Methods and apparatuses for controlling the temperature of a data processing system

• US 9,043,627 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2013
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Culbert, Michael, Cox, Keith Alan, Howard, Brian, de Cesare, Josh, Williams, Richard Charles, Falkenburg, Dave Robbins, Huang, Daisie Iris, Radcliffe, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Bae, Ji H
• Application Number:
  US13/890,694
• Publication Number:
  US 20130254563A1
• Time in Patent Office: 747 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300, 713/320, 713/322
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1934 each space being provided with one sensor acting on one or more control means
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/24 the sensing element having a resistance varying with temperature, e.g. a thermistor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/10 Distribution of clock signals , e.g. skew
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/20 Cooling means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• 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 1/329 by task scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 706/90 Fuzzy logic

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses to manage working states of a data processing system. At least one embodiment of the present invention includes a data processing system with one or more sensors (e.g., physical sensors such as tachometer and thermistors, and logical sensors such as CPU load) for fine grain control of one or more components (e.g., processor, fan, hard drive, optical drive) of the system for working conditions that balance various goals (e.g., user preferences, performance, power consumption, thermal constraints, acoustic noise). In one example, the clock frequency and core voltage for a processor are actively managed to balance performance and power consumption (heat generation) without a significant latency. In one example, the speed of a cooling fan is actively managed to balance cooling effort and noise (and/or power consumption).

Claims

1. A method to operate a data processing system, the method comprising:

collecting information from a plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor detects a working state of a corresponding component of a data processing system;

determining, based on the collected information, a subset of controls from a plurality of controls, each control in the subset of controls being configured to control at least one of the corresponding components of the data processing system;

determining a ranked order to adjust the subset of controls, the ranked order based on a plurality of rules to prioritize the subset of controls; and

adjusting the subset of controls in the ranked order to change the working states of the corresponding components of the data processing system to balance requirements in performance and in at least one of;

thermal constraint or power consumption.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise at least one of:

a) a temperature sensor;

b) a tachometer;

or

c) a software module determining a load of a processor.

3. The method as in claim 1, wherein the corresponding components comprise at least one of a heat source or a cooling source of the data processing system.

4. The method as in claim 3, wherein the heat source comprises at least one of:

a) a Central Processing Unit (CPU);

b) a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU);

c) a hard drive;

d) an optical drive;

or

e) an Integrated Circuit (IC) chip.

5. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

determining an amount of cooling change based on the collected information;

wherein the subset of controls are adjusted to effect the amount of cooling change.

6. The method as in claim 5, wherein the amount of cooling change is determined according to a fuzzy logic.

7. The method as in claim 6, wherein determining the ranked order to adjust the subset of controls comprises:

determining a prioritized list of the plurality of controls.

8. The method as in claim 7, wherein the rules to prioritize the subset of controls represent one or more user preferences.

9. The method as in claim 7, further comprising:

parceling out the amount of cooling change to the subset of controls based on the ranked order.

10. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

determining a first working condition of the data processing system from the collected information;

wherein the subset of controls is determined from a decision to move the data processing system from the first working condition to a second working condition.

11. A data processing system, comprising:

a housing; and

a plurality of components mounted within the housing, the plurality of components including;

a memory,

a plurality of sensors instrumented within the housing, each of the plurality of sensors configured to detect a working state of a corresponding component,

a processor coupled to the memory and the plurality of sensors, the processor configured by programming to;

determine, based on information collected from the plurality of sensors, a subset of controls from a plurality of controls, each control in the subset of controls being configured to control at least one of the corresponding components,

determine a ranked order to adjust the subset of controls, the ranked order based on a plurality of rules to prioritize the subset of controls, and

adjust the subset of controls in the ranked order to change the working states of the corresponding components of the data processing system to balance requirements in performance and in at least one of;

thermal constraint or power consumption.

12. The data processing system as in claim 11, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise at least one of:

a) a temperature sensor;

or

b) a tachometer.

13. The data processing system as in claim 11, wherein the corresponding components comprise at least one of a heat source or a cooling source of the data processing system.

14. The data processing system as in claim 13, wherein the heat source comprises at least one of:

a) a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU);

b) a hard drive;

c) an optical drive;

or

d) an Integrated Circuit (IC) chip.

15. The data processing system as in claim 11, wherein the processor is configured by programming to determined an amount of cooling change based on the collected information, and wherein the subset of controls are adjusted to effect the amount of cooling change.

16. The data processing system as in claim 15, wherein the amount of cooling change is determined according to a fuzzy logic.

17. The data processing system as in claim 16, wherein the processor is configured by programming to determine a prioritized list of the plurality of controls.

