Electronic apparatus and control method thereof

Abstract

To provide an electronic apparatus capable of performing effective cooling under a specific condition, and a control method thereof.SOLUTION: An electronic apparatus acquires an ambient temperature of the electronic apparatus and operates a cooling device to cool a component that generates heat during operation, and when the ambient temperature falls below a predetermined reference temperature value, the electronic apparatus performs control to increase an output of the cooling device more than when the ambient temperature is equal to or higher than the reference temperature value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic device that controls a cooling device and a control method thereof. [Background technology]

[0002] Generally, components such as processors in electronic devices generate heat during operation. If this heat is left unattended, it can cause malfunctions and deterioration, so it is necessary to cool the heat-generating components using cooling devices such as cooling fans. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] In the electronic devices described above, it is undesirable to keep the cooling device operating at high output all the time, as this can cause noise and unnecessary power consumption. Therefore, the temperature of the components that require cooling may be monitored, and if the temperature rises, the output of the cooling device may be increased. However, such control alone may not be enough to provide the necessary cooling.

[0004] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and one of its objects is to provide an electronic device that can perform effective cooling under specific conditions, and a control method thereof. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] An electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention is an electronic device equipped with components that generate heat during operation, and includes a temperature acquisition unit that acquires the ambient temperature of the electronic device, and a cooling control unit that operates a cooling device to cool the components that generate heat during operation, wherein the cooling control unit controls the output of the cooling device to be higher than when the ambient temperature is above the reference temperature when the ambient temperature drops below a predetermined reference temperature.

[0006] Furthermore, an electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention is an electronic device equipped with components that generate heat during operation, and includes an operation information acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the operating status of the electronic device, and a cooling control unit that operates a cooling device to cool the components that generate heat during the operation, and is characterized in that the cooling control unit changes the control content when operating the cooling device depending on the information regarding the operating status.

[0007] A control method for an electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention is a control method for an electronic device having components that generate heat during operation, and includes a step of acquiring an ambient temperature of the electronic device, and a cooling step of operating a cooling device to cool the components that generate heat during operation, wherein the cooling step is characterized in that, when the ambient temperature drops below a predetermined reference temperature, the output of the cooling device is controlled to be higher than when the ambient temperature is equal to or higher than the reference temperature. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram schematically illustrating a general configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing functions realized by the electronic device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 6 is a graph illustrating the cooling control performed by the electronic device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control mode of cooling control. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0010] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electronic device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 1 is a home game console, a personal computer, or the like, and includes a printed circuit board 10, a first component 11, a first component temperature sensor 12, a second component 13, a cooling fan 14, an ambient temperature sensor 15, a control circuit 16, and a case 17, as shown in Fig. 1.

[0011] The printed circuit board 10 is a circuit board on which various circuit components for realizing the functions of the electronic device 1 are mounted, and is fixed inside the case 17. In this embodiment, a first component 11 and a control circuit 16, which will be described later, are mounted on the printed circuit board 10. Although not shown in FIG. 1 , the electronic device 1 may include various other circuit boards in addition to the printed circuit board 10.

[0012] The first component 11 is a component that generates heat during operation of the electronic device 1 and requires cooling by the cooling fan 14. This first component 11 is assumed to be a component that generates particularly large amounts of heat and has a high need for cooling among the components arranged in the electronic device 1. Specifically, in this embodiment, the first component 11 is a microprocessor that realizes the main functions of the electronic device 1, and executes various application programs stored in a storage unit (not shown) such as an SSD, thereby realizing various types of information processing.

[0013] The first component temperature sensor 12 is a sensor for measuring the temperature of the first component 11. This first component temperature sensor 12 may be a sensor built into the first component 11, or may be a separate sensor arranged adjacent to the first component 11. Hereinafter, the temperature measured by the first component temperature sensor 12 will be referred to as the first component temperature. The first component temperature is a temperature that reflects temperature changes due to heat generation and cooling of the first component 11 itself.

[0014] Like the first component 11, the second component 13 generates heat during operation and requires cooling by the cooling fan 14. The second component 13 is assumed to be a component that requires at least relatively less cooling than the first component 11. Hereinafter, the temperature of the second component 13 will be referred to as the second component temperature. However, in this embodiment, due to constraints of the device configuration, a sensor that directly measures the second component temperature is not provided. Furthermore, the second component 13 is located at a certain distance from the first component 11, and the first component temperature measured by the first component temperature sensor 12 is assumed to be unaffected by temperature changes of the second component 13. In other words, the first component temperature and the second component temperature change independently of each other depending on the state of the corresponding circuit component.

