Thermal control arrangement for a data processing system

• US 8,662,943 B2
• Filed: 01/05/2006
• Issued: 03/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Conroy, David G., Culbert, Michael, Cox, Keith A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gami, Tejal
• Application Number:
  US11/327,685
• Publication Number:
  US 20070049134A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,980 Days
• Field of Search: 700/278, 439/894, 702/132, 713/300
• US Class Current: 439/894
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/19 characterised by the use of electric means G05D23/1393 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/28 Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/30 Means for acting in the event of power-supply failure or interruption, e.g. power-supply fluctuations for resetting only G06F1/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/324 by lowering clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/10 Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments of methods and apparatuses to provide a cooling arrangement for a system are described. The system includes a component coupled to a heat sink. A signal associated with a temperature control of the component is asserted. A target temperature of the heat sink is adjusted based on the signal. In one embodiment, a temperature control loop of the heat sink is operated. The temperature of the heat sink may be monitored using one or more sensors placed on the heat sink. An operation of the component, a cooling unit coupled to the heat sink, or both, may be adjusted based on a relationship between the temperature of the heat sink and an adjusted target temperature. Adjusting the target temperature of the heat sink based on the asserted signal increases efficiency of the system while decreasing cooling.

Claims

1. A method to adjust a temperature of a data processing system, comprising:

receiving a signal asserted by a first temperature control loop of a first component of a system, wherein the signal is asserted when a first temperature of the first component exceeds a threshold level for the first component used by the first temperature control loop, the first component including an on-chip processing logic which generates heat;

adjusting a target temperature level for a cooling component used by a second temperature control loop of the system based on the signal, wherein the second temperature control loop is an off-chip temperature control loop configured to maintain a second temperature of the cooling component below the target temperature level, wherein the second temperature control loop is configured to control a behavior of the first temperature control loop and wherein the first temperature control loop adjusts the target temperature level for the cooling component of the second temperature control loop, wherein the cooling component has a thermal mass greater than the thermal mass of the first component, and wherein at least one of baseline target temperature level data or tolerance parameters data stored in a memory and used by the second temperature control loop were determined by increasing the second temperature until the signal was asserted by the first temperature control loop, measuring the second temperature, and determining a difference between the measured second temperature and a maximum temperature of the first component.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting comprises

determining whether the signal has been asserted by the first temperature control loop for more than a predetermined fraction of time over a predetermined time interval;

and decreasing the target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop, if the signal is asserted for longer than the predetermined fraction of time over the predetermined time interval, and wherein the signal is a control signal from the on-chip processing logic.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting comprises

determining whether the signal has been asserted by the first temperature control loop for more than a predetermined fraction of time over a predetermined time interval;

and increasing the target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop, if the signal is asserted for shorter than the predetermined fraction of time over the predetermined time interval, and wherein the signal is a control signal from the on-chip processing logic.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising operating the off-chip temperature control loop by

monitoring the second temperature;

and

adjusting an operation of the first component, the cooling component, or both based on a relationship between the monitored second temperature and the adjusted target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the off-chip temperature control loop is a heat sink temperature control loop, and wherein the on-chip processing logic includes a microprocessor.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising

determining a time duration of the signal asserted by the first temperature control loop;

and

adjusting the target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop based on the time duration of the signal.

6. An article of manufacture comprising:

a machine-accessible medium including executable program instructions that, when executed by a data processing system, cause the data processing system to perform operations comprising,

receiving a signal asserted by a first temperature control loop of a first component of a system, wherein the signal is asserted when a first temperature of the first component exceeds a threshold level for the first component used by the first temperature control loop, the first component including an on-chip processing logic which generates heat;

adjusting a target temperature level for a cooling component used by a second temperature control loop of the system based on the signal, wherein the second temperature control loop is an off-chip temperature control loop configured to maintain a second temperature of the cooling component below the target temperature level, wherein the second temperature control loop is configured to control a behavior of the first temperature control loop and wherein the first temperature control loop adjusts the target temperature level for the cooling component of the second temperature control loop, wherein the cooling component has a thermal mass greater than the thermal mass of the first component, and wherein at least one of baseline target temperature level data or tolerance parameters data stored in a memory and used by the second temperature control loop were determined by increasing the second temperature until the signal was asserted by the first temperature control loop, measuring the second temperature, and determining a difference between the measured second temperature and a maximum temperature of the first component.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the adjusting comprises

determining whether the signal has been asserted by the first temperature control loop for more than a predetermined fraction of time over a predetermined time interval;

and decreasing the target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop, if the signal is asserted for longer than the predetermined fraction of time over the predetermined time interval, and wherein the signal is a control signal from the on-chip processing logic.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the adjusting comprises

