Thermal management for smooth variation in display frame rate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9898797-B2
Application number	US-201615213539-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2016
Priority date	Jul 29, 2015
Publication date	Feb 20, 2018
Grant date	Feb 20, 2018

Abstract

Techniques pertaining to thermal management for smooth variation in display frame rate are described. A method may involve performing either or both of: (1) determining whether a temperature of at least one portion of an electronic apparatus exceeds a temperature threshold; and (2) determining whether a variation in a frame rate of images displayed on a display device associated with the electronic apparatus exceeds a variation threshold. The method may also involve controlling the frame rate in response to either or both of a first determination that the monitored temperature exceeds the temperature threshold and a second determination that the variation in the frame rate exceeds the variation threshold.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
performing both of:
determining whether a temperature of at least one portion of an electronic apparatus exceeds a temperature threshold; and
determining whether a variation in a frame rate of images displayed on a display device associated with the electronic apparatus exceeds a variation threshold; and

controlling the frame rate in response to both of a first determination that the monitored temperature exceeds the temperature threshold and a second determination that the variation in the frame rate exceeds the variation threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlling of the frame rate comprises limiting a frequency at which the frame rate is varied.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlling of the frame rate comprises modifying a frequency of a periodic signal originated from a display controller.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the modifying of the frequency of the periodic signal comprises selectively dropping or bypassing the periodic signal.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the modifying of the frequency of the periodic signal comprises:
generating a replacement signal periodically at a frequency different from the frequency of the periodic signal; and
replacing the periodic signal with the replacement signal.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the modifying of the frequency of the periodic signal comprises modifying the frequency of the periodic signal between the display controller and an application.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the modifying of the frequency of the periodic signal comprises modifying the frequency of the periodic signal by a display driver, a hardware composer or a display server, and wherein the display driver, the hardware composer and the display server comprise functions operationally between the display controller and an application.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlling of the frame rate comprises lowering the frame rate to one of one or more predefined frame rates.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlling of the frame rate comprises setting the frame rate based on the temperature of the at least one portion of the electronic apparatus and a previous frame rate before the controlling.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of whether the temperature of at least one portion of the electronic apparatus exceeds the temperature threshold comprises:
monitoring a first temperature of an integrated-circuit (IC) chip of the electronic apparatus;
monitoring a second temperature of a casing of the electronic apparatus; and
determining whether the first temperature exceeds a first temperature threshold or the second temperature exceeds a second temperature threshold.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the temperature of the at least one portion of the electronic apparatus does not exceed the temperature threshold after the controlling; and
ceasing the controlling of the frame rate in response to the determining that the temperature of the at least one portion of the electronic apparatus does not exceed the temperature threshold.

12. An apparatus, comprising:
a memory device configured to store data, one or more sets of instructions, or a combination thereof; and
a processor coupled to access the memory device to execute the one or more sets of instructions, the processor comprising:
a reception circuit configured to receive information;
a determination circuit configured to determine whether a temperature of at least one portion of the apparatus exceeds a temperature threshold based on the received information, the determination circuit further configured to determine whether a variation in a frame rate of images displayed on a display device associated with the apparatus exceeds a variation threshold; and
a control circuit configured to control the frame rate in response to both of a first determination that the monitored temperature exceeds the temperature threshold and a second determination that the variation in the frame rate exceeds the variation threshold.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein, in controlling the frame rate, the processor is configured to limit a frequency at which the frame rate is varied or lower the frame rate to one of one or more predefined frame rates.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein, in limiting the frequency at which the frame rate is varied, the processor is configured to modify a frequency of a periodic signal originated from a display controller.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein, in modifying the frequency of the periodic signal, the processor is configured to selectively drop or bypass the periodic signal.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein, in modifying the frequency of the periodic signal, the processor is configured to perform operations comprising:
generating a replacement signal periodically at a frequency different from the frequency of the periodic signal; and
replacing the periodic signal with the replacement signal.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein, in modifying the frequency of the periodic signal, the processor is configured to selectively modify the frequency of the periodic signal at an output of a display driver, a hardware composer or a display server, and wherein the display driver, the hardware composer and the display server comprise functions operationally between the display controller and an application.

18. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein, in controlling the frame rate, the processor is configured to set the frame rate based on the temperature of the at least one portion of the apparatus and a previous frame rate before the controlling.

19. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising:
a casing; and
one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips contained within the casing,
wherein, in determining whether the temperature of at least one portion of the apparatus exceeds the temperature threshold, the processor is configured to perform operations comprising:
monitoring a first temperature of at least one of the one or more IC chips;
monitoring a second temperature of the casing; and
determining whether the first temperature exceeds a first temperature threshold or the second temperature exceeds a second temperature threshold.

20. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform operations comprising:
determining that the temperature of the at least one portion of the apparatus does not exceed the temperature threshold after the controlling; and
ceasing the controlling of the frame rate in response to the determining that the temperature of the at least one portion of the apparatus does not exceed the temperature threshold.

Assignees

• Mediatek Inc

Inventors

• Hsiao Chih Yuan
• Wang wei ting
• Chiu Jih Cheng

Classifications

• G06F3/14

  Digital output to display device {; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units} · CPC title

• G09G5/00

  Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators (image data processing or generation, in general G06T) · CPC title

• H04N7/0127

  by changing the field or frame frequency of the incoming video signal, e.g. frame rate converter · CPC title

• G09G2370/16

  Use of wireless transmission of display information · CPC title

• G09G2320/041

  Temperature compensation · CPC title