KR101406545B1 - Method and apparatus for controlling of video controller using a clock and temperature of cpu - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a video controller control method and apparatus using a CPU clock and a temperature value. The present invention is equipped with a measuring unit for detecting the clock and temperature of the central processing unit (CPU). And a map table type storage unit that stores the clock and driving power of the video controller in advance in correspondence with the clock and temperature of the central processing unit (CPU) measured by the measuring unit. Wherein the controller selects a clock and a driving power of a video controller corresponding to a clock and a temperature of the central processing unit measured by the measuring unit in the storage unit, And a power supply changing unit. According to the present invention, the clock and the driving power of the video controller can be varied according to the state of the CPU when the system is driven, so that the power consumption can be reduced.

Central processing unit, video controller, clock, sense temperature, drive power, core power.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for controlling a video controller using a CPU clock and a temperature value,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power management of a portable computer, and more particularly, to a power control of a portable computer, in which a CPU clock for optimally selecting / applying a clock and a driving power of a video controller based on a driving clock value and a temperature value of a central processing unit And more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling a video controller using temperature values.

The various processors that make up a computer require a core power supply of a central processing unit (CPU). To do this, the core power is converted and supplied to the CPU by using a power supply module (VRM: Voltage Regulator Module). In a Pentium Pro or higher CPU of Intel Corporation, the level of the core power may vary according to the type of the CPU. As each CPU is different, So that the required core power is supplied.

On the other hand, mobile computers, such as today's light-weight but powerful functions, such as laptop computers, notebook computers, palmtop computers and PDAs, a portable computer such as a personal digital assistant (PC) is being supplied with a core power of the CPU to the video controller, in particular, of the processor.

The video controller functions to display video information on a monitor. Due to the improved functionality of the video controller, functions that were possible with conventional desktop computers can now be performed on portable computers today. That is, due to the development of video controllers, it is possible to implement computeintensive applications such as three-dimensional animation and multimedia. In recent years, 3D images are more colorful and stereoscopic.

For this reason, on portable computers, the power consumed by the video controller, along with the CPU that controls the entire system, occupies a large amount. Portable computers are portable, so the ultimate goal is to reduce power consumption as much as possible. However, the power consumption of the CPU and the video controller accelerates battery power consumption in portable computers using battery power, and therefore, it is difficult to use the portable computer for a long time due to shortening of use time. That is, the CPU supplies the core power to various processors, especially video controllers. In this case, the video controller uses the core power of the CPU, the video controller core power and the I / O power, and uses a separate clock.

Since the CPU is involved in all calculation processes of the portable computer, the clock and temperature of the CPU are continuously changed according to various conditions when the portable computer is driven. In this way, the core power may be supplied in consideration of the CPU status, As described above, since the core power set to a constant value is supplied to the video controller, there arises a problem in efficiently performing the power management.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a video controller control method and apparatus for applying an optimum video clock signal and driving power based on a clock value of a portable computer CPU and an ambient temperature of a CPU or a CPU .

Another object of the present invention is to maximize the power consumption of the portable computer.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, there is provided an information processing apparatus comprising: sensing means for sensing a clock and a temperature of a central processing unit (CPU); Storage means for previously storing clock and driving power of the video controller in correspondence with the clock and temperature of the detected central processing unit (CPU); Selection means for selecting a clock and a driving power of a video controller corresponding to the clock and temperature of the sensed central processing unit; And setting means for applying the selected clock and driving power to the video controller.

Preferably, the sensing means is a thermal sensor.

Wherein the setting means sets a clock and a temperature of the video controller based on the clock and the temperature of the central processing unit when the clock and the temperature of the central processing unit currently sensed are different from the clock and the temperature of the video controller stored in the storage means, And a clock changing unit and a power changing unit for changing the driving power. The clock changing unit is a video driver, and the power changing unit is a power changing circuit.

The setting means may change the clock and the driving power of the video controller together or change the clock when the driving power of the video controller is changed based on the clock and the temperature of the central processing unit, The driving power may be changed.

The sensing means further includes at least two temperature sensors for sensing the ambient temperature of the central processing unit.

When there are a plurality of the temperature sensors, the selecting means can select the driving power of the video controller based on the sensed data having the highest temperature among the plurality of sensed data sensed by the temperature sensor.

When there are a plurality of the temperature sensors, the selecting means may select the driving power of the video controller based on the average value of the temperature data sensed by the temperature sensor.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a method of controlling a central processing unit (CPU), comprising the steps of: sensing a clock and a temperature of a central processing unit (CPU); Selecting a clock and a driving power value of the video controller corresponding to the sensed clock and temperature from a map table; And setting a clock and a driving power value of the selected video controller as a driving condition of the video controller.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a central processing unit (CPU), comprising the steps of: detecting at least one clock of a central processing unit (CPU) Selecting a clock and a driving power value of the video controller corresponding to the sensed clock and temperature from a map table; And applying a clock and a driving power value of the selected video controller as a driving condition of the video controller.