determining whether the signal has been asserted by the first temperature control loop for more than a predetermined fraction of time over a predetermined time interval;

and increasing the target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop, if the signal is asserted for shorter than the predetermined fraction of time over the predetermined time interval, and wherein the signal is a control signal from the on-chip processing logic.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data that cause the machine to perform operations, comprising,

operating the off-chip temperature control loop of the system by

monitoring the second temperature;

adjusting an operation of the first component, the cooling component coupled to the component, or both based on a relationship between the monitored second temperature and the adjusted target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop;

determining a difference between the measured second temperature and a maximum temperature of the first component; and

setting at least one of a baseline target temperature level and tolerance parameters used by the second temperature control loop based on the difference.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the off-chip temperature control loop is a heat sink temperature control loop, and wherein the on-chip processing logic includes a microprocessor.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data that cause the machine to perform operations, comprising

determining a time duration of the signal asserted by the first temperature control loop;

and

adjusting the target temperature level based on the time duration of the signal.

11. A system, comprising:

means for receiving a signal asserted by a first temperature control loop of a first component of the system, wherein the signal is asserted when a first temperature of the first component exceeds a threshold level for the first component used by the first temperature control loop, the first component including an on-chip processing logic which generates heat;

means for adjusting a target temperature level for a cooling component used by a second temperature control loop of the system based on the signal, wherein the second temperature control loop is an off-chip temperature control loop configured to maintain a second temperature of the cooling component below the target temperature level, wherein the second temperature control loop is configured to control a behavior of the first temperature control loop and wherein the first temperature control loop adjusts the target temperature level for the cooling component of the second temperature control loop, wherein the cooling component has a thermal mass greater than the thermal mass of the first component, and wherein at least one of baseline target temperature level data or tolerance parameters data stored in a memory and used by the second temperature control loop were determined by increasing the second temperature until the signal was asserted by the first temperature control loop, measuring the second temperature, and determining a difference between the measured second temperature and a maximum temperature of the first component.

12. A data processing system, comprising:

a first component including an on-chip processing logic which generates heat;

a cooling component coupled to the first component; and

a processing logic coupled to the first component, wherein the processing logic is configured to receive a signal asserted by a first temperature control loop of the first component of the system, wherein the signal is asserted when a first temperature of the first component exceeds a threshold level for the first component used by the first temperature control loop; and

wherein the processing logic is configured to adjust a target temperature level for the cooling component used by a second temperature control loop of the system based on the signal, wherein the second temperature control loop is an off-chip temperature control loop configured to maintain a second temperature of the cooling component below the target temperature level, wherein the second temperature control loop is configured to control a behavior of the first temperature control loop and wherein the first temperature control loop adjusts the target temperature level for the cooling component of the second temperature control loop, wherein the cooling component has a thermal mass greater than the thermal mass of the first component, and wherein at least one of baseline target temperature level data or tolerance parameters data stored in a memory and used by the second temperature control loop were determined by increasing the second temperature until the signal was asserted by the first temperature control loop, measuring the second temperature, and determining a difference between the measured second temperature and a maximum temperature of the first component.

13. The data processing system of claim 12, wherein the processing logic is configured to determine whether the signal has been asserted by the first temperature control loop for more than a predetermined fraction of time over a predetermined time interval;

and

to decrease the target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop, if the signal is asserted for longer than the predetermined fraction of time over the predetermined time interval, wherein the signal is a control signal from the on-chip processing logic, and wherein the on-chip processing logic comprises a microprocessor.

14. The data processing system of claim 12, wherein the processing logic is configured to determine whether the signal has been asserted by the first temperature control loop for more than a predetermined fraction of time over a predetermined time interval;

and to increase the target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop, if the signal is asserted for shorter than a predetermined fraction of time over a predetermined time interval, and wherein the signal is a control signal from the on-chip processing logic, and wherein the on-chip processing logic comprises a microprocessor.

15. The data processing system of claim 12, wherein the processing logic is further configured to

operate the off-chip temperature control loop of the system by monitoring the second temperature;

adjusting an operation of the first component, the cooling component, or both based on a relationship between the monitored second temperature and the adjusted target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop; and

determine a difference between the measured second temperature and a maximum temperature of the first component.

16. The data processing system of claim 12, wherein the off-chip temperature control loop is a heat sink temperature control loop;

and the on-chip processing logic comprises a microprocessor.

19. The data processing system of claim 12, wherein the processing logic is further configured to determine a time duration of the signal asserted by the first temperature control loop, and to adjust the target temperature level used by the second temperature control loop based on the time duration of the signal.