Dynamic Power Sharing Circuit for CPU-GPU Thermal Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heat dissipating modules in notebook computers are oversized due to the need to accommodate high power consumption and thermal energy generation by CPUs and GPUs, limiting miniaturization and increasing board space usage.
Innovation Solution
An electrical power sharing circuit dynamically adjusts energy allocation between CPUs and GPUs based on operation modes, using sense units to monitor power consumption and control units to adjust performance levels, thereby reducing the size and thermal design power of the heat dissipating module.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the heat dissipating module size is increased to enhance heat dissipating ability, then the heat dissipating ability is improved, but the area of the main board occupied by the heat dissipating module becomes larger
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic power allocation between CPU and GPU through a power management unit that adjusts power distribution based on operational requirements. This dynamic control allows the system to use smaller, less powerful processing units that generate less heat, thereby reducing the required heat dissipating module size while maintaining adequate thermal management capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the power consumption parameters of CPU and GPU dynamically based on operational modes. By adjusting power allocation ratios and operating parameters, the system reduces overall power consumption and thermal output, enabling the use of compact heat dissipating modules that would otherwise be insufficient for high-power configurations
2Productivity
If the CPU and GPU having better performances are used, then the processing performance is improved, but the electrical power consumption values are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The power management unit dynamically adjusts power allocation between CPU and GPU based on real-time operational requirements. During operations requiring high computational power, more power is allocated to the active processing unit, while the other unit operates at reduced power or remains idle, thereby achieving high performance when needed while minimizing overall power consumption
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of continuously operating both CPU and GPU at full capacity, the system applies partial action by activating only the necessary processing unit for each specific task. This approach achieves required performance levels with significantly reduced power consumption compared to running both high-performance units at full power continuously
Data Source
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AI summary
An electrical power sharing circuit applied in a computer system includes first and second sense units and first and second control units. The first and second sense units are electrically connected to a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphical processing unit (GPU) of the computer system and thus generate first and second sense values, respectively. The first control unit is electrically connected to the first and second sense units, the CPU and the GPU and receives the first and second sense values. The second control unit is electrically connected to the first and second sense units and the first control unit, receives the first and second sense values and provides a reference value to the first control unit. The first control unit controls performances of the CPU and the GPU according to the reference value.