The clock power and the driving power of the video controller may be changed when the clock is changed or may be changed when the driving power is changed.

In addition, if at least one of the clock or the driving power of the video controller is changed to stabilize the system, it can not be changed again until a predetermined time elapses.

When two or more temperatures are sensed, the driving power of the video controller corresponding to the temperature data having the highest temperature is selected.

Or the average value of the sensed temperatures is calculated and the driving power corresponding to the average value is selected. At this time, if the driving power of the video controller matching the average value does not exist, the driving power of the video controller corresponding to the temperature nearest to the average value is selected.

According to the present invention having such a configuration, it can be seen that the clock and the driving power of the video controller can be optimally selected / applied based on the clock and temperature of the CPU.

According to the video controller control method and apparatus using the CPU clock and the temperature value of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the clock and temperature of the CPU are detected, and the clock and temperature of the video controller, It is possible to select and apply the driving power, and the clock and the driving power of the video controller are variably applied according to the state of the CPU when the system is driven, so that power consumption can be reduced.

Hereinafter, a method and an apparatus for controlling a video controller using a CPU clock and a temperature according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of a video controller control apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

A clock measuring unit 102a for measuring a driving clock of a central processing unit (CPU) 100; a temperature measuring unit 102b for measuring a temperature of the CPU 100 or an ambient temperature thereof; . The reason why the temperature of the CPU 100 or its ambient temperature is measured is not only the temperature of the CPU 100 itself but also the ambient temperature of the CPU 100 affects the optimum operating condition of the video controller. For example, when the heat of the CPU 100 is transmitted to the periphery, performance of peripheral devices located in the periphery thereof is lowered, causing malfunction and failure.

The clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b may be provided with a sensor having a unique function or a thermal sensor capable of sensing the clock and the temperature of the CPU 100 at one time .

Also, a plurality of temperature measuring units 102b may be mounted when the CPU 100 and the ambient temperature are sensed. If there are a plurality of temperature measuring units 102b, the application criterion is variably provided by the user, for example, based on the highest sensed temperature value or an average of all the measured temperature values.

The optimum clock and the driving power (core power) of the video controller 110 can be selected based on the driving clock and the temperature information of the CPU 100 measured by the clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b And the clock / temperature information of the CPU 100 and the clock / driving power information of the video controller 110 correspond to each other.

Since the clock and temperature of the CPU 100 and the clock and driving power information of the video controller 110 are provided differently according to the system specifications, 110 are also provided with different clock / drive power information. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the clock / temperature of the CPU 100 and the clock / driving power of the video controller 110 applied in the present embodiment are given as shown in the following Table 1 for convenience of explanation.

[Table 1]

1, the clock of the video controller 110 corresponding to the clock and the temperature of the CPU 100 measured by the clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b, And a selection unit 106 for selecting the storage unit 104 in the storage unit 104.

And a setting unit 108 for applying the clock and the driving power of the video controller 110 selected by the selection unit 106 to the video controller 110. The setting unit 108 can change the clock and the driving power of the video controller 110, or change only one of them. That is, if only the temperature is changed without changing the clock of the CPU 100, only the driving power of the video controller 110 is changed. On the contrary, if only the clock of the CPU 100 is changed, Set the clock to change. At this time, when the clock and the driving power of the video controller 110 are changed, the clock can be also changed when the driving power is changed, and the driving power can be changed when the clock is changed.

For this reason, the setting unit 108 includes a clock changing unit 108a and a power changing unit 108b. The clock changing unit 108a uses a video driver for processing video information. The power supply changing unit 108b may include a circuit for changing the power supply. The circuit may be a DC / DC conversion circuit or various adapters capable of changing the output of an input driving power source.

And a video controller 110 operated by a clock selected by the storage unit 104 and a driving power source according to the clock and temperature of the CPU 100. [ In general, the video controller 110 has a video chipset, a video memory, a RAM DAC, and a ROM BIOS. The video chipset is where computing is performed, and video memory is where an image is made. The more memory there is, the higher the resolution of the monitor. In addition, RAMDAC has a palette that allows 256 programmers to choose from 256 colors of digital colors, and converts video data of digital signal format into analog signals. The ROM BIOS is where the program routines are stored to provide information about the video adapter and basic input and output.

And a monitor 112 for displaying image information processed by the video controller 110.

Next, a process of optimally selecting and applying the clock and the driving power of the video controller according to the clock of the CPU and the temperature change according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

2 is a flow chart for optimally driving the video controller as the CPU state is changed according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the following embodiments, a portable computer capable of maximizing the consumption of power supplied from the battery when the system is operated is expected to be exemplified.

