides a logical low signal if the programmable voltage is less than the reference voltage, and wherein the programmable voltage source can be programmed such that the logical high signal is provided at a selected threshold temperature.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a pulse dampener to at least partially remove electrical noise from the reference voltage.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising an analog filter to detect voltage spikes present in the reference voltage and to add substantially identical voltage spikes to the second voltage.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a digital filter coupled to an output of the comparator, the digital filter including an up-down counter to count clock pulses, the up-down counter to increment once for each clock pulse detected when the comparator output is at a first state and to decrement once for each clock pulse detected when the comparator output is at a second state.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, the control element further including at least one register selected from a group consisting of a register to selectively disengage a specified portion of the thermal management system, a register to enable the thermal management system in response to an occurrence of an external event, a register to force the thermal management system active while overriding a disable bit provided by the at least one register, and a register to allow external software and hardware to enable the thermal management system.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, the visibility element including at least one device selected from a group consisting of a register to indicate a status of the temperature sensor output, a register to provide a sticky bit, a counter to count a number of lost clock cycles resulting from operation of the thermal management system, and circuitry to generate an interrupt when the temperature sensor output transitions to a different state.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, the power modulation element to reduce the power consumption of the die by performing at least one action selected from a group consisting of lowering a supply voltage to the die, lowering a frequency of a clock signal provided by internal clock circuitry on the die, performing clock gating of the clock signal, performing clock throttling of the clock signal, selectively blocking clock pulses of the clock signal, disabling at least one of a plurality of functional units on the die, limiting instructions sent to at least one of the plurality of functional units, and changing a behavior of at least one of the plurality of functional units.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the comparator provides a logical high signal if the second voltage substantially equals the reference voltage and provides a logical low signal if the second voltage is less than the reference voltage.

21. A system comprising:

a memory coupled with a bus; and

a processor coupled with the bus, the processor including a die and a thermal management system formed directly on the die, the thermal management system including

a temperature sensor, the temperature sensor including a reference voltage source providing a reference voltage, a second voltage source providing a second voltage proportional to a temperature of the die, and a comparator coupled with each of the reference voltage and second voltage sources, the comparator to provide a signal to an output of the temperature sensor indicative of the die temperature;

a power modulation element, the power modulation element to reduce power consumption of the processor in response to the output of the temperature sensor;

a control element, the control element including at least one register to provide an enable/disable bit; and

a visibility element, the visibility element to indicate a status of the output of the temperature sensor.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the second voltage source comprises a programmable voltage source providing a programmable voltage.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the comparator provides a logical high signal if the programmable voltage substantially equals the reference voltage and provides a logical low signal if the programmable voltage is less than the reference voltage, and wherein the programmable voltage source can be programmed such that the logical high signal is provided at a selected threshold temperature.

24. The system of claim 21, further comprising a pulse dampener to at least partially remove electrical noise from the reference voltage.

25. The system of claim 21, further comprising an analog filter to detect voltage spikes present in the reference voltage and to add substantially identical voltage spikes to the second voltage.

26. The system of claim 21, further comprising a digital filter coupled to an output of the comparator, the digital filter including an up-down counter to count clock pulses, the up-down counter to increment once for each clock pulse detected when the comparator output is at a first state and to decrement once for each clock pulse detected when the comparator output is at a second state.

27. The system of claim 21, the control element further including at least one register selected from a group consisting of a register to selectively disengage a specified portion of the thermal management system, a register to enable the thermal management system in response to an occurrence of an external event, a register to force the thermal management system active while overriding a disable bit provided by the at least one register, and a register to allow external software and hardware to enable the thermal management system.

28. The system of claim 21, the visibility element including at least one device selected from a group consisting of a register to indicate a status of the temperature sensor output, a register to provide a sticky bit, a counter to count a number of lost clock cycles resulting from operation of the thermal management system, and circuitry to generate an interrupt when the temperature sensor output transitions to a different state.

29. The system of claim 21, the power modulation element to reduce the power consumption of the processor by performing at least one action selected from a group consisting of lowering a supply voltage to the die, lowering a frequency of a clock signal provided by internal clock circuitry on the die, performing clock gating of the clock signal, performing clock throttling of the clock signal, selectively blocking clock pulses of the clock signal, disabling at least one of a plurality of functional units on the die, limiting instructions sent to at least one of the plurality of functional units, and changing a behavior of at least one of the plurality of functional units.

30. The system of claim 21, wherein the comparator provides a logical high signal if the second voltage substantially equals the reference voltage and provides a logical low signal if the second voltage is less than the reference voltage.