Fan control for determining a fan speed that is closer to an optimal fan speed based on an amount of measured change in system power consumption and temperature of a processor
US8868947B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 27, 2012 |
| Grant date | Oct 21, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 20, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02D10/00
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In general, in one aspect, the disclosure describes running a cooling fan within a computer at low speed while the computer is in low temperature operations (e.g., idle). The operation of the cooling fan may reduce CPU temperature enough to decrease CPU leakage power, offsetting the power consumption of the fan, and possibly resulting in a net system power reduction. The benefit at the platform level increases further when considering the low efficiency of voltage regulation (VR) in this lower power regime, and potentially reductions in other components (e.g., graphics processor). The optimal fan speed is the speed at which the overall system power is reduced the most (e.g., CPU power savings is greater than fan power utilized). The optimal temperature may be determined dynamically during operation or may be determined in manufacturing and applied statically during operation.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.