APPARATUS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AIRFLOW MONITORING AND THERMAL MANAGEMENT IN A COMPUTING DEVICE

Abstract

Embodiments of an apparatus, system and method are described for monitoring an airflow and performing thermal management operations for a mobile computing device. An apparatus may comprise, for example, a heat generating component, an air mover, and a thermal management module to monitor one or more parameters of the air mover and to perform one or more thermal management operations based on one or more changes in the one or more parameters indicating one or more changes in an airflow for the apparatus. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Description

BACKGROUND

The performance and capabilities of modern computing systems have increased rapidly in recent years. Many computing system today include one or more processors, memory, wireless connectivity and other heat generating components. The number and type of capabilities and components in modern computing systems continues to increase, which often results in increased heat generation, as computing systems continue to decrease in size. Additionally, modern mobile computing systems are often used in a variety of different locations and usage scenarios which may result in the computing systems being used on surfaces or around materials that may partially or entirely block vents or other openings in the system that are designed to assist with heat dissipation. As a result, it is desirable to increase airflow awareness for a mobile computing device. Consequently, there exists a substantial need for techniques to dynamically monitor airflow for a mobile computing system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates one embodiment of a first system.

FIG. 1B illustrates one embodiment of a second system.

FIG. 1C illustrates one embodiment of a third system.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a graph.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a flow diagram.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a fourth system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments are generally directed to techniques designed to dynamically monitor airflow for a mobile computing device. Various embodiments provide a system, apparatus and method that include a heat generating component, an air mover, and a thermal management module to monitor one or more parameters of the air mover and to perform one or more thermal management operations based on changes in the one or more parameters indicating changes in an airflow. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

With the progression over time toward the use of mobile computing devices of decreasing size and cost, the space available for components designed to remove or reduce heat generated in a mobile computing device platform is becoming increasingly limited. Modern mobile computing devices, such as tablet computers, handheld computing devices, smartphones, laptop computers and netbook computers, require effective cooling elements to prevent overheating of critical system components and also to reduce the heat transferred to the enclosure of the device that is normally in contact with the skin of a user. Current mobile computing devices include air movers, heat sinks or other cooling mechanisms to help mitigate the heat generated by heat generating components. These thermal management components may become increasingly ineffective when users utilize mobile computing devices in new or unexpected places that may block cooling vents or other openings and the heat generated by ever increasing processing elements and components continues to increase.

Modern computing devices may be actively cooled and may rely on air movers such as fans or blowers to move cooling air throughout the system. If an inlet or outlet vent of the computing devices becomes blocked, by placing the system on a user's lap or on another soft surface, for example, the thermal performance of the system may be compromised. Modern mobile computing devices often fail to provide adequate methods for the detection of blocked vents. In present mobile computing devices, a user may not realize that a vent is blocked until a skin or enclosure temperature is raised significantly, resulting in user discomfort. In various embodiments, even a partially blocked vent may result in an increase in skin temperature for a mobile computing device in the range of 5-10 degrees Celsius or more.

In one embodiment, dynamic monitoring of an airflow for a system may be accomplished by monitoring air mover parameters to allow for the detection of blocked vents in the system. In various embodiments, when inlet or outlet vents of a mobile computing device are significantly blocked, one or more parameters of an air mover may be change noticeably. For example, in current systems, fan speed, which may already monitored by many systems, may increase due to a blocked vent. Therefore, some embodiments described herein may utilize periodic monitoring of one or more air mover parameters to monitor airflow and to check for blocked vents in a mobile computing device. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Embodiments may include one or more elements. An element may comprise any structure arranged to perform certain operations. Each element may be implemented as hardware, software, or any combination thereof, as desired for a given set of design parameters or performance constraints. Although embodiments may be described with particular elements in certain arrangements by way of example, embodiments may include other combinations of elements in alternate arrangements.