[0015] As a specific example, the second component 13 may be a component that constitutes part of the power supply unit. Such a component is not disposed on the printed circuit board 10 but is disposed at a location away from the printed circuit board 10, and therefore experiences a temperature change that differs from the first component temperature. Also, it may be difficult to install a temperature sensor that measures the temperature inside the power supply unit by disposing an additional circuit board or the like.

[0016] Cooling fan 14 is a cooling device used to cool each component inside case 17, and operates in accordance with a control signal received from control circuit 16. Specifically, cooling fan 14 cools the inside of case 17 by drawing in outside air from an air intake port I provided in case 17 and blowing it out. Particularly in this embodiment, cooling fan 14 simultaneously cools both first component 11 and second component 13, lowering their temperatures.

[0017] The environmental temperature sensor 15 is a sensor for measuring the temperature of the environment surrounding the electronic device 1. In this embodiment, the environmental temperature sensor 15 is disposed near the air intake I provided in the case 17 (i.e., between the air intake I and the cooling fan 14) and measures the temperature of the air taken in by the cooling fan 14. Hereinafter, the temperature measured by the environmental temperature sensor 15 will be referred to as the environmental temperature. The environmental temperature is a temperature that reflects the temperature of the external environment around the electronic device 1. Temperature changes in the environmental temperature are not generally directly linked to the first component temperature and the second component temperature. However, the absolute value of the environmental temperature also affects the first component temperature and the second component temperature. In other words, if cooling by the cooling fan 14 is not performed, the higher the environmental temperature, the higher the first component temperature and the second component temperature will be, and the greater the need for cooling.

[0018] The control circuit 16 is an integrated circuit for controlling the operation of the cooling fan 14, and is connected to each of the first component 11, the first component temperature sensor 12, the ambient temperature sensor 15, and the cooling fan 14 via control signal lines. As shown in Fig. 2, the control circuit 16 functionally includes a temperature acquisition unit 21, an operation information acquisition unit 22, and a cooling control unit 23. These functions are realized by the control circuit 16 operating in accordance with a program stored therein.

[0019] The temperature acquisition unit 21 continuously acquires, at predetermined time intervals, the temperature measurement results obtained by the first component temperature sensor 12 and the environmental temperature sensor 15. The temperature information acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 21 is provided to the cooling control unit 23.

[0020] The operation information acquisition unit 22 acquires information related to the operating status of the electronic device 1. Specifically, the operation information acquisition unit 22 acquires information related to the application program currently being executed (hereinafter referred to as execution program information) from the first component 11. When the first component 11 starts executing a new program or switches the currently executing program in response to a user instruction or the like, it transmits execution program information related to the newly executed program to the control circuit 16. The operation information acquisition unit 22 acquires this execution program information and provides it to the cooling control unit 23.

[0021] The cooling control unit 23 controls the operation of the cooling fan 14 in accordance with the information on the first component temperature and the environmental temperature acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 21. In this embodiment, the cooling control unit 23 may also control the operation of the cooling fan 14 in accordance with the execution program information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 22. Specific examples of these controls will be described later.

[0022] In this embodiment, the cooling control unit 23 operates the cooling fan 14 by outputting a pulse width modulation drive signal to the cooling fan 14. The cooling control unit 23 changes the rotation speed of the cooling fan 14 by changing the duty ratio of the drive signal output to the cooling fan 14. This allows the control circuit 16 to control the output (cooling performance) of the cooling fan 14. Note that an offset value (minimum output value) is set for the rotation speed of the cooling fan 14, and the cooling fan 14 continues to operate at a rotation speed equal to or higher than the minimum output value while the electronic device 1 is in operation.

[0023] Below, a specific example of cooling control performed by the cooling control unit 23 in response to the temperature measurement results from the first component temperature sensor 12 and the ambient temperature sensor 15 will be described. In the following description, the target temperatures for the first component 11 and the second component 13 will be referred to as target temperatures T1 and T2, respectively. That is, it is desirable that the cooling control unit 23 performs cooling control so that the first component temperature is equal to or lower than the target temperature T1 and the second component temperature is equal to or lower than the target temperature T2 while the electronic device 1 is operating. Of these, information about the target temperature T1 is assumed to be stored in advance in the control circuit 16. On the other hand, as described above, the electronic device 1 does not directly measure the second component temperature, so there is no need for the control circuit 16 to retain information about the target temperature T2.

