# US 2014/0195066 A1 · Thermal adjustment using distributed sensors > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0195066 A1 - Document ID: US20140195066A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/737,129 - Filed: 2013-01-09 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-09 - Assignees: Google Inc. - Applicants: Google Inc. - Inventors: Sameer Nanda; Vincent Palatin - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140195066A1 ## CPC - G06F 1/206: {comprising thermal management} - G06F 1/203: {for portable computers, e.g. for laptops} - G06F 1/324: by lowering clock frequency - G06F 1/325: {Power saving in peripheral device} - Y02D 10/00: Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - Y02D: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE ## Abstract A method and system detect temperatures of multiple zones of a computer system using sensors distributed across the computer system. For each of the sensors, the system may determine whether a detected temperature associated with the sensor exceeds a predetermined value. If the detected temperature exceeds the predetermined value, the system may cool at least one of a plurality of devices of the system, based on a proximity of the at least one of the plurality of devices to the sensor. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: detecting temperatures of multiple zones of a computer system using sensors distributed across the computer system; and for each sensor of the sensors: determining whether a detected temperature associated with the sensor exceeds a predetermined value; and if the detected temperature exceeds the predetermined value, cooling at least one of a plurality of devices of the computer system, wherein the cooling is performed based on a proximity of the at least one of the plurality of devices to the sensor. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling is performed until the detected temperature no longer exceeds the predetermined value. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling includes activating a fan to cool one of the multiple zones where the sensor is located. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling includes: slowing down a battery charging speed. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling includes: dimming a backlight of a display of the computer system. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling includes: changing a speed of a central processing unit of the computer system. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling includes: changing a speed of a graphics processing unit of the computer system. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling includes: disabling a remote device connected to the computer system. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein each of the sensors account for a local temperature and a remote temperature. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising: determining whether a local detected temperature associated with the sensor exceeds a local threshold value; and determining whether a remote detected temperature associated with the sensor exceeds a remote threshold value. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the computer system is a laptop. ### Claim 12 A method comprising: detecting temperatures of multiple zones of a computer system using sensors distributed across the computer system; determining whether any sensor temperature for any of the sensors exceeds a predetermined target temperature; and if any sensor temperature exceeds the predetermined target temperature, cooling the computer system in one of the multiple zones where the sensor temperature was detected. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: if any sensor temperature exceeds the predetermined target temperature, cooling all of the multiple zones of the computer system. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the cooling is performed until the sensor temperature for the one of the multiple zones no longer exceeds the predetermined value. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the cooling includes activating a fan to cool the one of the multiple zones where the sensor temperature was detected. ### Claim 16 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the cooling includes: slowing down a battery charging speed. ### Claim 17 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the cooling includes: dimming a backlight of a display of the computer system. ### Claim 18 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the cooling includes: changing a speed of a central processing unit of the computer system. ### Claim 19 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the cooling includes: changing a speed of a graphics processing unit of the computer system. ### Claim 20 A computer system comprising: a plurality of devices including a central processing unit and a graphics processing unit; at least one cooling device; multiple sensors distributed across the computer system, each of the multiple sensors configured to detect a remote temperature and a local temperature for a zone of the computer system; a memory including executable code; and a processor operably coupled to the memory and configured to execute the executable code to: detect temperatures of multiple zones using the multiple sensors; and for each sensor of the sensors: determine whether a detected temperature associated with the sensor exceeds a predetermined value; and if the detected temperature exceeds the predetermined value: determine if any of the plurality of devices is within the zone associated with the sensor, and activate the at least one cooling device to cool at least one of the plurality of devices if the at least one of the plurality of devices is within the zone associated with the sensor.