It is worthy to note that any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” and “in an embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a mobile computing device 100. In various embodiments, the mobile computing device 100 may comprise multiple nodes, element or components. A node, element or component generally may comprise any physical or logical entity in the mobile computing device 100 and may be implemented as hardware, software, or any combination thereof, as desired for a given set of design parameters or performance constraints. Although FIG. 1A may show a limited number of nodes, elements and components by way of example, it can be appreciated that more or less nodes, elements or components may be employed for a given implementation.

In various embodiments, the mobile computing device 100 may comprise a tablet computer, handheld computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular telephone, combination cellular telephone/PDA, smartphone, laptop computer, ultra-laptop computer, portable computer, personal computer (PC), notebook PC, netbook, pager, messaging device, media player, digital music player, or other suitable mobile computing device. Various embodiments include reference to a notebook computer, laptop computer or portable computer. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Mobile computing device 100 may comprise a device operative to form part of a wired communications system, a wireless communications system, or a combination of both. For example, the mobile computing device 100 may comprise one or more nodes arranged to communicate information over one or more types of wired communication links. Examples of a wired communication link may include, without limitation, a wire, cable, bus, printed circuit board (PCB), Ethernet connection, peer-to-peer (P2P) connection, backplane, switch fabric, semiconductor material, twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable, fiber optic connection, and so forth. The mobile computing device 102 also may include one or more nodes arranged to communicate information over one or more types of wireless communication links. Examples of a wireless communication link may include, without limitation, a radio channel, infrared channel, radio-frequency (RF) channel, Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) channel, a portion of the RF spectrum, and/or one or more licensed or license-free frequency bands.

The mobile computing device 100 may communicate information in accordance with one or more standards as promulgated by a standards organization. In one embodiment, for example, various devices comprising part of the communications system 100 may be arranged to operate in accordance with one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standard, the WiGig Alliance™ specifications, WirelessHD™ specifications, standards or variants, such as the WirelessHD Specification, Revision 1.0d7, Dec. 1, 2007, and its progeny as promulgated by WirelessHD, LLC (collectively referred to as the “WirelessHD Specification”), or with any other wireless standards as promulgated by other standards organizations such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (information IEEE), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and so forth. In various embodiments, for example, the mobile computing device 102 may communicate information according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards for wireless local area networks (WLANs) such as the information IEEE 802.11 standard (1999 Edition, Information Technology Telecommunications and Information Exchange Between Systems—Local and Metropolitan Area Networks—Specific Requirements, Part 11: WLAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical (PHY) Layer Specifications), its progeny and supplements thereto (e.g., 802.11a, b, g/h, j, n, VHT SG, and variants); IEEE 802.15.3 and variants; IEEE 802.16 standards for WMAN including the IEEE 802.16 standard such as 802.16-2004, 802.16.2-2004, 802.16e-2005, 802.16f, and variants; WGA (WiGig) progeny and variants; European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) TG20 progeny and variants; and other wireless networking standards. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

The mobile computing device 100 may communicate, manage, or process information in accordance with one or more protocols. A protocol may comprise a set of predefined rules or instructions for managing communication among nodes. In various embodiments, for example, a communications system may employ one or more protocols such as a beam forming protocol, medium access control (MAC) protocol, Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP), Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) protocol, Frame Relay protocol, Systems Network Architecture (SNA) protocol, Transport Control Protocol (TCP), Internet Protocol (IP), TCP/IP, X.25, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), a contention-based period (CBP) protocol, a distributed contention-based period (CBP) protocol and so forth. In various embodiments, the communications system 100 also may be arranged to operate in accordance with standards and/or protocols for media processing. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In some embodiments, the mobile computing device 100 may comprise or be associated with a network and a plurality of other nodes. In various embodiments, the nodes may be implemented as various types of wireless or mobile computing devices. Examples of wireless devices may include, without limitation, an IEEE 802.15.3 piconet controller (PNC), a controller, an IEEE 802.11 PCP, a coordinator, a station, a subscriber station, a base station, a wireless access point (AP), a wireless client device, a wireless station (STA), a laptop computer, ultra-laptop computer, portable computer, personal computer (PC), notebook PC, tablet computer, handheld computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular telephone, combination cellular telephone/PDA, smartphone, pager, messaging device, media player, digital music player, set-top box (STB), appliance, workstation, user terminal, mobile unit, consumer electronics, television, digital television, high-definition television, television receiver, high-definition television receiver, and so forth.

