JP2003076444A - Electronic device and speed control method of its cooling fan - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic device allowing reducing noises when starting and playing applications such as music. SOLUTION: This electronic device has a semiconductor circuit 12 generating heat when driving and a cooling fan 14 for cooling the semiconductor circuit and comprises an input means for setting and registering specific applications and a means 13 for restricting rotational frequency of the cooling fan when the applications set and registered in the input means are executed, and accordingly noises of the cooling fan is restricted when the specific applications are executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device having a cooling fan for cooling a CPU, and more particularly to a cooling fan and a CPU speed control mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In personal computers, the speed of operation has been increasing year by year, and a cooling fan having a large cooling capacity is attached to a heating element such as a power source section or a CPU to prevent heat radiation, and the temperature of the heating element is kept below a limit temperature. .

In order to keep the temperature of the heating element below the limit temperature,
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-125682 discloses a technique of speed-controlling the rotation speed of a cooling fan.

In the conventional personal computer having the fan speed control function, the cooling operation of the cooling fan is controlled according to the heat generation state of the heat generating components. That is, CP
It has a cooling fan for cooling U and a cooling fan speed control means for varying the rotation speed of the cooling fan. When the temperature rises, the cooling fan speeds up, and when the temperature drops, the cooling fan slows down. Execute the speed control operation.

According to the speed control described above, the rotation speed of the cooling fan that is appropriate for the internal temperature of the personal computer can be maintained at all times.

However, in the conventional cooling method for a personal computer, a powerful cooling fan is attached to the CPU to operate the CPU to generate air convection in the housing of the personal computer for cooling. Such a conventional cooling method is sufficient for cooling the inside of the personal computer, but there is a problem in that the noise of the cooling fan becomes loud and the user feels uncomfortable. In particular,
There is a problem that the sound quality is deteriorated by the noise of the cooling fan when the user listens to music or the like.

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
Since the rotation speed of the cooling fan is controlled only by the temperature change, there is a problem that the noise of the cooling fan becomes loud and the user feels uncomfortable even when executing an application such as music where quiet noise is desired. It was

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that reduces noise when an application such as music is started and viewed.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an input device for setting and registering a specific application in an electronic device having a semiconductor circuit that generates heat during driving and a cooling fan that cools the semiconductor circuit. And a means for suppressing the rotation speed of the cooling fan when the application registered and set by the input means is executed, and noise of the cooling fan is suppressed when the specific application is executed.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling the speed of a cooling fan of an electronic device, which has a semiconductor circuit which generates heat during driving and a cooling fan which cools the semiconductor circuit. An input step; and a step of suppressing the rotation speed of the cooling fan when the application registered and set in the input step is executed, wherein noise of the cooling fan is suppressed when the specific application is executed. And

With such a configuration, it is possible to reduce noise when an application such as music is started and the user listens to it.

Further, in the electronic equipment of the present invention, the suppressing means suppresses the operating rate of the semiconductor circuit.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to further reduce noise when an application such as music is started and viewed.

Further, in the electronic equipment of the present invention, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the semiconductor circuit or the temperature in the vicinity thereof is further provided, and means for acquiring the current temperature data, and acquisition of the temperature data. Accordingly, the rotation speed of the cooling fan or the driving rate of the semiconductor circuit is changed.

Further, in the method for controlling the speed of the cooling fan for electronic equipment of the present invention, the method further comprises a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the semiconductor circuit or the temperature in the vicinity thereof, and obtaining the current temperature data. Then, the rotation speed of the cooling fan or the drive ratio of the semiconductor circuit is changed according to the temperature data acquisition step.

With such a configuration, it is possible to dynamically change the rotational speed of the cooling fan and the drive ratio of the CPU when the application such as music is started and listened to.

Further, in the electronic device suppressing means of the present invention,
It is characterized in that the rotation speed of the cooling fan or the operating rate of the semiconductor circuit is variably controlled according to the processing capacity required for the specific application registered and set.

Further, in the speed control method for the cooling fan of the electronic device according to the present invention, the suppressing step may include the rotation speed of the cooling fan or the semiconductor circuit depending on the processing capacity required for the specific application registered for setting. It is characterized by variably controlling the operating rate of.

