Deterministic Processor Compiler Thermal Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current reactive thermal management methods in processors are inefficient, leading to uncertainty in latency, throughput, and reliability due to the non-deterministic nature of traditional processors, resulting in over-designed cooling solutions that waste power and increase costs.
Innovation Solution
A deterministic processor compiler calculates the estimated power consumption and temperature profile of a workload before execution, allowing for proactive management of system temperature by scheduling cooling resources and adjusting workload derates or frequency to maintain safe operating ranges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If reactive thermal management methods are used to detect and respond to temperature excursions, then processor safety is maintained, but latency and throughput uncertainty increase due to non-deterministic performance
Solution Approach 1:
The compiler performs preliminary thermal analysis during the compilation phase, calculating the temperature profile of the workload before execution. This advance planning allows the system to proactively schedule cooling resources and adjust frequency before temperature excursions occur, eliminating reactive delays and ensuring deterministic latency while maintaining processor safety.
2Reliability
If cooling resources are increased to ensure processor performance and reliability, then temperature control is improved, but power consumption and system cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary thermal analysis during compilation to predict the workload's temperature profile. This enables proactive scheduling of cooling resources that matches the actual thermal needs of the workload, avoiding both over-cooling (waste) and under-cooling (thermal runaway), thereby optimizing power consumption while ensuring reliable temperature control.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling resource allocation is made dynamic and adaptive based on the predicted thermal profile. The system adjusts cooling capacity in real-time according to the actual thermal demands of the workload, rather than using fixed over-designed cooling capacity, thereby reducing energy waste while maintaining effective temperature control.
3Productivity
If processor frequency is increased to maximize performance, then throughput is improved, but temperature excursions increase risking thermal runaway
Solution Approach 1:
The compiler calculates the temperature profile during compilation and proactively schedules frequency adjustments before the workload executes. This allows the processor to operate at high frequencies during safe thermal periods while preemptively reducing frequency before temperature excursions, maximizing throughput while preventing thermal runaway through deterministic timing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic frequency modulation based on the predicted thermal profile, alternating between high-performance modes during safe thermal windows and reduced-frequency modes during thermal stress periods. This periodic action pattern maximizes overall throughput while maintaining temperature within safe limits.
Data Source
AI summary
Proactive thermal management of a deterministic processor to improve latency, throughput, and reliability is provided herein. Embodiments improve the compiler of a deterministic processor to calculate the estimated power and temperature profile of a program and/or workload over time, to then proactively schedule necessary and adequate cooling resources, and/or add dead compute cycles and other power reduction methods, to maintain the processor temperature within a specific “safe” range of operation while maximizing performance, efficiency and/or other figures of merit. Proactive thermal management by the compiler will increase processor throughput, and avoid unsafe temperature excursions, to improve the reliability and extend the lifetime of the processor. This Abstract and the independent Claims are concise signifiers of embodiments of the claimed inventions. The Abstract does not limit the scope of the claimed inventions.