In some embodiments, mobile computing device 100 may comprise or include one more wireless interfaces and/or components for wireless communication such as one or more transmitters, receivers, transceivers, chipsets, amplifiers, filters, control logic, network interface cards (NICs), antennas, antenna arrays, modules and so forth. Examples of conventional antennas may include, without limitation, an internal antenna, an omni-directional antenna, a monopole antenna, a dipole antenna, an end fed antenna, a circularly polarized antenna, a micro-strip antenna, a diversity antenna, a dual antenna, an antenna array, and so forth.

In various embodiments, mobile computing device 100 may comprise or form part of a wireless network. In some embodiments, for example, the wireless network may comprise or be implemented as various types of wireless networks and associated protocols suitable for a WPAN, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Wireless Metropolitan Area Network, a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), a Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) network, a radio network, a television network, a satellite network such as a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) network, a long term evolution (LTE) network and/or any other wireless communications network arranged to operate in accordance with the described embodiments.

While the embodiments are not limited in this context, mobile computing device 100 illustrates one possible node in some embodiments. In various embodiments, mobile computing device 100 may include heat generating component 102, memory 104, thermal management module 106, air mover 108, digital display 110, power supply 112 and vents 124. While a limited number and arrangement of components are shown in FIG. 1A for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that mobile computing device 100 may include any number or arrangement of components and still fall within the described embodiments. For example, mobile computing device 100 may additionally include, in some embodiments, memory containing instructions to be executed by one or more multi-core processors for example. The embodiments, however, are not limited to the elements or the configuration shown in this figure. Additional components for mobile computing device 100 are discussed in further detail below with reference to FIG. 4.

The one or more heat generating components 102 may comprise any suitable electric device, semiconductor device, system on chip or other component capable of generating heat in some embodiments. For example, the one or more heat generating components 102 may comprise a multi-core processor in various embodiments. In some embodiments, the one or more heat generating components 102 may include or comprise one or more radio modules or combination transmitter/receiver (e.g. transceiver) devices. In various embodiments, the transceiver device may comprise a device that has both a transmitter and a receiver that are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing. For example, in some embodiments, the transceiver may be operative to enable wireless communication capabilities for mobile computing device 100. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Memory 104 may comprise any suitable physical device operative to store data, programs, sequences of instructions or other information on a temporary or permanent basis for use in mobile computing device 100 in some embodiments. For example, memory 104 may comprise volatile or non-volatile memory, RAM, ROM, virtual memory or a hard disc drive for example. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, thermal management module 106 may comprise software, firmware, hardware or any suitable combination of software, firmware or hardware. In one embodiment, for example, thermal management module 106 may comprise logic stored in memory 104 to be executed by a processor to perform thermal management operations. In some embodiments, thermal management module 106 may comprise firmware or an embedded controller implemented in an operating system of computing device 100. While shown as part of memory 104 in FIG. 1A, it should be understood that thermal management module 106 could be implemented anywhere within computing device 100 and still fall within the described embodiments. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Air mover 108 may comprise any suitable device capable of creating a flow of air in some embodiments. For example, air mover 108 may comprise a fan or a blower arranged to generate a flow of air in computing device 100. In various embodiments, air mover 108 may include a rotating arrangement of vanes or blades that act on the air to generate an airflow or may include a fan wheel composed of a number of fan blades or ribs mounted around a hub to generate a flow of air. While a limited number and type of air movers are described and shown for purposes of illustration, any number, type or arrangement of air movers could be used and still fall within the described embodiments.