With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent thermal runaway due to the load on the personal computer system when the application registered and set is activated.

The electronic equipment of the present invention further comprises a monitoring means for monitoring the processing capacity of the electronic equipment, and the suppressing means causes the monitoring means to rotate the cooling fan in accordance with the current processing capacity. Alternatively, the operating rate of the semiconductor circuit is variably controlled.

The method for controlling the speed of a cooling fan for electronic equipment according to the present invention further comprises the step of monitoring the processing capacity of the electronic equipment, and the suppressing step is performed by the monitoring step according to the current processing capacity. The rotational speed of the cooling fan or the operating rate of the semiconductor circuit is variably controlled.

With such a configuration, while the processing capacity of the electronic device is constantly changing, the optimum rotation speed of the cooling fan and the CP for the specific application registered and set.
The operating rate of U can be set.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 are a side view and a rear view of a case according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In personal computers, the speed of operation has been increasing year by year, and a cooling fan having a large cooling capacity has been attached to the power supply unit, the CPU, etc. as a measure for heat dissipation. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
A first cooling fan for cooling U and a second cooling fan for cooling the power supply unit are used. An intake port is provided in the lower front portion of the personal computer, and an exhaust port is provided in the upper rear portion of the personal computer to generate air convection using the two cooling fans.

3 and 4 are block diagrams showing the system configuration of the speed control mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 11 denotes a temperature center provided in a predetermined portion in a device in which a heating element such as a semiconductor element, which generates heat during operation, is mounted. The detected temperature is read into the CPU 12 as current temperature data.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a CPU which realizes the rotation speed control of the cooling fan device 14 and the operation rate control of the CPU. Here, the rotation speed control of the cooling fan and the C stored in the memory 15 are performed.
According to the operation rate control (heat control process: FCP) of the PU 12,
The processing of the speed control program as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 is executed. In this process, the temperature data value of the temperature sensor 11 and the start (execution) state information of the registered application are read, and the rotation speed of the cooling fan device 14 and the CPU are read.
The operation rate of the cooling fan device 14 is determined and the command is set in the speed control device to control the rotation speed of the cooling fan device 14 and the operation rate of the CPU 12.

Further, the CPU 12 has a power saving function and is provided with an externally controllable STPCLK pin for stopping the operation clock of the internal logic. While a predetermined signal is being input to the STPCLK pin, the internal logic of the CPU 12 can be stopped and the power consumption can be reduced.
The heat generation of U12 can be suppressed.

Reference numeral 13 is a speed controller, which is a CPU 12
From the speed command (the rotation speed of the cooling fan device 14 and the CPU
12), the rotation speed of the cooling fan 1 of the cooling fan device 14 and the CPU operation rate are controlled.

For example, the cooling fan device 14 can control the rotation speed of the cooling fan by variably setting the voltage level provided in the speed control device 13. Similarly, the operating rate of the CPU 12 can be controlled by variably setting the timer for outputting the output signal to the STPCLK pin provided in the speed control device 13 at predetermined intervals.
The speed control device 13 controls the operating rate of the CPU 12 according to the processing of the speed control program according to the embodiment of the present invention, so that the STPCLK pin of the CPU 12 is intermittently operated.
By continuously outputting a predetermined signal, the operating rate of the CPU 12 can be controlled.

Reference numeral 14 has one or more (here, two) cooling fans capable of sufficiently cooling the object to be cooled, and when any one of the cooling fans fails, the cooling fan is provided to the CPU 12. Can inform, speed control device 1
3 is a cooling fan device capable of changing the rotation speed of the cooling fan in accordance with an instruction from 3.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a memory provided for a storage area of programs executed by the CPU 12, a work area of the CPU 12, and the like. Here, the rotation speed of the cooling fan and the operating rate of the CPU shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 are controlled. A table (TBL) in which a speed control program (FCP) is stored and the relationship between the temperature, the rotation speed of the cooling fan, and the operating rate of the CPU 12 is defined, and the target of the speed control mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention. The corresponding application is registered and set by an input means such as a keyboard or a mouse (not shown). The relationship between the TBL and the processing of the speed control program will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7 which is an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a power supply device for generating and outputting the operating power supply of the entire system, and here, the cooling fan device 14
The power supply for operation is generated and output including.

