Power Thermal Policy Using Micro-Throttle

Abstract

Method and apparatus are provided for thermal management of mobile devices. In one novel aspect, a throttle method is used to control the fast rising temperature for the device. In one embodiment, the thermal management method determines a temperature of the mobile device and compares the temperature with a plurality of predefined temperature thresholds. The thermal management applies a first throttle solution upon detecting the temperature reaches a first predefined temperature threshold and applies a second throttle solution upon detecting the temperature reaches a second predefined temperature threshold. In one embodiment, the first and the second throttle solutions control the slope of the rising temperature to be below a first predefined slope and a second predefined slope, respectively. In one embodiment, the temperature is controlled by adjusting the operating frequency and/or voltage of at least one heat-generating component of the mobile device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 determining a temperature of a mobile device, wherein the mobile device includes at least one heat-generating component;   applying a first throttle solution when the temperature reaches a first threshold, wherein the first throttle solution controls the temperature to arise below a first slope; and   applying a second throttle solution when the temperature reaches a second threshold, wherein the second throttle solution controls the temperature to arise below a second slope, wherein at least one of the first throttle solution, the second throttle solution, the first threshold, the second threshold, the first slope and the second slope is determined based on at least one of a temperature indicator and a heat-generating event indicator.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one heat-generating component comprises at least one of a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphic processing unit (GPU). 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and the second throttle solutions comprises controlling an operating voltage of at least one of the at least one heat-generating component. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and the second throttle solutions comprises controlling an operating frequency of at least one of the at least one heat-generating component. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the controlling the operating frequency of at least one of the at least one heat-generating component comprises controlling a ratio of the heat-generating component operating at a high frequency to the heat-generating component operating at a low frequency. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and the second throttle solutions is determined based on a benchmark performance of the mobile device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first slope and the second slope is determined based on a benchmark performance of the mobile device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the temperature indicator indicates generated heat and the heat-generating event indicator indicates one or more heat-generating events occurrence, and the first throttle solution and the second throttle solution are determined based on at least one of the temperature indicator and the heat-generating event indicator. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the temperature indicator indicates generated heat and the heat-generating event indicator indicates one or more heat-generating events occurrence, and the first threshold and the second threshold are determined based on at least one of the temperature indicator and the heat-generating event indicator. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method controls the temperature such that the temperature reaches a final threshold after a predefined time. 
     
     
         11 . A mobile device comprising:
 at least one heat-generating component;   a thermal sensor that determines a temperature of the mobile device;   a thermal control module that applies a first throttle solution when the temperature reaches a first threshold, wherein the first throttle solution controls the temperature to arise below a first slope, wherein the thermal control module also applies a second throttle solution when the temperature reaches a second threshold, and wherein the second throttle solution controls the temperature to arise below a second slope, wherein at least one of the first throttle solution, the second throttle solution, the first threshold, the second threshold, the first slope and the second slope is determined based on at least one of a temperature indicator and a heat-generating event indicator.   
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one heat-generating component comprises at least one of a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphic processing unit (GPU). 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first and the second throttle solutions comprises controlling an operating voltage of at least one of the at least one heat-generating component. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first and the second throttle solutions comprises controlling an operating frequency of at least one of the at least one heat-generating component. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the controlling the operating frequency of at least one of the at least one heat-generating component comprises controlling a ratio of the heat-generating component operating at a high frequency to the heat-generating component operating at a low frequency. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first and the second throttle solutions is determined based on a benchmark performance of the mobile device. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first slope and the second slope is determined based on a benchmark performance of the mobile device. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the temperature indicator indicates generated heat and the heat-generating event indicator indicates one or more heat-generating events occurrence, and the first throttle solution and the second throttle solution are determined based on at least one of the temperature indicator and the heat-generating event indicator. 
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the temperature indicator indicates generated heat and the heat-generating event indicator indicates one or more heat-generating events occurrence, and the first threshold and the second threshold are determined based on at least one of the temperature indicator and the heat-generating event indicator. 
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the thermal control module controls the temperature such that the temperature reaches a final threshold after a predefined time.