In some embodiments, display 110 may comprise any suitable visual interface for displaying content to a user of the mobile computing device 100. In one embodiment, for example, the display 110 may be implemented by a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a touch-sensitive color LCD screen. The touch-sensitive LCD may be used with a stylus and/or a handwriting recognizer program in some embodiments. Display 110 may comprise a digital touchscreen display arranged to occupy a substantial portion of a first side of a laptop computing device in some embodiments.

Power supply 112 may comprise any device suitable for providing electrical power to computing device 100 in various embodiments. For example, power supply 112 may comprise an AC power supply or a DC power supply. In some embodiments, power supply 112 may comprise a battery or other energy storage device capable of storing and providing power to computing device 100. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Vent 124 may comprise any opening, slot or other arrangement of mobile computing device 100 that allows air to enter the device 100 in some embodiments. In various embodiments, vent 124 may be arranged to allow airflow 126 to enter mobile computing device 100 to cool internal components of device 100, such as heat generating component 102.

In various embodiments, thermal management module 106 may be operative to monitor one or more parameters of the air mover 108. For example, thermal management module 106 may be operative to monitor the speed, revolutions per minute (RPM), voltage, pulse width modulation (PWM) or any other suitable parameter of the air mover 108. In some embodiments, the air mover 108 may comprise a fan or a blower and the one or more parameters may comprise a speed of the fan or blower or a voltage of the fan or blower.

In various embodiments, thermal management module 106 may determine if changes in the one or more parameters of the air mover 108 have occurred and may take an appropriate action based on the detected changes. For example, thermal management module 106 may determine or may retrieve a pre-determined baseline parameter for the air mover 108, such as a target speed or target voltage. Thermal management module 106 may continuously or periodically check the speed or voltage and compare this speed or voltage to the target speed or voltage in some embodiments. In various embodiments, changes in the speed or voltage of the air mover 108 may indicate that changes in an airflow for the computing device 100 have occurred. For example, significant changes in system airflow may result in a measureable change in one or more parameters of air mover 108. In systems using air movers 108 with closed loop control based on speed, a blocked vent 124 may be identifiable as a drop in the required voltage to maintain air mover speed. In systems using air movers 108 with closed loop control based on speed, a blocked vent 124 may be identifiable as an increase in the air mover speed. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Thermal management module 106 may be operative to perform one or more thermal management operations based on changes in the one or more parameters of the air mover 108 in some embodiments. In various embodiments, once a blocked vent is detected based on changes in the one or more parameters of the air mover 108, there are several actions that the thermal management module 106 might take to perform thermal management. For example, an operating system notification such as a task bar area notification or an audible warning beep could be employed. Such a notification may report the severity of the blockage in some embodiments (e.g., mildly blocked/severely blocked/etc.) and/or recommend a user course of action such as “Please adjust notebook position to prevent overheat!”.

In various embodiments, the thermal management operation may comprise generating a user notification regarding changes in the speed or changes in the voltage. In some embodiments, the user notification may comprise a visual, touch or audio notification that is presented to a user to alert them that a change in the airflow for the computing device 100 has occurred. In various embodiments, the user notification may include information regarding the amount of speed or voltage change and/or a suggested action to remedy the speed or voltage change. For example, the computing device 100 may display a message on display 110 alerting a user that the fan speed as increased a certain percentage, indicating that vent 124 is blocked. The message may also instruct the user to reposition the computing device 100 to remedy the blockage and avoid overheating.

In some embodiments, the thermal management operation may comprise changing a performance state of a component of the computing device 100 based on the detected airflow restriction. For example, a performance state of the heat generating component 102 may be automatically changed based on changes in the speed or voltage of the air mover 108. In various embodiments, changing the performance state may comprise throttling the heat generating component 102 if the speed increases or the voltage decreases of the air mover 108. By changing a performance state of a component, the thermal management module 106 may be able to adjust the heat being generated by the computing device 100 to help prevent an overheat situation or a rise in the skin or enclosure of the device 100 if vent 124 is blocked.

