Microprocessors thermal challenges for portable and embedded systems using thermal throttling technique

Abstract

Abstract High performance systems bring high temperatures, which result in decreased lifetime reliability, increase total power consumption, rapidly deplete battery energy, thereby bring transient errors. The management of how a computer system will dispose of heat is an integral part of microprocessor design. Thermal throttling technique regulates the thermal environment by alternating between running the processor at full speed and placing the processor in a sleep state whenever the upper limits of the thermal envelope are reached. This technique can be applicable for high performance portable and embedded systems thermal management by deliver higher performance at the same die temperature or the same performance at a lower die temperature, which allow the possible elimination of passive/active cooling solutions, reduces system weight and time-to-market as there is no need for explicit microprocessors thermal management. In this paper a thermal throttling technique is presented, that coordinates between processors thermal states and running states. Simulation results verifies that, by using the presented method, more than 7% of further reduction in generated temperature is obtained. When temperature is high, the presented method is considered to be the most effective technique.