# US 8,788,860 B2 · Microarchitecture controller for thin-film thermoelectric cooling

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- Number: US 8,788,860 B2
- Document ID: US8788860B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 13/600,791
- Filed: 2012-08-31
- Published: 2012-12-20
- Granted: 2014-07-22
- Earliest claimed: 2007-06-18
- Assignees: Intel Corporation
- Applicants: Pedro Chaparro Monferrer; José González
- Inventors: Pedro Chaparro Monferrer; José González
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8788860B2

## CPC

- G05D 23/19: characterised by the use of electric means {(G05D23/1393 takes precedence)}
- G06F 1/206: {comprising thermal management}
- G06F 1/32: Means for saving power
- G06F 1/3206: Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
- G06F 1/324: by lowering clock frequency
- G06F 1/3243: {Power saving in microcontroller unit}
- G06F 1/3296: by lowering the supply or operating voltage
- H10W 40/00: Arrangements for thermal protection or thermal control (integrated devices comprising arrangements for thermal protection H10D89/60)
- H10W 40/28: comprising Peltier coolers
- G06F 1/329: by task scheduling
- G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- H10W: GENERIC PACKAGES, INTERCONNECTIONS, CONNECTORS OR OTHER CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

A device having multiple cores executes an algorithm to control Thin-Film Thermoelectric Coolers (TFTEC) that employ the Peltier effect to remove heat from the various cores of the multi-core processor. The algorithms may combine Thread Migration (TM) and Dynamic Voltage/Frequency Scaling (DVFS) to provide Dynamic Thermal Management (DTM) and TFTEC control.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A processor comprising:
a plurality of cores;
a plurality of Thin-Film Thermoelectric Coolers (TFTECs) to dissipate heat from the processor; and
a power manager to receive thermal information from one or more on-die thermal sensors, and to execute a control algorithm to:
control a current supplied to at least one of the plurality of TFTECs based at least in part on the thermal information;
identify a first core that has a first low-power thread;
enable a first TFTEC that is allocated to the first core, wherein upon enablement the first TFTEC is to remove heat from the first core to produce a pre-cooled first core; and
thereafter migrate a first high-power thread from a second core to the pre-cooled first core.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The processor of claim 1, wherein the control algorithm is to cause a power change to at least one of the plurality of cores.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The processor of claim 1, wherein the control algorithm is to combine Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS), Dynamic Thermal Management (DTM) and TFTEC control.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The processor of claim 1, wherein the power manager is to provide individual control to manage each of a first plurality of TFTECs allocated to the first core.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The processor of claim 1, wherein the current supplied to the first TFTEC is a constant DC value when the first TFTEC is enabled.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The processor of claim 1, wherein the current supplied to the first TFTEC is to dynamically vary between a value of zero and a predetermined value.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The processor of claim 6, wherein the current supplied to the first TFTEC is provided by a PID controller or a fuzzy logic controller.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The processor of claim 1, further comprising a thermal interface material including the plurality of TFTECs.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The processor of claim 1, further comprising:
a power delivery network to provide a first DC current to the first TFTEC and to provide a second DC current to surrounding TFTECs, wherein the second DC current is less than the first DC current.

### Claim 10

A multi-core processor comprising:
a plurality of cores;
a plurality of heat pumps each associated with at least one of the plurality of cores; and
a power manager to execute a control algorithm to:
identify a first core that has a first low-power thread;
enable a first heat pump that is allocated to the first core, wherein upon enablement the first heat pump is to remove heat from the first core to produce a pre-cooled first core; and
thereafter migrate a first high-power thread from a second core to the pre-cooled first core.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The multi-core processor of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of heat pumps is located over a floating point unit of the corresponding core.

### Claim 12

A system comprising:
an antenna;
a radio frequency (RF) transceiver coupled to the antenna; and
a multicore processor coupled to the RF transceiver including:
a plurality of cores and a plurality of Peltier devices each associated with at least one of the plurality of cores; and
a power manager to:
identify a first core that has a first low-power thread;
enable a first Peltier device that is associated with the first core, wherein upon enablement the first Peltier device is to remove heat from the first core to
produce a pre-cooled first core; and
thereafter migrate a first high-power thread from a second core to the pre-cooled first core.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The system of claim 12, wherein each of the Peltier devices comprises a first via with a first semiconductor material and a second via with a second semiconductor material.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The system of claim 12, wherein the first current is to cause the first Peltier device to move heat from a first side of the multicore processor to a second side of the multicore processor.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14, further comprising a heat sink coupled to the second side of the multicore processor.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The processor of claim 1, wherein the power manager is further to migrate the first low-power thread from the pre-cooled first core to the second core.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The processor of claim 1, wherein the power manager is further to swap a third thread in a third core with a fourth thread in a fourth core that operates at a lower temperature than the third core so that the third thread is to be processed in the fourth core and the fourth thread is to be processed in the third core.

### Claim 18 (depends on 10)

The multi-core processor of claim 10, wherein the power manager is further to migrate the first low-power thread from the pre-cooled first core to the second core.

### Claim 19 (depends on 12)

The system of claim 12, wherein the power manager is further to migrate the first low-power thread from the pre-cooled first core to the second core.

### Claim 20 (depends on 12)

The system of claim 12, wherein the power manager is further to swap a third thread in a third core with a fourth thread in a fourth core that operates at a lower temperature than the third core so that the third thread is to be processed in the fourth core and the fourth thread is to be processed in the third core.