More sophisticated responses are also possible in some embodiments. Some thermal management schemes may rely on system level calibrations to determine the most efficient throttling scenario for any given workload demand. These system level calibrations may be anchored to system performance with a normal operating air mover. In some embodiments, however, it may be possible to make a second calibration (or range of calibrations) that are optimized for adverse air mover conditions (e.g., blocked vent operation) using thermal management module 106. In this manner, when the vents are blocked, the system can immediately detect an RPM change, switch to a different set of calibration constants that are more appropriate to the current conditions, and perform improved thermal management for computing device 100.

In various embodiments, thermal management module 106 may additionally be operative to monitor air mover performance and maintenance notifications over time. For example, as air mover performance degrades over time, the response of air mover to changes in system impedance may qualitatively remain the same. Therefore, in some embodiments, thermal management module 106 may perform a simple calibration to permit flow blockage detection throughout the life of the system, even as performance of the air mover 106 or other system components degrade.

In various embodiments, thermal management module 106 may enable or enhance a thermal management system using fan vent block detection as an additional input. Along with known thermal management applications and devices, thermal management module 106 may be used to improve end-user ergonomics in terms of audible noise as well as to manage system power draw by adjusting air mover speeds and thus the power consumed by the air movers based on detected flow characteristics. Thermal management module 106 may also improve the robustness of pressurized flow designs which may disproportionately sensitive to blocked inlets. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

FIGS. 1B and 1C illustrate mobile computing devices 150 and 180 respectively. In various embodiments, the mobile computing devices 150 and 180 may comprise the same or similar devices as computing device 100 of FIG. 1A. In various embodiments, device 150 of FIG. 1B illustrates a perspective view of a laptop computing device. Device 180 of FIG. 1C illustrates close up side view of a device, such as the laptop computing device 150 of FIG. 1B. The embodiments are not limited to the arrangements or configurations shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C. A limited number and type of arrangements and configurations are provided for purposes of illustration and not limitation.

In various embodiments, while not all shown in FIG. 1B for clarity, computing device 150 may include the same or similar components as computing device 100 of FIG. 1A. Computing device 150 includes display 110, enclosure 120, vent 124 and user notification 128. While show as a laptop computing device for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that the embodiments described herein could apply to any suitable computing device. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Enclosure 120 may comprise a housing arranged to enclose the heat generating component 102, the air mover 106 and other internal components of computing devices 100, 150 in some embodiments. In various embodiments, the housing includes one or more external surfaces including one or more openings (e.g. vent 124) to facilitate airflow into and out of the housing 120. While vent 124 is shown on the side of enclosure 120 in FIG. 1B, it should be understood that vent could be located anywhere on enclosure 120 and still fall within the described embodiments. For example, vent 124 may be located on the bottom of enclosure 120 in some embodiments. In these embodiments, blocked vents may be common when computing device 150 is placed on a users lap or other soft surface and use of thermal management module 120 to detect vent blockages may be advantageous. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 1C illustrates a side view of a device 180 in some embodiments. As shown, device 180 may include, but it is not limited to, heat generating component 102, memory 104, thermal management module 106, air move 108, enclosure 120, vent 124 airflow 126 and blockage 132. The components of device 180 may be the same or similar to like numbered components in device 100 of FIG. 1A and device 150 of FIG. 1B. While a limited number of components are shown for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that any number, combination and arrangement of components could be used and still fall within the described embodiments.

In various embodiments, airflow 126 may be drawn into enclosure 120 through vent 124 by air mover 108. For example, air mover 108 may comprise a fan or blower designed to draw airflow 126 into enclosure 120 to cool one or more components of device 180, such as heat generating component 102 for example. As shown in FIG. 1C, vent 124 may be partially or entirely blocked in some embodiments, which may effect airflow 126. In various embodiments, blockage 132 may comprise or occur as a result of the positioning or placement of device 180. For example, if device 180 is placed on a cluttered desk, a users lap, a cushion, a soft chair, a bed, or any other suitable material as one skilled in the art would understand, part of the material or clutter may block the vent 124 as illustrated by blockage 132. The embodiments are not limited in this context and it should be understood that anything that can block vent 124 falls within the described embodiments and any amount of blockage 132 (e.g. partial or complete) also falls within the described embodiments.

