System for dynamically managing power consumption in a search engine
US8369121B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 17, 2012 |
| Grant date | Feb 5, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 17, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11C15/00
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The power consumption of a search engine such as a CAM device is dynamically adjusted to prevent performance degradation and/or damage resulting from overheating. For some embodiments, the CAM device is continuously sampled to generate sampling signals indicating the number of active states and number of compare operations performed during each sampling period. The sampling signals are accumulated to generate an estimated device power profile, which is compared with reference values corresponding to predetermined power levels to generate a dynamic power control signal indicating predicted increases in the device's operating temperature resulting from its power consumption. The dynamic power control signal is then used to selectively reduce the input data rate of the CAM device, thereby reducing power consumption and allowing the device to cool.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.