Thermal control method and thermal control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9521246-B2
Application number	US-201514670418-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 27, 2015
Priority date	Jun 3, 2014
Publication date	Dec 13, 2016
Grant date	Dec 13, 2016

Abstract

The invention provides a thermal control method and a thermal control system. The thermal control method comprises: detecting a temperature variance of a component of the electronic device to generate a detecting result; and determining a temperature threshold value for the integrated circuit as a throttling point according to the detecting result. The thermal control system comprises: a detecting unit, for detecting a temperature variance of a component of the electronic device to generate a detecting result; and a determining unit, for determining a temperature threshold value for the integrated circuit as a throttling point according to the detecting result.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A thermal control method for an integrated circuit in an electronic device, comprising:
detecting a current temperature value of a component of the electronic device to generate a first detecting result;
determining a current temperature threshold value for the integrated circuit according to the first detecting result and a first function; and
gradually adjusting the current temperature threshold value according to the detected current temperature value of the component to reach a target temperature threshold value for the integrated circuit.

2. The thermal control method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a current temperature value of the integrated circuit to generate a second detecting result; and
determining whether to enter/exit a dynamic thermal management (DTM) operation according to the first detecting result and the second detecting result.

3. The thermal control method of claim 2 , wherein the step of determining whether to enter/exit the DTM operation according to the detecting result comprises:
determining a DTM temperature threshold value according to the first detecting result and a second function;
comparing the current temperature of the integrated circuit with the DTM temperature threshold value;
if the current temperature of the integrated circuit is higher than the DTM temperature threshold value, then entering the DTM operation; and
if the calculating result is not higher than the DTM temperature threshold value, then exiting the DTM operation.

4. The thermal control method of claim 3 , further comprising:
loading a firmware comprising parameters of the first function and the second function.

5. The thermal control method of claim 3 , wherein the first function and the second function are continuous functions.

6. The thermal control method of claim 1 , further comprising:
continuously detecting a current temperature value of the integrated circuit to generate a second detecting result;
determining whether to enter/exit a dynamic thermal management (DTM) operation according to the first detecting result and the second detecting result after determining the current temperature threshold value for the integrated circuit according to the detecting result.

7. The thermal control method of claim 6 , wherein the step of determining whether to enter/exit the DTM operation according to the detecting result comprises:
determining a DTM temperature threshold value according to the first detecting result and a second function;
comparing the current temperature of the integrated circuit with the DTM temperature threshold value;
if the current temperature of the integrated circuit is higher than the DTM temperature threshold value, then entering the DTM operation; and
if the calculating result is not higher than the DTM temperature threshold value, then exiting the DTM operation.

8. The thermal control method of claim 7 , further comprising:
loading a firmware comprising parameters of the first function and the second function.

9. The thermal control method of claim 7 , wherein the first function and the second function are continuous functions.

10. The thermal control method of claim 1 , wherein the first function is a continuous function.

11. A thermal control system for an integrated circuit in an electronic device, comprising:
a first detecting unit, for detecting a current temperature value of a component of the electronic device to generate a first detecting result; and
a determining unit, coupled to the first detecting unit, for determining a current temperature threshold value for the integrated circuit according to the first detecting result and a first function, and gradually adjusting the current temperature threshold value according to the detected current temperature value of the component to reach a target temperature threshold value for the integrated circuit.

12. The thermal control system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a second detecting unit, for continuously detecting a current temperature value of the integrated circuit to generate a second detecting result;
wherein the determining unit further determines whether to enter/exit a dynamic thermal management (DTM) operation according to the first detecting result and the second detecting result.

13. The thermal control system of claim 12 , wherein the function of the determining unit of determining whether to enter/exit the DTM operation according to the detecting result comprises:
determining a DTM temperature threshold value according to the first detecting result and a second function;
comparing the current temperature of the integrated circuit with the DTM temperature threshold value;
if the current temperature of the integrated circuit is higher than the DTM temperature threshold value, then entering the DTM operation; and
if the calculating result is not higher than the DTM temperature threshold value, then exiting the DTM operation.

14. The thermal control system of claim 13 , wherein the determining unit further comprises a function of loading a firmware comprising parameters of the first function and the second function.

15. The thermal control system of claim 13 , wherein the first function and the second function are continuous functions.

16. The thermal control system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a second detecting unit, for continuously detecting a current temperature value of the integrated circuit to generate a second detecting result;
wherein the determining unit further determines whether to enter/exit a dynamic thermal management (DTM) operation according to the first detecting result and the second detecting result after determining the current temperature threshold value for the integrated circuit according to the first detecting result.

17. The thermal control system of claim 16 , wherein the function of the determining unit of determining whether to enter/exit the DTM operation according to the detecting result comprises:
determining a DTM temperature threshold value according to the first detecting result and a second function;
comparing the current temperature of the integrated circuit with the DTM temperature threshold value;
if the current temperature of the integrated circuit is higher than the DTM temperature threshold value, then entering the DTM operation; and
if the calculating result is not higher than the DTM temperature threshold value, then exiting the DTM operation.

18. The thermal control system of claim 17 , wherein the determining unit further comprises a function of loading a firmware comprising parameters of the first function and the second function.

19. The thermal control system of claim 17 , wherein the first function and the second function are continuous functions.

20. The thermal control system of claim 11 , wherein the first function is a continuous function.

21. The thermal control system of claim 11 , wherein the electronic device is a cellphone.

22. The thermal control system of claim 11 , wherein the component is a printed circuit board (PCB) of the cellphone.

23. The thermal control system of claim 11 , wherein the integrated circuit is a system on chip (SoC) of the cellphone.

Assignees

• Mediatek Inc

Inventors

• Hsu Jih-Ming
• Wang Wei-Ting
• Hsieh Wen-Tsan
• Chen Tai-Yu
• Yeh Chia-Feng
• Fang Chien-Tse

Classifications

• G06F1/206 Primary

  comprising thermal management · CPC title

• H04M1/72577

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04M1/72569 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04M1/72525

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04M1/72406

  by software upgrading or downloading · CPC title