In some embodiments, blockage 132 may be detected by thermal management module 106 based on changes to one or more parameters of air mover 108. For example, when vent 124 is blocked 132, air mover speed 108 may increase or the voltage used to power air mover 108 may decrease. In various embodiments, thermal management module 106 may be operative to dynamically monitor the parameters of air mover 108 to detect blockages 132 as described above with respect to FIGS. 1A and 1B. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

FIG. 2 illustrates a graph 200 showing how changes in system airflow results in measurable changes in air mover speed, voltage or pulse width modulation in some embodiments. For example, as shown in graph 200, air mover speed (RPM) increases as flow rate decreases. Based on graph 200, it is clear that blockages of vents in a computing system resulting in decreased flow for the system can be detected based on changes in one or more parameters of an air mover, such as speed, voltage or PWM. Based on these changes, a thermal management module, such as thermal management module 106 of FIG. 1A, may be utilized to improve the thermal performance of a computing system.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 300. The logic flow 300 may be performed by various systems and/or devices and may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, and/or any combination thereof, as desired for a given set of design parameters or performance constraints. For example, one or more operations of the logic flow 300 may be implemented by executable programming or non-transitory computer-readable instructions to be executed by a logic device (e.g., computer, processor). Logic flow 300 may describe the dynamic airflow monitoring and thermal management described above with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C and 2. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

In various embodiments, one or more parameters of an air mover may be monitored at 302. For example, thermal management module 106 may monitor one or more parameters, such as speed or voltage, of air mover 108 in some embodiments. At 304, changes in the one or more parameters may be detected. For example, thermal management module 106 may be operative to detect changes in the parameters of air mover 108, such as increases in fan speed or decreases in voltage. In various embodiments, one or more thermal management operations may be performed based on changes in the one or more parameters indicating changes in an airflow for a computing device at 306. For example, thermal management module 106 may be operative to generate a user notification or adjust the operating parameters of other system components based on changes in the parameters of air mover 108 indicating that a vent 124 of computing device 100 is blocked.

The air mover may comprise a fan or a blower in some embodiments and the one or more parameters may comprise a speed or voltage of the fan or blower. In various embodiments, a user notification regarding changes in the speed or voltage may be generated. For example, thermal management module 106 may generate a user notification to be displayed on display 110 or to be sounded as an audio notification. In some embodiments, the user notification may include information regarding the amount of speed or voltage change or a suggested action to remedy the speed change and the increased speed or decreased voltage may indicate a restriction in the airflow.

In some embodiments, a performance state for a component of a computing device may be changed based on changes in the speed or voltage. For example, thermal management module 106 may be operative to change the performance state of heat generating component 102, such as throttling the heat generating component 102, if the speed increases or the voltage decreases of air mover 108, for example.

A maintenance status of an air mover may be monitored in some embodiments. For example, in addition to monitoring the one or more parameters of air mover 108, thermal management module 106 may also be operative to monitor the maintenance status of the air mover 108. In various embodiments, monitoring the maintenance status may include determining the lifetime wear of the air mover 108, and how the wear or other maintenance information may effect the performance of the air mover 108. In some embodiments, a maintenance notification may be generated if the maintenance status falls below a predefined threshold. For example, thermal management module 108 may be operative to generate a notification if air mover 108 stops performing as expected, or as defined in a maintenance table or schedule.

