IP Library Granted Patent US 10,394,294
Granted Patent B2
US 10,394,294 · App. 15/685,719 · Granted Aug 27, 2019

Predictive thermal control management using temperature and power sensors

Inventors: Erick Pfeifer (Austin, TX); Kyle Gaede (Austin, TX)
Assignee: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED
G06F1/206G06F1/325G06F1/3206H05K7/20209H05K7/20836G01K7/425G06F2200/201Y02D10/16
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,394,294
App. No.
15/685,719
Granted
Aug 27, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure include a microcontroller configured to cool an electronic device. The microcontroller is configured to receive a power consumption value of the electronic device, determine, based on the power consumption value and a stored previous power consumption value, a change value representing an amount that power consumption of the electronic device changed from a previous power consumption of the electronic device, determine an output cooling control value based at least in part on the change value, and control an output for cooling the electronic device using the output cooling control value.

Claims (72)

1. A power controller, comprising instructions, the instructions, when loaded and executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive a power consumption value indicating power consumption of an electronic device;

receiving a temperature and a temperature setpoint value of the electronic device;

determine, based on the power consumption value and a stored previous power consumption value, a change value representing an amount that power consumption of the electronic device changed from a previous power consumption of the electronic device;

determine an output cooling control value using a proportional-integrative-derivative control loop receiving said device temperature and said temperature setpoint value;

adjusting the output cooling control value by subtracting a value based on the change value from an integrative accumulator of the PID control loop; and

control an output for cooling the electronic device using the output cooling control value.

2. The power controller of claim 1 , wherein the output cooling control value is a fan speed.

3. The power controller of claim 1 , wherein:

the processor was caused to cool the electronic device at the previous power consumption at a first fan speed during a period of time;

the change value is a reduction in power consumption; and

the output cooling value represents a second fan speed lower than the first fan speed.

4. The power controller of claim 1 , wherein:

the processor was caused to cool the electronic device at the previous power consumption at a first fan speed during a period of time;

the change value is an increase in power consumption; and

the output cooling value represents a second fan speed higher than the first fan speed.

5. The power controller of claim 1 , wherein:

the processor was caused to cool the electronic device at the previous power consumption at a first fan speed during a period of time;

the change value is a reduction in power consumption;

the output cooling value represents a second fan speed lower than the first fan speed; and

the processor received temperature data indicating that the temperature had not decreased.

6. The power controller of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further caused to perform finite impulse response FIR filtering of the power consumption value.

7. The power controller of claim 6 , wherein the processor is further caused to:

calculate an adaptive gain from the electronic device temperature value, a fan speed value and the power consumption value.

8. The power controller of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further caused to:

iteratively process of the adaptive gain and the filtered power consumption value to produce a continuously updated output signal comprising a predicted minimum fan speed.

9. The power controller of claim 8 , wherein the continuously updated output signal is derivated to determine the slope of a predictive function, wherein the derivated signal is subtracted from the integrative accumulator of the PID control loop.

10. A microcontroller, comprising:

a processor; and

instructions in a computer-readable medium, the instructions, when loaded and executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive a power consumption value indicating power consumption of an electronic device;

receive a temperature and a temperature setpoint value of the electronic device;

determine, based on the power consumption value and a stored previous power consumption value, a change value representing an amount that power consumption of the electronic device changed from a previous power consumption of the electronic device;

determine an output cooling control value using a proportional-integrative-derivative control loop receiving said device temperature and said temperature setpoint value,

adjusting the output cooling control value by subtracting a value based on the change value from an integrative accumulator of the PID control loop; and

control an output for cooling the electronic device using the output cooling control value.

11. The microcontroller of claim 10 , wherein the output cooling control value is a fan speed.

12. The microcontroller of claim 10 , wherein:

the processor was caused to cool the electronic device at the previous power consumption at a first fan speed during a period of time;

the change value is a reduction in power consumption; and

the output cooling value represents a second fan speed lower than the first fan speed.

13. The microcontroller of claim 10 , wherein:

the processor was caused to cool the electronic device at the previous power consumption at a first fan speed during a period of time;

the change value is an increase in power consumption; and

the output cooling value represents a second fan speed higher than the first fan speed.

14. The microcontroller of claim 10 , wherein:

the processor was caused to cool the electronic device at the previous power consumption at a first fan speed during a period of time;

the change value is a reduction in power consumption;

the output cooling value represents a second fan speed lower than the first fan speed; and

the processor received temperature data indicating that the temperature had not decreased.

15. The microcontroller of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further caused to perform finite impulse response FIR filtering of the power consumption value.

16. The microcontroller of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further caused to:

calculate an adaptive gain from the electronic device temperature value, a fan speed value and the power consumption value.

17. The microcontroller of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further caused to:

iteratively process of the adaptive gain and the filtered power consumption value to produce a continuously updated output signal comprising a predicted minimum fan speed.

18. The microcontroller of claim 17 , wherein the continuously updated output signal is derivated to determine the slope of a predictive function, wherein the derivated signal is subtracted from the integrative accumulator of the PID control loop.

19. A method for cooling an electronic device, the method including:

receiving a load power consumption value indicating power consumption of the electronic device;

receiving a temperature value and a temperature setpoint value of the electronic device;

determining, based on the load power consumption value and a stored previous power consumption value, a change value representing an amount that power consumption of the electronic device changed from a previous power consumption of the electronic device;

determining an output cooling control value using a proportional-integrative-derivative control loop receiving said device temperature and said temperature setpoint value,

adjusting the output cooling control value by subtracting a value based on the change value from an integrative accumulator of the PID control; and

controlling an output for cooling the electronic device using the output cooling control value.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising cooling the electronic device during a time period comprising the previous power consumption at a first fan speed, wherein:

the change value is a reduction in power consumption;

the output cooling value represents a second fan speed lower than the first fan speed; and

temperature data was previously received indicating that the temperature had not decreased.

21. The method of claim 19 , further comprising filtering of the power consumption value.

22. The method of claim 21 , further comprising:

calculating an adaptive gain from the device temperature value, a fan speed value and the power consumption value, and

iteratively processing of the adaptive gain and the filtered power consumption value to produce a continuously updated output signal comprising a predicted minimum fan speed.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the continuously updated output signal is derivated to determine the slope of a predictive function, wherein the derivated signal is subtracted from the integrative accumulator of the PID control loop.

Assignments (13)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 14, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 060894/0437 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 11, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059363/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 10, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059863/0400 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 9, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059358/0335 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 28, 2022
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059263/0001 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS Recorded Nov 19, 2021
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 058214/0625 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 4, 2021
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 057935/0474 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 24, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 055671/0612 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 053468/0705 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 052856/0909 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 30, 2020
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 053466/0011 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 24, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 053311/0305 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 25, 2017
From: PFEIFER, ERICK; GAEDE, KYLE
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED
Reel/Frame 043401/0281 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62379688 · Aug 25, 2016
Related Publication 20180059747A1 · Mar 1, 2018
Cited By (7)
US 12,242,316 US 12,248,302 US 12,267,981 US 12,277,046 US 12,295,126 US 12,393,240 US 12,411,467