Once power is supplied to the portable computer, a general OS operating process is performed and a standby state in which the portable computer can be used is maintained (S120). Thereafter, the CPU 100 is actually driven by the CPU 100, such as executing a specific application program.

In operation 122, the clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b continuously detect the clock and temperature of the CPU 100 when the CPU 100 is driven. Preferably, the sensing operation is continuously executed until the power of the portable computer is turned off.

The clock and temperature information of the CPU 100 sensed by the clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b are transmitted to the selecting unit 106. [ In operation 124, the selection unit 106 determines whether the clock and power information of the corresponding video controller 110 are stored in the storage unit 104, based on the clock / temperature information of the CPU 100 .

In step 126, the selector 106 selects the clock / driving power of the video controller 110 corresponding to the sensed clock / temperature information of the CPU 100.

The clock / power source selected by the selection unit 106 is transmitted to the setting unit 108. If the setting unit 108 is required to change the clock or the driving power of the video controller 110 based on the clock / temperature information of the CPU 100 (YES in step S128), the setting unit 108 proceeds to step 130, 108a and the power changing unit 108b.

When the clock or power source changed by the clock changing unit 108a and the power changing unit 108b is supplied to the video controller 110, the video controller 110 is driven by the changed clock / power source in step 132. [

This control process will be described in detail with reference to Table 1 described above.

Referring to Table 1, it is assumed that the CPU 100 is set to a clock of 2 GHz and a temperature of 80 deg. C by default, and the corresponding clock of the video controller 110 is 1.3 GHz and the driving power is 3.3 V .

Under these conditions, the CPU 100 and the video controller 110 are operated to process various tasks.

The clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b continuously monitor the clock and the temperature of the CPU 100 when the CPU 100 is driven. Therefore, when the clock and temperature of the CPU 100 continue to be driven to the default values, the clock and the driving power of the video controller 110 are also left unchanged.

However, if the clock and temperature of the CPU 100 measured by the clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b are changed from the default values and the clock is 1.8GHz and the temperature is 75C, The measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b transmit the changed clock: 1.8 GHz, temperature: 75 deg. C to the selecting unit 106. [

The selector 106 selects a clock and a driving power value of the video controller 110 corresponding to the transmitted 'clock: 1.8 GHz, temperature: 75 ° C.' in the storage unit 104. Referring to Table 1, the value of the selected video controller 100 is 'clock: 1 GHz, driving power: 3.0 V'.

The 'clock: 1 GHz, driving power: 3.0 V' value is selected and transmitted to the setting unit 108. The clock changing unit 108a and the power changing unit 108b of the setting unit 108 change the clock and the driving power of the video controller 110 based on the clock and the temperature of the CPU 100. [ For example, the clock of the video controller 110 is changed from 1.3 GHz to 1 GHz, and the driving power is changed from 3.3 V to 3.0 V.

The setting unit 108 sets the clock 1 GHz and the driving power of 3.3 V as described above to be applied to the video controller 110. Therefore, the video controller 110 is driven by the clock 1 GHz changed by the setting unit 108 and the driving power 3.3V.

Here, the clock or the driving power of the video controller 110 may be changed even when only one of the clock and the temperature of the CPU 100 is changed.

For example, if the clock of the CPU 100 is maintained at 1.8 GHz but the sensed temperature rises from 75 캜 to 85 캜, the clock of the video controller 110 is maintained at 1 GHz, It can be changed to 2.5V.

And the driving power may be changed when the clock of the video controller 110 is changed. Also, when the driving power of the video controller 110 is changed, the clock may be changed together.

Through this process, the video controller 110 optimally changes its driving condition according to the clock and temperature of the CPU 100, so that more efficient driving can be expected and consumption of battery power can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, only the temperature of the CPU 100 is sensed and applied, but in addition, the ambient temperature of the CPU 100 may be sensed and the clock and driving power of the video controller 110 may be changed / set as described above .

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart for optimally driving the video controller as the CPU status is changed according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In order to perform the process of FIG. 3, at least one temperature measuring unit 102b is preferably provided because it is necessary to detect the temperature around the CPU 100. FIG.

First, in operation 140, the portable computer starts to be booted. In operation 142, the CPU 100 detects the clock and the ambient temperature. If a plurality of temperature values around the CPU 100 are sensed in operation 144, the temperature measuring unit 102b may determine a temperature value that is the largest among the plurality of temperature values sensed as in operation 146, Or refers to an average value of the sensed temperature value or a value approximate to the average value.