In some embodiments, a first thermal configuration may be selected if no changes are detected in the one or more parameters of the air mover. For example, if thermal management module 106 determines that air mover 108 is operating as expected (e.g. no speed increase or voltage decrease), a first thermal configuration may be selected that allows for normal operation of computing device 100. In other embodiments, a second thermal configuration may be selected if changes are detected in the one or more parameters of the air mover. For example, thermal management module 106 may select a second thermal configuration that may be arranged to generate less heat than the first thermal configuration if thermal management module 106 determines that vent 124 is blocked based on changes in the one or more parameters of air mover 108. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an exemplary system embodiment. In particular, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a system 400, which may include various elements. For instance, FIG. 4 shows that system 400 may include a processor 402, a chipset 404, an input/output (I/O) device 406, a random access memory (RAM) (such as dynamic RAM (DRAM)) 408, and a read only memory (ROM) 410, and various platform components 414 (e.g., a fan, a crossflow blower, a heat sink, DTM system, cooling system, housing, vents, and so forth). These elements may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. The embodiments, however, are not limited to these elements.

As shown in FIG. 4, I/O device 406, RAM 408, and ROM 410 are coupled to processor 402 by way of chipset 404. Chipset 404 may be coupled to processor 402 by a bus 412. Accordingly, bus 412 may include multiple lines.

Processor 402 may be a central processing unit comprising one or more processor cores and may include any number of processors having any number of processor cores. The processor 402 may include any type of processing unit, such as, for example, CPU, multi-processing unit, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC), a processor that have a pipeline, a complex instruction set computer (CISC), digital signal processor (DSP), and so forth.

Although not shown, the system 400 may include various interface circuits, such as an Ethernet interface and/or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, and/or the like. In some exemplary embodiments, the I/O device 406 may comprise one or more input devices connected to interface circuits for entering data and commands into the system 400. For example, the input devices may include a keyboard (physical or virtual/soft), mouse, touch screen, track pad, track ball, isopoint, a voice recognition system, and/or the like. Similarly, the I/O device 406 may comprise one or more output devices connected to the interface circuits for outputting information to an operator. For example, the output devices may include one or more displays, printers, speakers, and/or other output devices, if desired. For example, one of the output devices may be a display. The display may be a cathode ray tube (CRTs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), or any other type of display.

The system 400 may also have a wired or wireless network interface to exchange data with other devices via a connection to a network. The network connection may be any type of network connection, such as an Ethernet connection, digital subscriber line (DSL), telephone line, coaxial cable, etc. The network may be any type of network, such as the Internet, a telephone network, a cable network, a wireless network, a packet-switched network, a circuit-switched network, and/or the like.

Numerous specific details have been set forth herein to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be understood by those skilled in the art, however, that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known operations, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments. It can be appreciated that the specific structural and functional details disclosed herein may be representative and do not necessarily limit the scope of the embodiments.

Various embodiments may be implemented using hardware elements, software elements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardware elements may include processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of software may include software components, programs, applications, computer programs, application programs, system programs, machine programs, operating system software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces, application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code, computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodiment is implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may vary in accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computational rate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input data rates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and other design or performance constraints.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and “connected” along with their derivatives. These terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may be described using the terms “connected” and/or “coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. The term “coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

Some embodiments may be implemented, for example, using a machine-readable or computer-readable medium or article which may store an instruction, a set of instructions or computer executable code that, if executed by a machine or processor, may cause the machine or processor to perform a method and/or operations in accordance with the embodiments. Such a machine may include, for example, any suitable processing platform, computing platform, computing device, processing device, computing system, processing system, computer, processor, or the like, and may be implemented using any suitable combination of hardware and/or software. The machine-readable medium or article may comprise a non-transitory medium in some embodiments and may include, for example, any suitable type of memory unit, memory device, memory article, memory medium, storage device, storage article, storage medium and/or storage unit, for example, memory, removable or non-removable media, volatile or non-volatile memory or media, erasable or non-erasable media, writeable or re-writeable media, digital or analog media, hard disk, floppy disk, Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), Compact Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD-RW), optical disk, magnetic media, magneto-optical media, removable memory cards or disks, various types of Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), a tape, a cassette, or the like. The instructions may include any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, encrypted code, and the like, implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming language.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, it may be appreciated that terms such as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and/or transforms data represented as physical quantities (e.g., electronic) within the computing system's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computing system's memories, registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

