Variable-Pitch Fan Blade Pitch Control for Thermal Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
As semiconductor integration densities increase, thermal dissipation issues lead to performance problems due to increased vibrations and thermal cycling effects, which existing solutions like chip throttling and trash burning are inefficient and environmentally harmful.
Innovation Solution
A system that monitors performance parameters to predict future temperatures and adjusts the pitch of cooling device blades to control temperature variations, avoiding resonant frequencies and minimizing vibrational impacts, using an autoregressive moving average method and variable-pitch fans or liquid coolant pumps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If more powerful fans are used to cool high-density semiconductor systems, then thermal dissipation is improved, but vibrations increase causing performance problems in disk drives
Solution Approach 1:
The fan blade pitch is made dynamically adjustable during operation. The system continuously monitors temperature and vibration levels, then adjusts the blade pitch in real-time to optimize the balance between cooling effectiveness and vibration generation, rather than using a fixed high-pitch configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the operational parameters of the fan by adjusting blade pitch angle dynamically. By varying the pitch parameter based on real-time temperature and vibration measurements, the system adapts the fan's performance characteristics to match current operational conditions, reducing vibrations when full cooling power is not needed
2Stability of the object's composition
If chip throttling is used to dampen thermal cycling, then temperature variations are reduced, but system throughput is reduced when workload is high
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the temperature control function from the processor operation itself. Instead of throttling the processor to control temperature, a separate fan control system handles thermal management, allowing the processor to maintain full performance while temperature variations are controlled through independent fan speed and pitch adjustments
Solution Approach 2:
The fan blade pitch mechanism serves as an intermediary between the processor and the cooling airflow. By adjusting the pitch, the system fine-tunes the cooling effect without interfering with processor operation, providing a decoupled control mechanism that prevents throughput reduction
3Stability of the object's composition
If trash burning is used to raise mean package temperature, then thermal cycling is dampened, but electricity is consumed without doing useful computational work
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses periodic adjustments to fan blade pitch and speed rather than continuous high-power operation. By applying cooling intermittently and adjusting pitch periodically based on temperature feedback, the system dampens thermal cycling while minimizing overall energy consumption compared to continuous high-speed fan operation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively manages temperature fluctuations, reducing the risk of mechanical failures and energy consumption while maintaining system performance and environmental sustainability.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling device in the computer system... pitch of one or more blades in a cooling device
Implementation Method 2
predicting the future temperature a predetermined amount of time in the future, wherein the predetermined amount of time is determined based on parameters including a thermal inertia of the computer system
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system that controls a temperature variation in a computer system. First, a performance parameter of the computer system is monitored. Next, a future temperature of the computer system is predicted based on the performance parameter. Then, a pitch of one or more blades in a cooling device in the computer system is adjusted based on the future temperature to control the temperature variation in the computer system.