Extended Thermal Relationship Table for Platform Power Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current platform-level thermal management solutions, such as ACPI 3.0, are cumbersome and prone to errors due to the complexity of determining and generating Thermal Relationship Table (TRT) values, leading to inefficiencies in power and thermal management, especially in systems with multiple heat-generating components.
Innovation Solution
A modified thermal management approach that replaces traditional TRT with a more granular table allowing multiple temperature trip points per device, eliminating the need for PDL and DTI ACPI objects, and using an extended thermal relationship table to simplify the process of defining thermal behavior and control points, thereby optimizing power and thermal settings based on workload and temperature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional TRT with PDL and DTI ACPI objects is used, then thermal management can be implemented, but implementation complexity increases and errors become more prone
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the PDL and DTI ACPI objects from the thermal management system, retaining only the essential TRT mechanism. This simplification removes unnecessary complexity while preserving the core thermal management functionality, directly addressing the contradiction between reliability and implementation complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the TRT mechanism universal by allowing it to handle all thermal management tasks previously requiring separate PDL and DTI objects. The extended TRT structure can define multiple temperature trip points and control actions for various devices, consolidating multiple functions into a single unified mechanism that reduces implementation complexity.
2Reliability
If traditional TRT is used, then thermal management is provided, but time consumption for thermal characterization increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-defining multiple temperature trip points and corresponding control actions in the extended TRT structure during system design. This allows the thermal management system to be configured in advance with specific thermal characteristics, eliminating the need for time-consuming thermal characterization during system deployment or operation.
3Device complexity
If single temperature threshold is used, then thermal management is simplified, but control precision is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the single temperature threshold into multiple discrete temperature trip points within the extended TRT structure. Each trip point can trigger different control actions, allowing precise control over thermal management behavior at different temperature levels. This segmentation maintains relative simplicity while significantly improving control precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic temperature thresholds by allowing the TRT to define multiple trip points that can be adjusted based on device-specific thermal characteristics and workload conditions. This dynamic approach enables precise control while maintaining flexibility and simplicity in implementation.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus relating to table driven multiple passive trip, platform passive thermal management are described. In one embodiment, the power consumption limit of one or more components of a platform is modified based on one or more thermal relationships between one or more power consuming components of the platform and one or more heat generating components of the platform. Furthermore, a first relationship of the one or more thermal relationships indicates a mapping between a plurality of temperature thresholds and a corresponding plurality of performance limits. Other embodiments are also claimed and disclosed.