It should be noted that the methods described herein do not have to be executed in the order described, or in any particular order. Moreover, various activities described with respect to the methods identified herein can be executed in serial or parallel fashion.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. It is to be understood that the above description has been made in an illustrative fashion, and not a restrictive one. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Thus, the scope of various embodiments includes any other applications in which the above compositions, structures, and methods are used.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter that lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a heat generating component;

an air mover; and

a thermal management module to monitor one or more parameters of the air mover and to perform one or more thermal management operations based on one or more changes in the one or more parameters indicating one or more changes in an airflow for the apparatus.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air mover comprises a fan or a blower and the one or more parameters comprises a speed of the fan or blower or a voltage of the fan or blower.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the thermal management operation comprises generating a user notification regarding one or more changes in the speed or one or more changes in the voltage, wherein increased speed or decreased voltage indicates a restriction in the airflow.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the user notification includes information regarding the amount of speed or voltage change or a suggested action to remedy the speed or voltage change.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the thermal management operation comprises changing a performance state of the heat generating component based on one or more changes in the speed or voltage.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein changing the performance state comprises throttling the heat generating component if the speed increases or the voltage decreases.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising:

a housing arranged to enclose the heat generating component and the air mover, the housing having one or more external surfaces including one or more openings to facilitate the airflow into and out of the housing, wherein one or more changes in the one or more parameters indicate one or more changes in the airflow into or out of one or more openings of the housing.

8. A system, comprising:

a housing arranged to enclose a heat generating component and an air mover, the housing having one or more external surfaces including one or more openings to facilitate airflow into and out of the housing; and

a thermal management module to monitor one or more parameters of the air mover and to perform one or more thermal management operations based on one or more changes in the one or more parameters indicating one or more changes in airflow.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein one or more changes in the one or more parameters indicate one or more changes in airflow into or out of one or more openings of the housing.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the air mover comprises a fan or a blower and the one or more parameters comprises a speed or voltage of the fan or blower, wherein increased speed or decreased voltage indicates a restriction in the airflow.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the thermal management operation comprises generating a user notification to be displayed on a digital display, the user notification indicating a restriction of the airflow and including information regarding the amount of restriction or a suggested action to remedy the restriction.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the thermal management operation comprises changing a performance state of the heat generating component based on one or more changes in the speed voltage, wherein changing the performance state comprises throttling the heat generating component if the speed increases or the voltage decreases.

13. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

monitoring one or more parameters of an air mover;

detecting one or more changes in the one or more parameters; and

performing one or more thermal management operations based on one or more changes in the one or more parameters indicating one or more changes in an airflow for a computing device.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the air mover comprises a fan or a blower and the one or more parameters comprises a speed or voltage of the fan or blower.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein performing one or more thermal management operations comprises generating a user notification regarding one or more changes in the speed or voltage, wherein the user notification includes information regarding the amount of speed or voltage change or a suggested action to remedy the speed or voltage change and wherein increased speed or decreased voltage indicates a restriction in the airflow.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein performing one or more thermal management operations comprises changing a performance state of a heat generating component based on one or more changes in the speed or voltage, wherein changing the performance state comprises throttling the heat generating component if the speed increases or the voltage decreases.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein performing one or more thermal management operations comprises:

monitoring a maintenance status of the air mover; and

generating a maintenance notification if the maintenance status exceeds a predefined threshold.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein performing one or more thermal management operations comprises:

selecting a first thermal configuration if no change is detected in the one or more parameters of the air mover; and

selecting a second thermal configuration if one or more changes are detected in the one or more parameters of the air mover.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the second thermal configuration is arranged to generate less heat than the first thermal configuration.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein a performance state of one or more heat generating components is changed in the second thermal configuration.