5 to 7 are flow charts showing the speed control processing procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.
It is realized by the PU 12 executing the speed control program stored in the memory 15.

Next, the processing procedure of the speed control program according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the follow chart of FIG.

After the computer system is started, the CPU 12 receives an interrupt process from a timer (not shown) at predetermined intervals, for example, once every 2 to 5 seconds, and the CPU 12 stores the speed control program (FCP) stored in the memory 15. ) Starts the execution of the processing according to. The speed control program starts with the temperature (temperature gradient and temperature threshold) stored in the TBL of the memory 15 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rotation speed of the cooling fan, and the CPU 1.
The data indicating the relationship with the operation rate of 2 is read (S10).
0).

Next, the speed control program reads the current temperature from the temperature sensor 11, for example, the temperature data of the CPU 12 (S110). After reading the temperature data, the speed control program sets a target temperature as a branch point of the speed control process (S120).

Here, the target temperature is the temperature sensor 11
It is a temperature threshold for the temperature data read from the. In an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the current temperature data is 81 ° C. or higher, the temperature threshold value is 80 ° C. Current temperature data is 61 ° C or higher ~ 8
When the temperature gradient below 0 is in the descending state, the temperature threshold is 60 ° C.
Is.

When the temperature data read from the temperature sensor 11 is lower than the temperature threshold values shown in FIGS. 3 and 4,
That is, with the temperature gradient rising, the current temperature data is 80
When the temperature gradient is in the descending state and the current temperature data is 60 or less, the rotation speed of the cooling fan is 0 (zero).
The rpm and the operating rate of the CPU 12 are 100%, and the temperature threshold is set to null.

The speed control program compares the temperature data read in S120 with the temperature threshold value set in S120 to determine whether or not the target temperature has been reached (S13).
0).

When it is determined that the target temperature has been reached, that is, when the current temperature has reached the upper limit value or the lower limit value of the target temperature, the speed control program stops the processing. Further, the speed control program stops the process when the temperature threshold is set to null. (S
Yes of 130).

On the other hand, if it is determined in S130 that the target temperature has not been reached, the procedure of heat control processing is advanced (S1).
40). The procedure of the heat control process will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

After the thermal control process of S140, the speed control program acquires the current temperature data from the temperature sensor 11 again, and determines again whether the target temperature has been reached (S1).
40 → S120 → S130).

Next, the procedure of the heat control process for controlling the rotation speed of the cooling fan according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the follow chart of FIG.

In the heat control process of the speed control program, it is determined whether or not a predetermined application has been started and executed (S200). Whether or not the application is the target application of the speed control program here can be realized by the user in advance by setting and registering it in a setting table provided on the memory 15 using a keyboard, a mouse, or the like. That is, the thermal control process of the speed control program requires the OS installed in the computer system to issue the information of the active window module. Here, the information on the active window module is information on each window module currently opened in the OS, and has a window title name, a process ID, and the like.
S issues the information of each one window module to each open window module.

In the thermal control process of the speed control program, the process ID of the OS is acquired from the acquired window module information by using the process ID. The process information has information such as the module name of the process and the priority of the process.

The speed control program compares and collates the acquired module name of the process with the name of the application registered in the setting table to determine whether the application is a speed control processing target application.

When it is determined in S200 that the application is a registered application, the heat control process of the speed control program is
Again, data indicating the relationship between the temperature, the rotation speed of the cooling fan, and the operating rate of the CPU 12 stored in the TBL of the memory 15 is read, and the rotation speed of the cooling fan with respect to the current temperature threshold value is acquired (S210).

