JPH02171813A - Automatic temperature adjustment electronic controller, device and method for automatically adjusting temperature for electronic controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce energy consumption and to lower a calorific value by changing the processing speed of a control part in correspondence to the temperature change of a device. CONSTITUTION:A temperature sensor 5 senses the temperature of an LSI, etc., and a variable clock control signal corresponding to the temperature is sent to a variable clock generating means 7. The means 7 changes a clock speed and sends a clock to a control part 3. The control part 3 controls a processor or a peripheral circuit by this varied clock. Accordingly, when the temperature is high, the clock speed is decreased and the energy consumption can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an electronic control device that has a circuit that operates in synchronization with a clock signal and can automatically adjust the temperature, and an automatic temperature control for the electronic control device. Apparatus and method.

[Conventional technology]

Miniaturization and lower power consumption of electronic control circuits are always issues, but in order to make information processing devices such as laptop-sized personal computers easier to carry, miniaturization and lower power consumption are particularly important. It is being

As a conventional device for reducing power consumption, there is, for example, a device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 191908/1983.

This device is equipped with a circuit that changes the speed of the clock signal that is the reference for the operation of the microprocessor and its peripheral circuits, and when the processing speed can be slow, it can be used for key human power waiting conditions such as standby mode and sleeve mode. Sometimes, by lowering the clock speed, power consumption is reduced. FIG. 2 shows a conventional embodiment.

The conventional technology includes a variable speed clock generator 1 that generates a variable speed clock signal 2, and a clock speed control signal 4 that operates in synchronization with the clock signal 2 and controls the variable speed clock generator 1. It consists of a control section 3.

The control section S outputs a clock speed control signal 4 to the variable speed clock generation section 1 according to a preset program. The variable speed clock generator 1 receives a clock speed control signal 4.
The variable speed clock signal 2 is output according to the following.

With the above method, in the conventional apparatus, by making the clock speed variable, the clock speed is controlled according to the processing content, and the average power consumption is reduced.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Although the above-mentioned conventional technology aims to reduce power consumption, which is one of the issues of personal combinators, no consideration was given to temperature control of the device.

In other words, in the conventional technology, power consumption is reduced only when high-speed processing is not required, such as when the personal combinator is in the standby mode for key input, in sleep mode, or in standby mode, so the heat generated at this time is low. It can be suppressed. However, no consideration was given to heat generation during normal operation, and cooling was performed using a cooling device such as a cooling fan during normal operation. Since cooling devices generally consume power and take up space, such conventional devices have not been able to sufficiently reduce power consumption and downsize.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic control device that consumes less power, can be miniaturized, and can automatically adjust temperature, and an automatic temperature adjustment device and method for the electronic control device.

[Means for Solving Problem 1] The device of the present invention has an LS that operates in synchronization with a clock signal.
An electronic control device having a circuit such as I is provided with a temperature sensor and a clock signal generating means for changing the speed of a clock signal according to the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

Note that "changing the speed of the clock signal in accordance with the temperature" typically means changing the clock speed in inverse proportion to the temperature, i.e., decreasing the speed of the clock signal as the temperature rises, is to increase the speed of the clock signal as it falls.

The electronic control device is, for example, an information processing device such as a laptop burner computer, particularly a battery type device.

A temperature sensor senses the temperature of a circuit such as an LSI from the temperature of the circuit or the atmosphere around it, and outputs a variable speed clock control signal according to the temperature.

Further, the clock signal generating means receives a variable speed clock control signal output from the temperature sensor and outputs a variable speed clock signal according to the control signal.

The temperature sensor and the clock signal generating means constitute an automatic temperature control device in the electronic control device.

Further, the automatic temperature control method for an electronic control device of the present invention includes:
a staircase that senses the temperature of the circuit, and a staircase that generates the clock signal by changing its speed according to the sensed temperature;
The circuit operates in synchronization with a clock signal of varying speed.

[Effect]

A temperature sensor senses the temperature of a circuit such as an LSI or the atmosphere around it, converts the temperature into an electrical signal, and outputs a variable speed clock control signal according to the temperature to a variable speed clock generating means. The variable speed clock generating means changes the speed and outputs the variable speed clock signal to the processor and its peripheral circuits in accordance with the variable speed clock control signal indicating the temperature output by the temperature sensor. The processor and peripheral circuits operate in synchronization with the variable speed clock. Therefore, when these temperatures rise, power consumption can be reduced by slowing down the speed of the variable speed clock, which in turn reduces heat generation, resulting in the same effect as cooling. is obtained.

〔Example〕

The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 5, and 4.
(see figure).

As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic control device includes a temperature sensor 5
and a variable speed clock generating means 7 connected to the temperature 5;
It consists of a control section (circuit) 5 connected to a generating means 7.

In FIG. 1, a temperature sensor 5 outputs a variable speed clock control signal 6 that converts the temperature of the LSI or its surrounding atmosphere into an electrical signal. The variable speed clock generating means 7 receives the variable speed clock control signal 6 and outputs the variable speed clock signal 2 in accordance with the signal 6. The control unit 3 includes a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits that input a variable speed clock signal 2 and operate in synchronization with the signal 2.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in detail.

