# US RE45,029 E1 · Thermal sensors for stacked dies > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US RE45,029 E1 - Document ID: USRE45029E1 - Status: Granted - Kind: E1 - Application number: 13/713,433 - Filed: 2012-12-13 - Granted: 2014-07-22 - Earliest claimed: 2007-12-24 - Assignees: Uniforce Tech Limited Liability Company - Applicants: Uniforce Tech Limited Liability Company - Inventors: Kimmo Kuusilinna; Jani Klint; Tapio Hill - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/USRE45029E1 ## Abstract The invention relates to a method for obtaining temperature values from at least two thermal sensors arranged on resources within a three-dimensional die structure determining at least a partial three-dimensional temperature distribution for said die structure and controlling activity of said resources of said dies in response to said three-dimensional temperature distribution. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising obtaining temperature values from at least two thermal sensors arranged on resources within a three-dimensional die structure; determining at least a partial three-dimensional temperature distribution for said die structure; and controlling activity of said resources of said dies in response to said three-dimensional temperature distribution. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said determining includes comparing temperature values of said at least two thermal sensors with each other; locating at least one heat source based on said comparing; identifying at least one resource associated with said at least one heat source; and wherein said controlling of activity includes throttling activity at least in said at least one identified resource. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein said activity is throttled if said at least one temperature value associated with said at least one identified resources is above a predefined threshold. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein said identifying includes identifying a resource associated with the highest of said compared temperature values. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a signal indicating a temperature value above a second predefined threshold. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising continuously sensing said temperature values. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, further comprising sensing said temperature values in response to said received signal. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising selecting a specific sensor to be sensed. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, further comprising providing a control sequence signal for switching elements connected to said sensor. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein said switching elements comprise multiplexers. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting a specific sensor for evaluation; wherein said obtained temperature values include a selected temperature value sensed by said selected sensor; and wherein said comparing comprises comparing said selected temperature value to at least a further one of said obtained temperature values; and issuing a throttle order for a resource associated with said selected sensor if said selected temperature value is determined to be the highest value in said comparing. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising issuing a throttle request for a defined further resource if a temperature value associated with said further resource is higher than said selected temperature value. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising checking whether a throttle request exists for a selected resource. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising comparing a selected temperature value associated with said selected resource to a second temperature value associated with the resource which has issued said throttle request; and issuing a throttle order for said selected resource if said selected temperature value is higher than said second temperature value. ### Claim 15 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein said throttling is triggered by a binary throttle order associated with a specific resource. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a measure of confidence that at least a selected resource needs to be throttled. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein said measure of confidence is included in a throttle order. ### Claim 18 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein said throttle request is a binary value associated with a requesting resource. ### Claim 19 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of said comparing or said throttling is based on information on relative sensor locations within said die structure. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said at least two temperature values are obtained from adjacent sensors within said die structure. ### Claim 21 (depends on 1) A non-transitory computer program product including computer program code which, when executed, causes a device to execute a method according to claim 1. ### Claim 22 A method comprising obtaining temperature values from a number of selected thermal sensors located on dies within a three-dimensional die structure; determining at least a partial three-dimensional temperature distribution for said die structure; controlling activity of resources of said dies in response to said three-dimensional temperature distribution. ### Claim 23 A device comprising at least two semiconductor dies packaged together in a three-dimensional die structure; at least one thermal sensor located on each of said dies; a control unit connected to and controlling said thermal sensors; wherein said control unit is adapted to obtain temperature values sensed by said thermal sensors; determine at least a partial three-dimensional temperature distribution for said die structure; and issue throttle orders for resources on said dies in dependence of said temperature distribution. