Method and apparatus for managing a thermal budget of at least a part of a processing system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9618988-B2
Application number	US-201214410146-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 3, 2012
Priority date	Jul 3, 2012
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

A method of managing a thermal budget, for at least a part of a processing system, is described. The method comprises, upon detection of a use case event, determining a thermal budget violation time window for a current use case scenario of the at least part of the processing system, and managing the thermal budget for the at least part of the processing system based at least partly on the determined thermal budget violation time window.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of managing a thermal budget for at least a part of a processing system, the method comprising:
in response to detecting, by a processing core of the processing system, a use case event;
scaling, by the processing core, thermal curve data, stored at a storage location of a memory of the processing system, based on a current use case scenario and one or more current environment parameters for the at least part of the processing system;
determining, by the processing core, a thermal budget violation time window for the current use case scenario of the at least part of the processing system based on the scaled thermal curve data; and
managing the thermal budget for the at least part of the processing system based on the determined thermal budget violation time window.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thermal budget violation time window is further determined based on an estimated power consumption for the current use case scenario.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the method comprises estimating a power consumption for the current use case scenario based on at least one of:
at least one process scheduled for execution within the at least part of the processing system;
at least one process due to be scheduled for execution within the at least part of the processing system;
an operating mode of the at least part of the processing system;
an on-die leakage measurement and/or estimate for the at least part of the processing system; or
at least one processing system parameter for the at least part of the processing system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein scaling the thermal curve data for the at least part of the processing system is further based on at least one of:
an indication of a current junction temperature for the at least part of the processing system,
an indication of an ambient temperature for the at least part of the processing system,
at least one product parameter for the processing system, or
a process corner for the at least part of the processing system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises managing the thermal budget for the at least part of the processing system by scheduling at least one process to be executed within the at least part of the processing system based on the thermal budget violation time window.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises managing the thermal budget for the at least part of the processing system by determining whether at least one performance sensitive process is scheduled, or due to be scheduled, and if it is determined that at least one performance sensitive process is scheduled, or due to be scheduled, scheduling at least one non performance sensitive process in consideration of the at least one performance sensitive process and the thermal budget violation time window.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the method comprises performing, if it is determined that at least one performance sensitive process is scheduled, or due to be scheduled, at least one of:
delaying at least one non performance sensitive process,
rescheduling at least one non performance sensitive process, or
re-prioritising at least one non performance sensitive process.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises managing the thermal budget for the at least part of the processing system by configuring a request for a reduced power state of the at least part of the processing system ahead of an expiry of the thermal budget violation time window.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises detecting the use case event based on at least one of:
a creation of at least one process within a predefined set of at least one use case event process(es), or
a termination of at least one process within the predefined set of at least one use case event process(es).

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the use case event comprises at least one of:
the start/initiation of a use case,
a predefined event during the life cycle of a use case, or
the end/termination of a use case.

11. An integrated circuit device comprising:
a memory configured to store thermal curve data; and
a processing core coupled to the memory and to detect a use case event, and upon detection of the use case event to:
scale the thermal curve data based on a current use case scenario and one or more current environment parameters for at least part of the processing system;
determine a thermal budget violation time window for the current use case scenario of the at least part of the processing system based on the scaled thermal curve data; and
manage the thermal budget for the at least part of the processing system based on the determined thermal budget violation time window.

12. The integrated circuit device of claim 11 , wherein the thermal budget violation time window is further determined based on an estimated power consumption for the current use case scenario.

13. The integrated circuit device of claim 11 , wherein the scaled thermal curve data is further based on at least one of:
an indication of a current junction temperature for the at least part of the processing system,
an indication of an ambient temperature for the at least part of the processing system,
at least one product parameter for the processing system, or
a process corner for the at least part of the processing system.

14. The integrated circuit device of claim 11 , wherein the scheduling module is further to manage the thermal budget by scheduling at least one process to be executed within the processing system based on the thermal budget violation time window.

15. A processing system comprising:
a memory configured to store use case definitions and thermal curve data; and
a processing core coupled to the memory and to execute a scheduling module to:
detect a use case event based on the use case definitions, and upon detection of the use case event to:
scale the thermal curve data based on a current use case scenario and one or more current environment parameters for at least part of the processing system;
determine a thermal budget violation time window for the current use case scenario based on the scaled thermal curve data; and
manage the thermal budget for the at least part of the processing system based on the determined thermal budget violation time window.

16. The processing system of claim 15 , wherein the thermal budget violation time window is further determined based on an estimated power consumption for the current use case scenario.

17. The processing system of claim 15 , wherein the scheduling module is further configured to manage the thermal budget for the at least part of the processing system by scheduling at least one process to be executed within the at least part of the processing system based at least partly on the thermal budget violation time window.

18. The processing system of claim 15 , wherein the scheduling module is further configured to manage the thermal budget for the at least part of the processing system by determining whether at least one performance sensitive process is scheduled, or due to be scheduled, and the scheduling module is further configured to, if it is determined that at least one performance sensitive process is scheduled, or due to be scheduled, schedule at least one non performance sensitive process in consideration of the at least one performance sensitive process and the thermal budget violation time window.

19. The processing system of claim 15 , wherein the scheduling module is further con

Assignees

• Rozen Anton
• Drucker Roy
• Smolyansky Leonid
• Nxp Usa Inc

Inventors

• Rozen Anton
• Drucker Roy
• Smolyansky Leonid

Classifications

• G06F1/3206 Primary

  Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality · CPC title

• G06F9/466

  Transaction processing · CPC title

• G06F1/28 Primary

  Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision · CPC title