Method and apparatus to eliminate processor core hot spots
US7086058B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 6, 2002 |
| Grant date | Aug 1, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 13, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02D10/00
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for eliminating hot spots on processor chips in a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) computer system. Some operations, in particular, floating point multiply/add, repetitively utilize portions of a processor chip to the point that the average power of the affected portions exceeds cooling capabilities. The localized temperature of the affected portions can then exceed design limits. The current invention determines when a hot spot occurs and task swaps the task to another processor prior to the localized temperature becoming too hot. Moving of tasks to processors that have data affinity with the processor reporting a hot spot is considered. Further considerations include prioritizing unused processors and those processors that have not recently reported a hot spot.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.