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The device of claim 23, wherein said control unit is further adapted to sense a selected thermal sensor. ### Claim 25 (depends on 23) The device of claim 23, wherein said control unit is adapted to continuously evaluate at least a part of said thermal sensors, said evaluation including said determining of a temperature distribution and said issuing of throttle orders. ### Claim 26 (depends on 23) The device of claim 23, further comprising a memory element configured for storing said throttle orders. ### Claim 27 (depends on 23) The device of claim 23, further comprising a memory element configured for storing said temperature values or said temperature distribution. ### Claim 28 (depends on 23) The device of claim 23, further comprising switching elements coupled between said control unit and said thermal sensors, said switching elements being configured for selecting a specific thermal sensor. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The device of claim 28, wherein said switching elements comprise multiplexers. ### Claim 30 (depends on 28) The device of claim 28, wherein said switching elements are arranged such that only a single sensor at a time is connected to said control unit. ### Claim 31 (depends on 23) The device of claim 23, said device further including a sensing unit. ### Claim 32 (depends on 31) The device of claim 31, wherein said sensing unit comprises an analog-to-digital converter. ### Claim 33 (depends on 23) The device of claim 23, wherein said thermal sensor comprises a thermal diode. ### Claim 34 (depends on 31) The device of claim 31, wherein said sensing unit is coupled to a compensation unit configured for modifying values sensed by said sensing unit. ### Claim 35 (depends on 31) The device of claim 31 34, wherein said sensing unit or said compensation unit are is coupled to a comparator configured for comparing values sensed by said sensing unit. ### Claim 36 (depends on 31) The device of claim 31 35, wherein said control unit includes at least one of said sensing unit, said compensation unit and or said comparator. ### Claim 37 (depends on 23) The device of claim 23, wherein said control unit is implemented via configured to use software code. ### Claim 38 A method comprising: obtaining temperature values from at least two thermal sensors arranged in proximity to resources within a three-dimensional die structure; performing one or more comparisons of the temperature values to each other; and controlling activity of one or more of the resources in response to the one or more comparisons. ### Claim 39 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, wherein said performing includes: locating at least one heat source based on said one or more comparisons; identifying at least one resource associated with said at least one heat source; and wherein said controlling activity includes throttling activity at least in said at least one identified resource. ### Claim 40 (depends on 39) The method of claim 39, wherein said activity is throttled if said at least one temperature value associated with said at least one identified resources is above a predefined threshold. ### Claim 41 (depends on 39) The method of claim 39, wherein said identifying includes identifying a resource associated with the highest of the compared temperature values. ### Claim 42 (depends on 39) The method of claim 39, wherein at least one of said comparing or said throttling is based on information on relative sensor locations within the die structure. ### Claim 43 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising receiving a signal indicating a temperature value above a second predefined threshold. ### Claim 44 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, further comprising sensing said temperature values in response to said received signal. ### Claim 45 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising continuously sensing said temperature values. ### Claim 46 (depends on 44) The method of claim 44, further comprising: selecting a specific sensor to be sensed and providing a control sequence signal for switching elements connected to said specific sensor. ### Claim 47 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising selecting a specific sensor for evaluation; wherein the obtained temperature values include a specific sensor temperature value sensed by the specific sensor; and wherein said performing comprises comparing said specific sensor temperature value to at least a further one of the obtained temperature values; and issuing a throttle order for a resource associated with the specific sensor if the specific sensor temperature value is determined to be the highest value in said comparing. ### Claim 48 (depends on 47) The method of claim 47, further comprising issuing a throttle request for a defined further resource if a temperature value associated with the further resource is higher than the specific sensor temperature value. ### Claim 49 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising: checking whether a throttle request exists for a selected resource; comparing a selected temperature value associated with the selected resource to a second temperature value associated with the resource which has issued said throttle request; and issuing a throttle order for the selected resource if the selected temperature value is higher than the second temperature value. ### Claim 50 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising determining a measure of confidence that at least a selected resource needs to be throttled. ### Claim 51 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50, wherein the measure of confidence is include in a throttle order. ### Claim 52 A device comprising: at least two semiconductor dies packaged together in a three-dimensional die structure; at least one thermal sensor located on each of said dies; a control unit connected to and configured to control the thermal sensors; wherein the control unit is further configured to: obtain temperature values from at least two thermal sensors arranged in proximity to resources within the three-dimensional die structure; perform one or