For example, if the ambient temperature of the CPU 100 is detected as 69 deg. C, 72 deg. C and 74 deg. C, the highest temperature is 74 deg. C, and in Table 1, 75 deg. . Or 75 [deg.] C which is the closest to the measured average value of 69 [deg.] C, 72 [deg.] C and 74 [deg.] C, which is 71.6 [deg.] C. Of course, if the highest temperature or average value is present in the map table, the value can be immediately applied.

When the temperature of the CPU 100 is sensed, the storage unit 104 is checked in operation 148 and the clock of the video controller 110 corresponding to the changed condition of the CPU 100 and the driving power .

In operation 152, since the clock or the temperature is changed as described above, operation 154 may be performed such that the clock and / or driving power of the video controller 110 selected in operation 150 is applied. In operation 156, And the driving power source.

The clock and the driving power of the video controller 110 can be optimally applied according to the clock and temperature of the CPU 100 as described above.

On the other hand, if the temperature or the clock of the CPU 100 is changed until a predetermined time elapses when at least one of the clock or the driving power of the video controller is changed to stabilize the system, the driving power or clock of the video controller 110 It is recommended that you do not change it immediately. That is, since the system is made up of electric / electronic elements, if the driving conditions are changed and changed from time to time, a load for performing the device and the changing process may unnecessarily occur. Which may not be efficient for overall system performance.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and alternative constructions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It will be apparent that other, alternative and equivalent embodiments are possible. Therefore, the true scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical idea of the appended claims.

That is, even in the case of a computer using a general AC power source other than a portable computer using battery power, the power consumption can be reduced by adjusting the driving power. It should be noted that the present embodiment is not limited to a portable computer as in the above-described embodiment.

1 is a configuration diagram of a video controller control apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flow chart for optimally driving a video controller as the CPU state is changed according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flow chart for optimally driving a video controller as the CPU status is changed according to another embodiment of the present invention;

Description of the Related Art [0002]

100: Central processing unit (CPU) 102a: Clock measuring unit

102b: temperature measuring unit 106:

104: storage unit 108: setting unit

108a: clock changing unit 108b: power changing unit

110: video controller 112: monitor

Claims (16)

Sensing means for sensing a clock and a temperature of the central processing unit (CPU); Storage means for storing in advance a clock and a driving power of the video controller corresponding to the clock and temperature of the central processing unit (CPU) sensed by the sensing means; Selecting means for selecting a clock and a driving power of a video controller corresponding to a clock and a temperature of the central processing unit sensed by the sensing means; And, And setting means for causing the video controller to apply the selected clock and driving power; The setting means sets the clock and the driving power of the video controller based on the clock and the temperature of the central processing unit when the clock and the temperature of the detected central processing unit are different from the clock and the driving power of the video controller stored in the storage means And a power changing unit for changing the power of the video clock and the temperature of the video clock. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the sensing means is a thermal sensor. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensing means is a thermal sensor. The video controller according to claim 1, wherein the storage means stores a CPU clock and a temperature value for storing an optimum clock and a driving power of a video controller corresponding to a driving clock and temperature information of the CPU in a map table format. The method of claim 3, Wherein the clock changing unit is a video driver, Wherein the power supply changing unit is a power supply changing circuit. 5. The method of claim 4, Wherein the power supply changing circuit is a DC-DC converting circuit. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the setting means changes the clock and the driving power of the video controller together based on the clock and the temperature of the central processing unit. The method according to claim 6, Wherein the video controller changes the clock when the driving power of the video controller is changed or changes the driving power when the clock is changed. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the sensing means further comprises at least two temperature sensors for sensing an ambient temperature of the central processing unit. 9. The method of claim 8, Wherein the selecting means selects the driving power source of the video controller based on the sensing data having the highest temperature among the plurality of sensing data sensed by the temperature sensor. A video controller controller using a video controller. 9. The method of claim 8, Wherein the selecting means selects the driving power of the video controller based on an average value of the temperature data detected by the temperature sensor when the temperature sensor is plural. delete Detecting at least one clock of the central processing unit (CPU) and a temperature around the periphery of the central processing unit; Selecting a clock and a driving power value of the video controller corresponding to the sensed clock and temperature from a map table; And, And applying a clock and a driving power value of the selected video controller as a driving condition of the video controller. 13. The method of claim 12, Wherein the video controller is capable of changing only one of a clock and a driving power. 14. The method of claim 13, Wherein the video controller can not be changed again until a predetermined time elapses when at least one of a clock or a driving power of the video controller is changed to stabilize the system. 13. The method of claim 12, And when the temperature is detected more than two times, the driving power of the video controller corresponding to the temperature data having the highest temperature is selected. 16. The method of claim 15, And a driving power source that is the closest to the driving power source or the average value that matches the average value of the sensed temperatures is selected.

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