Memory module thermal management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9778664-B2
Application number	US-94209110-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 9, 2010
Priority date	Oct 30, 2006
Publication date	Oct 3, 2017
Grant date	Oct 3, 2017

Abstract

A method is disclosed for implementing a scheme to configure thermal management control for a memory device resident on a memory module for a computing platform. A method is also disclosed for implementing the configured thermal management control. In a run-time environment for a computing platform a temperature is obtained from a thermal sensor monitoring the memory module. The memory module is in a given memory module with thermal sensor configuration that includes the memory device. An approximation of a temperature for the memory device is made based on thermal information associated with the given configuration of the memory module and the obtained temperature. The configured thermal management control for the memory device is implemented based on the approximated temperature. Other implementations and examples are also described in this disclosure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
obtaining a temperature from a thermal sensor arranged to monitor temperature in proximity to plural memory devices on a memory module, the memory module having a given thermal sensor configuration;
determining if a configuration of the memory module with the given thermal sensor configuration matches a known configuration;
obtaining, based on a determination that the configuration matches a known configuration, individualized thermal offset information, the individualized thermal offset information including first temperature offset values individualized for each memory device in a low workload condition, respectively, second temperature offset values individualized for each memory device in a high workload condition, respectively, or individualized theta values individualized for each memory device, respectively, to determine a third temperature offset value for each memory device in a workload condition between the low and the high workload condition, the individualized theta values related to a given increase in temperature for a given increase in power consumed by a subject memory device;
obtaining, based on a determination that the configuration does not match a known configuration, default thermal offset information, the default thermal offset information including a first temperature offset value commonly-used for all memory devices in a low workload condition, a second temperature offset value commonly-used for all memory devices in a high workload condition, or a common theta value commonly-used to determine a third temperature offset value for all memory devices in a workload condition between the low and the high workload condition, the common theta value related to a given increase in temperature for a given increase in power consumed by each memory device;
approximating separate temperatures of each of the memory devices based on the temperature obtained from the thermal sensor and on the individualized thermal offset information or the default thermal offset information; and
implementing thermal management control based on the approximated temperatures.

2. The method of claim 1 , the individualized thermal offset information comprising one or more thermal characteristics of the memory module with the given thermal sensor configuration.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising at least one of the individualized thermal offset information and the default thermal offset information provided as a thermal information table comprising one or more basic input/output system (BIOS) tables, and the default thermal offset information comprising one or more of a value related to a high temperature point for the memory devices, and a value related to an accuracy of the thermal sensor.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
detecting that an approximated temperature for a subject memory device, meets or exceeds a threshold value for the subject memory device from among the memory devices; and
implementing thermal management control based on the detecting, the thermal management control including throttling requests to the subject memory device or reducing power provided to the subject memory device.

5. An apparatus, comprising:
thermal management logic at least a portion of which is in hardware, the thermal management logic to:
obtain a temperature from a thermal sensor arranged to monitor temperature in proximity to plural memory devices on a memory module, the memory module having a given thermal sensor configuration;
determine if a configuration of the memory module with the given thermal sensor configuration matches a known configuration;
obtain, based on a determination that the configuration matches a known configuration, individualized thermal offset information, the individualized thermal offset information including first temperature offset values individualized for each memory device in a low workload condition, respectively, second temperature offset values individualized for each memory device in a high workload condition, respectively, and individualized theta values individualized for each memory device, respectively, to determine a third temperature offset value for each memory device in a workload condition between the low and the high workload condition, the individualized theta values related to a given increase in temperature for a given increase in power consumed by a subject memory device;
obtain, based on a determination that the configuration does not match a known configuration, default thermal offset information, the default thermal offset information including a first temperature offset value commonly-used for each memory device in a low workload condition, a second temperature offset value commonly-used for each memory device in a high workload condition, and a common theta value commonly-used to determine a third temperature offset value for each memory device in a workload condition between the low and the high workload condition, the common theta value related to a given increase in temperature for a given increase in power consumed by each memory device;
approximate separate temperatures of each of the memory devices based on the temperature obtained from the thermal sensor and on the individualized thermal offset information or the default offset thermal information; and
implement thermal management control responsive to the approximated temperatures.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , the individualized thermal offset information comprising one or more thermal characteristics of the memory module with the given thermal sensor configuration.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , comprising at least one of the individualized thermal offset information and the default thermal offset information provided as a thermal information table comprising one or more basic input/output system (BIOS) tables, and the default thermal offset information comprising one or more of a value related to a high temperature point for the memory devices, and a value related to an accuracy of the thermal sensor.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 , the thermal management logic operative to:
detect that an approximated temperature for a subject memory device, meets or exceeds a threshold value for the subject memory device from among the memory devices; and
implement thermal management control based on the detecting, the thermal management control including throttling requests to the subject memory device or reducing power provided to the subject memory device.

9. A system, comprising:
a thermal sensor arranged to monitor temperature in proximity to plural memory devices on a memory module, the memory module having a given thermal sensor configuration; and
thermal management logic at least a portion of which is in hardware, the thermal management logic to:
obtain a temperature from the thermal sensor;
determine if a configuration of the memory module with the given thermal sensor configuration matches a known configuration;
obtain, based on a determination that the configuration matches a known configuration, individualized thermal offset information, the individualized thermal offset information including first temperature offset values individualized for each memory device in a low workload condition, respectively, second temperature offset values individualized for each memory device in a high workload condition, respectively, and individualized theta values individualized for each memory device, respectively, to determine a third temperature offset value for each memory device in a workload condition between the low and the high workload condition, the individualized theta values related to a given increase in temperature for a given increase in power consumed by a subject memory device;
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Assignees

• Santos Ishmael
• Hall Corinne
• Cox Christopher
• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Santos Ishmael
• Hall Corinne
• Cox Christopher

Classifications

• G05D23/19 Primary

  characterised by the use of electric means {(G05D23/1393 takes precedence)} · CPC title