more comparisons of the temperature values to each other; and control activity of one or more of the resources in response to the one or more comparisons. ### Claim 53 (depends on 52) The device of claim 52, wherein the control unit is further configured to sense a selected thermal sensor. ### Claim 54 (depends on 52) The device of claim 52, wherein the control unit is configured to continuously evaluate at least a subset of the thermal sensors, said evaluation including the performing of comparisons and the controlling activity of one or more of the resources. ### Claim 55 (depends on 52) The device of claim 52, further comprising one or more memory elements configured to store at least one of throttle orders issued in conjunction with the controlling activity of one or more of the resources or the temperature values. ### Claim 56 (depends on 52) The device of claim 52, further comprising switching elements coupled between the control unit and the thermal sensors, the switching elements being configured to select a specific thermal sensor. ### Claim 57 (depends on 56) The device of claim 56, wherein one or more of the switching elements comprises a multiplexer. ### Claim 58 (depends on 56) The device of claim 56, wherein the switching elements are arranged such that only a single sensor at a time is connected to the control unit. ### Claim 59 (depends on 52) The device of claim 52, further including a sensing unit. ### Claim 60 (depends on 59) The device of claim 59, wherein the sensing unit comprises an analog-to-digital converter. ### Claim 61 (depends on 59) The device of claim 59, wherein the sensing unit is coupled to a compensation unit configured to modify values sensed by the sensing unit. ### Claim 62 (depends on 61) The device of claim 61, wherein at least one of the sensing unit or the compensation unit is coupled to a comparator configured to compare values sensed by the sensing unit. ### Claim 63 (depends on 62) The device of claim 62, wherein the control unit includes at least one of the sensing unit, the compensation unit, or the comparator. ### Claim 64 (depends on 52) The device of claim 52, wherein at least one said thermal sensor comprises a thermal diode. ### Claim 65 A non-transitory computer program product including computer program code that, if executed by a device, causes the device to implement operations comprising: obtaining temperature values from at least two thermal sensors arranged in proximity to resources within a three-dimensional die structure; performing one or more comparisons of the temperature values to each other; and controlling activity of one or more of the resources in response to the one or more comparisons. ### Claim 66 (depends on 65) The computer program product of claim 65, wherein said performing includes: locating at least one heat source based on said one or more comparisons; identifying at least one resource associated with said at least one heat source; and wherein said controlling activity includes throttling activity at least in said at least one identified resource. ### Claim 67 (depends on 66) The computer program product of claim 66, wherein said activity is throttled if said at least one temperature value associated with said at least one identified resources is above a predefined threshold. ### Claim 68 (depends on 66) The computer program product of claim 66, wherein said identifying includes identifying a resource associated with the highest of the compared temperature values. ### Claim 69 (depends on 66) The computer program product of claim 66, wherein at least one of said comparing or said throttling is based on information on relative sensor locations within the die structure. ### Claim 70 (depends on 65) The computer program product of claim 65, the operations further comprising receiving a signal indicating a temperature value above a second predefined threshold. ### Claim 71 (depends on 70) The computer program product of claim 70, the operations further comprising sensing said temperature values in response to said received signal. ### Claim 72 (depends on 65) The computer program product of claim 65, the operations further comprising continuously sensing said temperature values. ### Claim 73 (depends on 72) The computer program product of claim 72, the operations further comprising: selecting a specific sensor to be sensed; and providing a control sequence signal for switching elements connected to said sensor. ### Claim 74 (depends on 65) The computer program product of claim 65, the operations further comprising selecting a specific sensor for evaluation; wherein the obtained temperature values include a specific sensor temperature value sensed by the specific sensor; and wherein said performing comprises comparing said specific sensor temperature value to at least a further one of the obtained temperature values; and issuing a throttle order for a resource associated with the specific sensor if the specific sensor temperature value is determined to be the highest value in said comparing. ### Claim 75 (depends on 74) The computer program product of claim 74, the operations further comprising issuing a throttle request for a defined further resource if a temperature value associated with the further resource is higher than the specific sensor temperature value. ### Claim 76 (depends on 65) The computer program product of claim 65, the operations further comprising: checking whether a throttle request exists for a selected resource; comparing a selected temperature value associated with the selected resource to a second temperature value associated with the resource which has issued said throttle request; and issuing a throttle order for the selected resource if the selected temperature value is higher than the second temperature value. ### Claim 77 (depends on 65) The computer program product of claim 65, the operations further comprising determining a measure of confidence that at least a selected resource needs to be throttled. ### Claim 78 (depends on 77) The computer program product of claim 77, wherein the measure of confidence is included in a throttle order.