[0024] First, in order to cool the first component 11, the cooling control unit 23 performs control to change the output of the cooling fan 14 in accordance with the first component temperature measured by the first component temperature sensor 12. In particular, the cooling control unit 23 performs control to increase the output of the cooling fan 14 when the first component temperature becomes high, and to decrease the output of the cooling fan 14 when the first component temperature drops.

[0025] Specifically, the cooling control unit 23 compares the target temperature T1 stored therein with the first component temperature acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 21, and if the first component temperature is higher than the target temperature T1, the cooling control unit 23 increases the duty ratio of the drive signal to increase the rotation speed of the cooling fan 14. This improves the cooling performance of the cooling fan 14 and enables the temperature of the first component 11 to be reduced. Furthermore, the cooling control unit 23 increases the output of the cooling fan 14 the higher the first component temperature is above the target temperature T1. This allows the first component 11 to be cooled more quickly and reduced to a temperature equal to or lower than the target temperature T1 if the temperature of the first component 11 becomes high. On the other hand, if the first component temperature drops below the target temperature T1, the cooling control unit 23 reduces the rotation speed of the cooling fan 14 to an offset value. Through this control, the cooling control unit 23 can maintain the temperature of the first component 11 at or below the target temperature T1.

[0026] Furthermore, the cooling control unit 23 controls the operation of the cooling fan 14 in response to the environmental temperature measured by the environmental temperature sensor 15, independently of the cooling control in response to the first component temperature described above. In particular, in this embodiment, the cooling control unit 23 controls the cooling fan 14 to increase its output when the environmental temperature falls below a given reference temperature Tr. It is assumed that the control circuit 16 stores information about the reference temperature Tr in advance. Generally, cooling by the cooling fan 14 becomes necessary when the temperature rises and becomes less necessary when the temperature drops. However, in this embodiment, the temperature of the second component 13 (second component temperature) that requires cooling is not directly monitored, and cooling control in response to the first component temperature is performed as described above. As a result, when the environmental temperature is low, the output of the cooling control in response to the first component temperature decreases, resulting in a situation where the second component 13 is not sufficiently cooled.

[0027] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an overview of the cooling control performed by the electronic device 1 in response to the ambient temperature. The graph in FIG. 3(a) shows the relationship between the ambient temperature and the second component temperature under predetermined operating conditions. Specifically, the graph shows an overview of the temperature change of the second component temperature obtained by actually measuring the second component temperature when the electronic device 1 is operated at high output (high load) (when the electronic device 1 is operated under conditions where the first component 11 is expected to generate a large amount of heat), and when the cooling control according to the first component temperature is performed but not when the cooling control according to the ambient temperature is not performed. The graph in FIG. 3(b) shows the details of the cooling control performed by the cooling control unit 23. Specifically, the horizontal axis indicates the ambient temperature corresponding to the upper row, and the vertical axis indicates the details of the control instructed by the cooling control unit 23 to the cooling fan 14 (the details of the instruction for the rotation speed of the cooling fan 14). In this graph, the dashed line indicates the details of the control according to the first component temperature, and the solid line indicates the details of the control according to the ambient temperature.

[0028] In this example, if the electronic device 1 continues to operate at high power while the ambient temperature exceeds T1x, the first component temperature will rise to a value higher than the target temperature T1. This ambient temperature T1x represents the lower limit of the ambient temperature at which the temperature of the first component 11 rises to the target temperature T1 under the condition that the electronic device 1 operates at high power. In other words, if the ambient temperature is below T1x, it is assumed that the first component temperature will not rise to the target temperature T1. Conversely, the higher the ambient temperature exceeds T1x, the more likely the first component temperature will rise to a higher temperature. In this state, the cooling control unit 23 executes control to increase the rotation speed of the cooling fan 14 in response to the first component temperature exceeding the target temperature T1, as described above. As a result, as shown by the dashed-dotted line in FIG. 3(b), when the ambient temperature is equal to or higher than T1x, the cooling fan 14 operates at a higher rotation speed as the ambient temperature increases, thereby cooling the inside of the case 17 so that the first component temperature is equal to or lower than the target temperature T1. This cooling control also cools the second component 13 at the same time, so as shown in FIG. 3(a), in a situation where the environmental temperature is high, the temperature of the second component also drops.

