Computer cooling system with preferential cooling device selection

• US 7,991,515 B2
• Filed: 01/04/2008
• Issued: 08/02/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CoolIT Systems Inc.
• Original Assignee: CoolIT Systems Inc.
• Inventors: Lyon, Geoff Sean, Holden, Michael James
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett; Ryan A
• Application Number:
  US11/969,766
• Publication Number:
  US 20080186670A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,306 Days
• Field of Search: 700/299, 700/300, 713/300, 713/340
• US Class Current: 700/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/201 Cooling arrangements using cooling fluid
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A method for cooling an electronic component includes: providing an electronic component and a cooling device to cool the electronic component; determining the heat generating ability of the electronic component; and driving operation of the cooling device to cool the electronic component based on the heat generating ability of the electronic component. An apparatus and/or an electronics cooling device are provided based on the method.

Claims

1. A method for cooling a computer, the method comprising:

providing a computer and a cooling system to cool the computer, the cooling system including a louder cooling device and a higher power consuming cooling device;

determining the heat generating ability of the computer by determining a power consumption for the computer and determining that an application is being run by the computer; and

driving operation of the cooling system to cool the computer based on the heat generating ability of the computer and based on the application being run by the computer, wherein after it is determined that an acoustically loud application is being run by the computer, preferentially driving operation of a louder cooling device over a higher power consuming cooling device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the heat generating ability of the computer further comprises determining a heat generating component utilization in the computer.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising sensing a temperature indicative of a thermal condition of the computer and driving operation of the cooling system based on the temperature sensed.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising sensing a temperature indicative of a thermal condition of the computer and driving operation of the cooling system based on the temperature sensed.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the cooling system includes a liquid coolant and wherein sensing a temperature includes sensing a temperature of the coolant.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the heat generating ability and driving operation of the cooling system are repeated throughout an operational period of the computer to provide substantially continuous cooling system control during the period.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the heat generating ability is conducted on an on-going basis during operation of the computer.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the computer includes providing a multicore or multiprocessor device.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the multicore or multiprocessor device includes at least one of a storage rack, disc storage, a server, a server rack, a blade server, rack mounted IT equipment, a switch or a router.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the computer includes providing one or more of a CPU, a GPU, a chipset, RAM, a video card, a voltage regulator, a hard drive, a physics card, or a sound card.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the cooling system includes providing any one or more of a liquid cooling system, a fan, a heat pipe, a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) or computer room air conditioning unit.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein driving operation of the cooling system includes selecting a speed at which a cooling fan operates.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein driving operation of the cooling system includes selecting a degree to which thermoelectric coolers are powered in a liquid cooled system.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a computer;

a cooling system to cool the computer; and

a cooling control system communicating with the computer and communicating with the cooling system, the cooling control system operable to drive operation of the cooling system based on the heat generating ability of the computer determined based on a power consumption value for the computer and operable, based on software control, to determine that an application is being run by the computer and after determining that a louder computer application is being run, preferentially driving a louder cooling device over a second cooling device with a higher power consumption.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the cooling control system determines a heat generating component utilization in the computer.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the heat generating component includes a CPU.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the cooling control system further is operable to obtain a temperature indicative of a thermal condition of the computer and to drive operation of the cooling system based on the temperature sensed.

18. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the power consumption value for the computer is determined by a power meter or an intelligent power supply in communication with the power supply for the computer.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the cooling control system further is operable to obtain a temperature indicative of a thermal condition of the computer and to drive operation of the cooling system based on the temperature sensed.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the cooling system includes a liquid coolant and wherein a temperature indicative of a thermal condition of the computer is a temperature of the coolant.

21. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the cooling control system further is operable to obtain a temperature indicative of a thermal condition of the computer and to drive operation of the cooling system based on the temperature sensed.

22. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the cooling control system provides substantially continuous cooling system control during operation of the computer.

23. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the computer includes a multicore or multiprocessor device.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the multicore or multiprocessor device includes at least one of a storage rack, disc storage, a server, a server rack, a blade server, rack mounted IT equipment, a switch or a router.

25. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the computer includes one or more of a CPU, a GPU, a chipset, RAM, a video card, a voltage regulator, a hard drive, a physics card, or a sound card.

26. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the cooling system includes any one or more of a liquid cooling system, a fan, a heat pipe, a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) or computer room air conditioning unit.

27. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the cooling control system drives operation of the cooling system by selecting a speed at which a cooling fan operates.

28. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the cooling control system drives operation of the cooling system by selecting a degree to which thermoelectric coolers are powered in a liquid cooled system.

29. An electronics cooling control device comprising:

a first port for communication with a power usage indicator for a computer;

a second port for communication with a cooling system;

a function to process usage information regarding the power usage of the computer and to determine that an application is being run by the computer; and

a function to drive the operation of the cooling system based on the usage information and based on the application being run, wherein after determining that a louder computer application is being run, preferentially driving a louder cooling device over a second cooling device requiring more power.

30. The electronics cooling control device of claim 29 wherein the first port is a port for USB connection to a computer.

31. The electronics cooling control device of claim 29 wherein the first port is a port for connection to a power meter.

32. The electronics cooling control device of claim 29 further comprising a connection for communication with a processor usage indicator and a function to process usage information regarding the processor usage of the computer and wherein the processor usage information is with respect to a CPU.

33. The electronics cooling control device of claim 29 wherein the cooling control device further includes a function to process a temperature indicative of a thermal condition of the computer and to drive operation of the cooling system based on the temperature sensed.

34. The electronics cooling control device of claim 33 wherein the cooling system includes a liquid coolant and wherein a temperature indicative of a thermal condition of the computer is a temperature of the coolant.

35. The electronics cooling control device of claim 29 wherein the cooling control device is operable to substantially continuously drive the operation of the cooling system based on received usage information.

36. The electronics cooling control device of claim 29 wherein the function to drive selects a speed at which a cooling fan operates.

37. The electronics cooling control device of claim 29 wherein the function to drive selects a degree to which thermoelectric coolers are powered in a liquid cooled system.