18. The data processing system as in claim 17, further comprising:

one or more input/output (I/O) devices coupled to the processor, the one or more input/output (I/O) devices configured to receive one or more user preferences;

wherein the rules to prioritize the subset of controls represent the one or more user preferences.

19. The data processing system as in claim 17, wherein the processor is configured by programming to parcel out the amount of cooling change to the subset of controls based on the ranked order.

20. The data processing system as in claim 11, wherein the processor is configured by programming to determine a first working condition of the data processing system from the collected information, and wherein the subset of controls is determined from a decision to move the data processing system from the first working condition to a second working condition.

21. A non-transitory machine readable medium containing executable computer program instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause the system to perform a method to operate the data processing system, the method comprising:

collecting information from a plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor detects a working state of a corresponding component of a data processing system;

determining, based on the collected information, a subset of controls from a plurality of controls, each control in the subset of controls being configured to control at least one of the corresponding components of the data processing system;

determining a ranked order to adjust the subset of controls, the ranked order based on a plurality of rules to prioritize the subset of controls; and

adjusting the subset of controls in the ranked order to change the working states of the corresponding components of the data processing system to balance requirements in performance and in at least one of;

thermal constraint or power consumption.

22. The non-transitory medium as in claim 21, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise at least one of:

a) a temperature sensor;

b) a tachometer;

or

c) a software module determining a load of a processor.

23. The non-transitory medium as in claim 21, wherein the corresponding components comprise at least one of a heat source or a cooling source of the data processing system.

24. The non-transitory medium as in claim 23, wherein the at least one heat source comprises at least one of:

a) a Central Processing Unit (CPU);

b) a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU);

c) a hard drive;

d) an optical drive;

or

e) an Integrated Circuit (IC) chip.

25. The non-transitory medium as in claim 21, wherein the method further comprises:

determining an amount of cooling change based on the collected information;

wherein the subset of controls are adjusted to effect the amount of cooling change.

26. The non-transitory medium as in claim 25, wherein the amount of cooling change is determined according to a fuzzy logic.

27. The non-transitory medium as in claim 26, wherein determining the ranked order to adjust the subset of controls comprises:

determining a prioritized list of the plurality of controls.

28. The non-transitory medium as in claim 27, wherein the rules to prioritize the subset of controls represent one or more user preferences.

29. The non-transitory medium as in claim 27, wherein the method further comprises:

parceling out the amount of cooling change to the subset of controls based on the ranked order.

30. The non-transitory medium as in claim 21, wherein the method further comprises:

determining a first working condition of the data processing system from the collected information;

wherein the subset of controls is determined from a decision to move the data processing system from the first working condition to a second working condition.

31. A data processing system, comprising:

means for collecting information from a plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor detects a working state of a corresponding component of a data processing system;

means for determining, based on the collected information, a subset of controls from a plurality of controls, each control in the subset of controls being configured to control at least one of the corresponding components of the data processing system;

means for determining a ranked order to adjust the subset of controls, the ranked order based on a plurality of rules to prioritize the subset of controls; and

means for adjusting the subset of controls in the ranked order to change the working states of the corresponding components of the data processing system to balance requirements in performance and in at least one of;

thermal constraint or power consumption.

32. The data processing system as in claim 31, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise at least one of:

a) a temperature sensor;

b) a tachometer;

or

c) a software module determining a load of a processor.

33. The data processing system as in claim 31, wherein the corresponding components comprise at least one of a heat source or a cooling source of the data processing system.

34. The data processing system as in claim 33, wherein the heat source-comprises at least one of:

a) a Central Processing Unit (CPU);

b) a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU);

c) a hard drive;

d) an optical drive;

or

e) an Integrated Circuit (IC) chip.

35. The data processing system as in claim 31, further comprising:

means for determining an amount of cooling change based on the collected information;

wherein the subset of controls are adjusted to effect the amount of cooling change.

36. The data processing system as in claim 35, wherein the amount of cooling change is determined according to a fuzzy logic.

37. The data processing system as in claim 36, wherein the means for determining the ranked order to adjust the subset of controls comprises:

means for determining a prioritized list of the plurality of controls.

38. The data processing system as in claim 37, wherein the rules to prioritize the subset of controls represent one or more user preferences.

39. The data processing system as in claim 37, further comprising:

means for parceling out the amount of cooling change to the subset of controls based on the ranked order.

40. The data processing system as in claim 31, further comprising:

means for determining a first working condition of the data processing system from the collected information;

wherein the subset of controls is determined from a decision to move the data processing system from the first working condition to a second working condition.