[0029] On the other hand, when the ambient temperature is below T1x, even if the electronic device 1 operates at high output, the first component temperature does not reach the target temperature T1, and the cooling control unit 23 does not control the cooling fan 14 to increase its rotation speed according to the first component temperature. Therefore, when the cooling control unit 23 does not control the cooling fan 14 according to the ambient temperature, the cooling fan 14 operates at a rotation speed of the offset value. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3(a), the second component temperature is highest when the ambient temperature is T1x. Note that as the ambient temperature decreases further, the second component temperature also decreases accordingly. If the second component temperature when the ambient temperature is T1x is higher than the target temperature T2 of the second component 13, it becomes necessary to increase the output of the cooling fan 14 to cool the second component 13.

[0030] Here, if the offset value of the rotation speed of cooling fan 14 is set in advance to a value sufficient to cool second component 13, second component 13 can be maintained at or below target temperature T2 even when the first component temperature is below target temperature T1. However, if the offset value is set high, cooling fan 14 will continue to operate at a relatively high output even when, for example, first component 11 does not generate much heat and cooling is not necessary, which is undesirable from the perspective of reducing noise and power consumption.

[0031] Therefore, in this embodiment, the cooling control unit 23 controls the cooling fan 14 to increase its output when the environmental temperature falls below the reference temperature Tr, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3B. The reference temperature Tr is set to a value greater than the environmental temperature T1x at which the second component temperature is highest. The cooling control unit 23 increases the output of the cooling fan 14 as the environmental temperature falls below the reference temperature Tr, and changes the rotation speed of the cooling fan 14 so that the output of the cooling fan 14 reaches its highest when the environmental temperature reaches T1x. The rotation speed of the cooling fan 14 at this time is set to a value that allows the second component temperature to be cooled to or below the target temperature T2. As a result, the cooling control unit 23 can increase the output of the cooling fan 14 to cool the second component 13 when there is a possibility that the second component temperature will exceed the target temperature T2.

[0032] Cooling control unit 23 performs the above-described cooling control according to the first component temperature and cooling control according to the environmental temperature in parallel. That is, the duty ratio of the drive signal finally output to cooling fan 14 is determined so as to satisfy the larger of the required performance of cooling fan 14 determined according to the first component temperature and the required performance of cooling fan 14 determined according to the environmental temperature. Therefore, when electronic device 1 is operating at high output, cooling control according to the first component temperature is performed when the environmental temperature is high, and cooling control according to the environmental temperature is performed when the environmental temperature is low, with the boundary being the environmental temperature where the solid line and the dashed dotted line in FIG. 3(b) intersect.

[0033] 3(b), the cooling control unit 23 may also control the cooling fan 14 to increase its output when the ambient temperature exceeds a predetermined second reference temperature Tr2. In the example shown in this figure, the rotation speed determined according to the first component temperature indicated by the dashed-dotted line exceeds the rotation speed indicated by the solid line. However, depending on the operating state of the electronic device 1, the first component temperature may not rise, and cooling control according to the first component temperature may not be performed. Even in such a case, by increasing the output of the cooling fan 14 when the ambient temperature rises, it is possible to suppress the rise in the second component temperature associated with the rise in ambient temperature.

[0034] Next, a specific example of control executed by the cooling control unit 23 in accordance with the execution program information will be described. In this example, the cooling control unit 23 changes the content of the cooling control in accordance with the type of program currently being executed in the electronic device 1.

[0035] Specifically, the cooling control unit 23 selects the control mode for the cooling fan 14 from a plurality of pre-prepared control modes depending on the type of program being executed. For example, the cooling control unit 23 may determine the control mode depending on whether the program being executed is a game application, a video playback application involving media reading, or a video playback application not involving media reading. Here, it is assumed that the electronic device 1 has a built-in optical disc drive (not shown), and the video playback application involving media reading is an application program that plays video according to video data read by the optical disc drive from an optical disc. Furthermore, it is assumed that the video playback application not involving media reading is an application program that plays video distributed via a communication network such as the Internet.

[0036] Furthermore, cooling control unit 23 changes the control content for cooling fan 14 according to the control mode selected depending on the type of program being executed. For example, cooling control unit 23 may change parameters such as the target temperature T1 of first component 11 described above and an offset value for the rotation speed of cooling fan 14 depending on the control mode.

[0037] Cooling control unit 23 may also change a parameter for temperature response performance depending on the control mode. Here, response performance refers to the rate of change in output (amount of change per unit time) when the output of cooling fan 14 is changed in response to the first component temperature exceeding target temperature T1. The higher the response performance, the more rapidly the rotation speed of cooling fan 14 can be changed, and the faster the first component temperature can be cooled to target temperature T1.