In the heat control process of the speed control program, the speed of the cooling fan of the cooling fan device 14 is compared with a value corresponding to the current temperature threshold value, for example, the processing capacity required for the registered application to be executed is measured in advance. Based on the result, the rotation speed of the cooling fan is reduced to about 1/3, the rotation speed of the cooling fan corresponding to the temperature threshold value is changed, and the rotation speed of the cooling fan is set in the speed control device 13 (S220 → S230).

On the other hand, if it is determined in S200 that the application is not a registered application, the thermal control process of the speed control program shows the relationship between the temperature stored in the TBL of the memory 15, the rotation speed of the cooling fan, and the operating rate of the CPU 12. The data is read, the rotation speed of the cooling fan for the current temperature threshold value is acquired, and the cooling fan device 14 is set in the speed control device 13.
Set the rotation speed of the cooling fan.

With such a configuration, since the computer system can stop or suppress the rotation speed of each cooling fan when the music application is started, the noise of the cooling fan during viewing can be eliminated. Further, it is possible to dynamically set the optimum rotation speed of the cooling fan along with the temperature change of the CPU 12.

Next, the procedure of the heat control process for controlling the operating rate of the CPU 12, which is an embodiment of the present invention, will be described with reference to the follow chart of FIG.

The heat control process of the speed control program is S2.
Similar to 00, it is determined whether or not a predetermined application has been activated / executed (S300).

When it is determined in S300 that the application is a registered application, the heat control process of the speed control program is
Again, the data stored in the TBL of the memory 15 indicating the relationship between the temperature, the rotation speed of the cooling fan, and the operating rate of the CPU 12 is read, and the operating rate of the CPU 12 with respect to the current temperature threshold is acquired (S310).

The thermal control processing of the speed control program is CP
Compared with the value corresponding to the current temperature threshold value, the operating rate of U12 is reduced to, for example, about 10 to 40%, the operating rate of the CPU corresponding to the temperature threshold value is changed, and the CP is set to the speed control device 13.
The operating rate of U12 is set (S320 → S330).

On the other hand, when it is determined in S300 that the application is not a registered application, the thermal control process of the speed control program shows the relationship between the temperature stored in the TBL 17 of the memory 15, the rotation speed of the cooling fan, and the operating rate of the CPU 12. Data is read out and the CPU 12 for the current temperature threshold value
The operating rate of the CPU 12 is acquired and the operating rate of the CPU 12 is set in the speed control device 13.

Because of such a configuration, when the computer system starts up the music application, the CPU
By suppressing the operating rate of 12, the heat generation of the CPU 12 can be suppressed, so that the rotation speed of each cooling fan can be stopped or suppressed. Therefore, the noise of the cooling fan during viewing can be eliminated.

Further, since the processing capacity required for the application to be executed is measured in advance and the operating rate of the CPU 12 is changed and set, it is possible to prevent thermal runaway due to the load on the personal computer. .

Further, the optimum operating rate of the CPU 12 can be dynamically set along with the temperature change of the CPU 12.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the procedure for individually controlling the rotation speed of the cooling fan or the operating rate of the CPU 12 is shown as the heat control processing of the speed control program.
Both the rotation speed of the cooling fan and the operating rate of the CPU 12 can be controlled. With such a configuration, since the rotation speed of each cooling fan can be stopped or suppressed, the noise of the cooling fan during viewing can be further eliminated.

Further, in one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, data indicating the relationship between the temperature stored in the TBL of the memory 15, the rotation speed of the cooling fan, and the operating rate of the CPU 12 is stored. Although it is defined by two kinds of temperature thresholds, it is also possible to set the rotation speed of each cooling fan and the operating rate of the CPU 12 by using a plurality of temperature thresholds respectively according to the temperature situation, that is, when the temperature rises and falls. . With such a configuration, the rotation speed of each cooling fan can be finely stopped or suppressed, so that the noise of the cooling fan during viewing can be further eliminated.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, when the registered application is activated / executed, the relationship with the rotation speed of the cooling fan corresponding to the predetermined temperature threshold value is about 1/3. Although the example of reducing the number is shown, the rotation speed of the cooling fan can be completely stopped.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the temperature sensor 11 executes the speed control program by reading the current temperature of the CPU 12. However, when there are a plurality of heating elements in the personal computer, for example, a display is performed. Temperature sensors are installed in the graphics circuit and HDD,
It is also possible to stop or suppress the rotation speed of the cooling fan provided at the intake port or the exhaust port.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the music application is exemplified as the registration application, but the video application can also be registered according to the preference of the user.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the registered application is executed / started, the rotation speed of the cooling fan or the operating rate of the CPU 12 is uniformly changed (reduced) by a predetermined value. If the current temperature data does not reach the target value, it is also possible to reset the original value corresponding to the temperature threshold value stored in the TBL of the memory 15.