@degree sensor/cer 5 has a 56 thermistor 51 and an operational amplifier (
(hereinafter referred to as OP amplifier) 52 and resistors 55, 54.
Consists of 55.

The OP amplifier 52 has a non-inverting input terminal connected to a power source 57 via a resistor 5s and grounded via a thermistor 51, and an inverting input terminal connected to a power source 57 via a resistor 54. and is grounded via a resistor 56. The OP amplifier 52 also has a feedback resistor 55.
has. The thermistor 51 is an element whose resistance value changes depending on temperature, and is connected to an OP amplifier 52 and a resistor 55.5.
4°55 converts the resistance value of the thermistor 51 into voltage,
This is a circuit that generates a variable speed clock signal 6.

The output of the OP amplifier 52, ie, the control signal 6 of the temperature sensor 5, is input to the variable speed clock generating means 7.

The variable speed clock generating means 7 changes the speed of the variable speed clock 2 according to the voltage value of the variable speed clock control signal 6.
CO (Voltage Control Qgoill
ator) consists of 71.

The output from the VCO 71, ie, the variable speed clock signal 2 of the variable speed clock generating means 7, is input to the control signal 5.

Next, the effect will be explained. Thermistor 51 is an LSI
When the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere increases, the resistance value decreases. The voltage of the output of the OP amplifier 52 changes in proportion to the resistance value of the thermistor 51, so when the temperature rises, the OP
The voltage value of variable speed clock control signal 6 from amplifier 52 decreases. When the voltage value of the variable speed clock control signal 6 decreases, the VCO 71 slows down the speed of the variable speed clock 2 and outputs it.

The control unit 5 operates in synchronization with the slow variable speed clock signal 2.

In this way, the processing speed of the circuit can be slowed down in response to a rise in the temperature of the circuit, reducing power consumption and suppressing the amount of heat generated.

According to this embodiment, since it can be realized by elements such as resistors and ICs without using mechanical means such as a cooling fan, it is possible to significantly reduce power consumption and downsize.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

In FIG. 3, the variable speed clock generating means 7 is a VCO
71, the speed of the clock signal 2 was continuously changed by the VCO 71 according to the change in temperature, but in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. It consists of constant clock oscillators 72m, 72b and a multiplexer 74.

Constant clock oscillators 72&, 72b output constant clock signals 73a, 73b, respectively. multiplexer 74
In accordance with the variable speed clock control signal 6 input from the temperature sensor 5, one of the constant clock signals 73a and 73b is selectively inputted and outputted as the variable speed clock signal 2 to the control section 3.

Note that the number of oscillators may be large, and the larger the number, the finer the temperature (stepwise temperature v!1 node becomes possible).

Further, the temperature adjustment device may be used only in the case of battery operation where reduction in power consumption is required, and a cooling fan may be used when AC power or the like is supplied from the outside. This makes it possible to minimize the deterioration in performance caused by slowing down the clock signal 2.

Furthermore, in the device of the present invention, the control section 3 may output a clock speed control signal for controlling the variable speed clock generation means 7. In this case, a standby mode that allows for slower processing speeds.

Power consumption can also be reduced by lowering the clock speed in key-operated states such as sleep mode.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since it is composed of a small electronic circuit such as an IC, it is possible to achieve miniaturization, and the power consumption is reduced by changing the processing speed of the control section according to the temperature change of the device. It is possible to reduce the amount of heat generated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the prior art, FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram. Explanation of symbols 2...Variable speed clock, 3...Control unit, 5...Temperature sensor, 6...Variable speed clock control signal, 7...
- Variable speed clock generation means. Part 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electronic control device having a circuit that operates in synchronization with a clock signal, comprising: a temperature sensor; and a clock signal generating means for changing the speed of the clock signal according to the temperature detected by the temperature sensor. An automatic temperature adjustment electronic control device characterized by comprising: 2. An information processing device having a circuit that operates in synchronization with a clock signal, comprising: a temperature sensor; and a clock signal generating means for changing the speed of the clock signal according to the temperature detected by the temperature sensor. An automatic temperature control information processing device characterized by: 3. An automatic temperature control device for an electronic control device having a circuit that operates in synchronization with a clock signal, comprising: a temperature sensor; and a clock signal generator that changes the speed of the clock signal according to the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor. An automatic temperature control device comprising: means; 4. An automatic temperature control device for an electronic control device having a circuit that operates in synchronization with a clock signal, comprising: a temperature sensor that senses the temperature of the circuit and outputs a variable speed clock control signal according to the temperature; An automatic temperature control device comprising: clock signal generation means for inputting the variable speed clock control signal and outputting a variable speed clock signal inversely proportional to the control signal. 5. In a method for automatically adjusting the temperature of an electronic control device having a circuit that operates in synchronization with a clock signal, the steps include: sensing the temperature of the circuit; and changing the speed of the clock signal in accordance with the sensed temperature. A method for automatically regulating temperature, comprising the steps of: operating the circuit in synchronization with the clock signal whose speed has been changed.