[0038] 4 is a diagram showing an example of cooling control parameters according to the control mode. In this example, cooling control parameter values ​​are predetermined for each of the three control modes. The cooling control parameters include a target temperature T1 for the first component temperature, an offset value for the rotation speed, and a response performance value.

[0039] For example, while a game application is running, cooling control unit 23 sets target temperature T1, offset value, and response performance to high values. As a result, cooling fan 14 is operated at a certain rotation speed even before the first component temperature reaches target temperature T1, while control of increasing output according to target temperature T1 begins later than in other control modes. In addition, by increasing response performance, cooling can be performed quickly when a state occurs in which the target temperature T1 is exceeded.

[0040] On the other hand, cooling control unit 23 sets the offset value and response performance value lower when a video playback application is running than when a game application is running, which keeps the rotation speed of cooling fan 14 relatively low and reduces noise caused by the operation of cooling fan 14 while the user is watching a video.

[0041] In the above explanation, the cooling control parameters are mainly parameters that determine the content of the cooling control according to the first component temperature, but the content of the cooling control according to the ambient temperature may also be changed according to the control mode.

[0042] Furthermore, in the above explanation, the control mode is determined according to the type of program being executed, but this is not limiting, and the operation information acquisition unit 22 may acquire other types of information as information regarding the operating status of the electronic device 1, and the cooling control unit 23 may select the control mode according to such information regarding the operating status. As an example, the operation information acquisition unit 22 may acquire information indicating whether a specific component is operating or not (for example, information indicating whether an optical disk drive is operating or not), and the cooling control unit 23 may switch the control mode of the cooling fan 14 according to this information.

[0043] As described above, according to the electronic device 1 of this embodiment, by operating the cooling fan 14 when the ambient temperature drops, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the second component 13, the temperature of which cannot be directly monitored, from rising too high.

[0044] Furthermore, the electronic device 1 according to this embodiment can perform cooling suited to the situation by changing the control of the cooling fan 14 in accordance with information relating to the operating status of the electronic device 1.

[0045] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those described above. For example, in the above description, the control circuit 16 separate from both the first component 11 and the second component 13 controls the operation of the cooling fan 14. However, either the first component 11 or the second component 13 may control the operation of the cooling fan 14. In this case, the functions of the temperature acquisition unit 21, the operation information acquisition unit 22, and the cooling control unit 23, which are described above as being realized by the control circuit 16, are realized by either the first component 11 or the second component 13.

[0046] In addition, in the above explanation, the cooling control unit 23 executes both control according to the environmental temperature acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 21 and control according to the execution program information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 22, but it may execute only one of them.

[0047] Furthermore, although the electronic device 1 according to this embodiment performs cooling control based on two types of temperatures measured by the first component temperature sensor 12 and the ambient temperature sensor 15, the electronic device 1 may also be provided with another temperature sensor and perform cooling control in accordance with the measurement results of that temperature sensor. As a specific example, another temperature sensor may be mounted on the printed circuit board 10, and the cooling control unit 23 may perform control to increase the output of the cooling fan 14 when the temperature measured by that temperature sensor exceeds a given target temperature.

[0048] Furthermore, the cooling device in the present invention is not limited to cooling fan 14, and may be a device that uses other methods to cool first component 11 and second component 13. In that case, too, cooling control unit 23 is capable of changing the cooling performance of the cooling device in real time, and controls the output of the cooling device to increase or decrease depending on the measurement results of each temperature sensor.

[0049] In the above description, the first component 11 is assumed to be a microprocessor that executes various application programs, and the operation information acquisition unit 22 acquires execution program information from the first component 11. However, the application program may be executed by a processor or the like other than the first component 11. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 1 Electronic device, 10 Printed circuit board, 11 First component, 12 First component temperature sensor, 13 Second component, 14 Cooling fan, 15 Environmental temperature sensor, 16 Control circuit, 17 Case, 21 Temperature acquisition unit, 22 Operation information acquisition unit, 23 Cooling control unit.

Claims

[Claim 1] An electronic device having a component that generates heat during operation, a temperature acquisition unit that acquires an environmental temperature of the electronic device; a cooling control unit that operates a cooling device to cool components that generate heat during the operation; Including, When the environmental temperature falls below a predetermined reference temperature, the cooling control unit controls the output of the cooling device to be higher than when the environmental temperature is equal to or higher than the reference temperature. An electronic device characterized by:

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