Thermal diode sensor self-correction
AssigneeMarvell Asia Pte Ltd
InventorLuzhong Yin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Temperature of a processor is monitored and managed by a control circuit. A thermal diode is positioned to indicate the temperature of the processor. A controller measures a voltage across the thermal diode and calculates a temperature of the thermal diode as a function of the voltage and a correction factor. The correction factor is a constant value that is determined based on 1) a negative correlation between the voltage and a reference temperature of the thermal diode, and 2) a positive correlation between a resistance of the thermal diode and the reference temperature. The controller causes the processor to alter an operation in response to the temperature being above a threshold.
Claims19
A circuit comprising:
- a thermal diode configured to indicate temperature of a processor;
- and
- a controller communicatively coupled to the thermal diode, the controller configured to:
- measure a voltage across the thermal diode;
- calculate a temperature of the thermal diode as a function of the voltage and a correction factor, wherein the correction factor is a predetermined constant value stored in a computer memory that was determined based on 1) a negative correlation between the voltage and a reference temperature of the thermal diode measured over a temperature range, and 2) a positive correlation between a resistance of the thermal diode and the reference temperature measured over the same temperature range;
- and
- cause the processor to alter an operation in response to the calculated temperature being above a threshold, wherein altering the operation comprises at least one of reducing a clock speed of the processor, suspending an operation of the processor, and disabling the processor to prevent thermal damage.
A computer-implemented method comprising:
- automatically measuring a voltage across a thermal diode configured to indicate temperature of a processor;
- automatically calculating, via a controller, a temperature of the thermal diode as a function of the voltage and a correction factor, wherein the correction factor is a predetermined constant value stored in a computer memory that was determined based on 1) a negative correlation between the voltage and a reference temperature of the thermal diode measured over a temperature range, and 2) a positive correlation between a resistance of the thermal diode and the reference temperature measured over the same temperature range;
- and
- automatically causing, via the controller generating control signals, the processor to alter an operation in response to the calculated temperature being above a threshold, wherein altering the operation comprises at least one of reducing a clock speed of the processor, suspending an operation of the processor, and disabling the processor to prevent thermal damage.
A circuit comprising:
- means for measuring a voltage across a thermal diode configured to indicate temperature of a processor;
- means for calculating a temperature of the thermal diode as a function of the voltage and a correction factor, wherein the correction factor is a predetermined constant value stored in a computer memory that is was determined based on 1) a negative correlation between the voltage and a reference temperature of the thermal diode measured over a temperature range, and 2) a positive correlation between a resistance of the thermal diode and the reference temperature measured over the same temperature range;
- and
- means for causing the processor to alter an operation in response to the temperature being above a threshold, wherein altering the operation comprises at least one of reducing a clock speed of the processor, suspending an operation of the processor, and disabling the processor to prevent thermal damage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.