In the current personal computer, a plurality of applications are multitasked and
Since it is executed on S, the processing capacity of the CPU 12 required for executing a plurality of applications is constantly changing. Therefore, in S220 of FIG. 6 and S320 of FIG. 7, there is a monitoring step of monitoring the processing capacity of the CPU 12 at regular intervals, and the thermal control of the speed control program according to one embodiment of the present invention is a monitoring step. Depending on the result of
The rotation speed of the cooling fan and the operating rate of the CPU 12 can be changed at any time. With such a configuration, it is possible to set the optimum rotation speed of the cooling fan and the operating rate of the CPU for executing the registered application.

[0068]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to reduce noise when an application such as music is started and viewed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a housing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the housing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a speed control mechanism according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of another speed control mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a speed control processing procedure according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a heat control processing procedure relating to the rotation speed of the cooling fan according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a thermal control processing procedure relating to the operating rate of the CPU according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Temperature sensor, 12 ... CPU, 13 ... Speed control device, 14 ... Cooling fan device, 15 ... Memory, 16 ... Power supply device, FCP ... Speed control program, TBL ... Temperature and cooling fan rotation speed and CPU operating rate Speed control table that defines the relationship with.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference)

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. In an electronic device having a semiconductor circuit that generates heat when driven and a cooling fan that cools the semiconductor circuit, input means for setting and registering a specific application, and setting and registration by the input means. And a means for suppressing the rotation speed of the cooling fan when the application is executed, and suppressing the noise of the cooling fan when the specific application is executed. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the suppressing unit suppresses an operating rate of the semiconductor circuit. 3. The electronic device further includes a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the semiconductor circuit or a temperature in the vicinity thereof, and means for acquiring current temperature data, and according to acquisition of the temperature data, The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the rotation speed of the cooling fan or the drive ratio of the semiconductor circuit is changed. 4. The suppressing means variably controls the rotational speed of the cooling fan or the operating rate of the semiconductor circuit according to the processing capacity required for the specific application registered for setting. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 3. 5. The electronic device further comprises monitoring means for monitoring the processing capacity of the electronic device, and the suppressing means causes the monitoring means to rotate the cooling fan or the cooling fan according to the current processing capacity. 5. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the operating rate of the semiconductor circuit is variably controlled. 6. A method for controlling a speed of a cooling fan of an electronic device, comprising: a semiconductor circuit that generates heat during driving; and a cooling fan that cools the semiconductor circuit, and an input step for setting and registering a specific application, An electronic device characterized in that when the application registered and set in the input step is executed, the rotation speed of the cooling fan is suppressed, and noise of the cooling fan is suppressed when the specific application is executed. Cooling fan speed control method. 7. The electronic device further has a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the semiconductor circuit or a temperature in the vicinity thereof, and according to a step of acquiring current temperature data and a step of acquiring the temperature data. 7. The speed control method for a cooling fan of an electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the rotation speed of the cooling fan or the drive ratio of the semiconductor circuit is changed. 8. The suppressing step, according to a processing capacity required for the specific application registered in the setting,
8. The speed control method for a cooling fan of an electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the rotation speed of the cooling fan or the operating rate of the semiconductor circuit is variably controlled. 9. The method further comprises the step of monitoring the processing capacity of the electronic device, and the suppressing step includes the rotation speed of the cooling fan or the operating rate of the semiconductor circuit according to the current processing capacity by the monitoring step. 9. The method for controlling the speed of a cooling fan for an electronic device according to claim 8, wherein the control is performed variably.