KR20090012571A - Method and apparatus for controlling of video controller using a clock and temperature of cpu - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and a device for controlling a video controller by using CPU clock and temperature values are provided to reduce power consumption by detecting the clock/temperature of a CPU, and selecting/applying the clock and operational power, which are provided in a map table style, of the video controller according to a state of the CPU. Detectors(102a,102b) detect clock/temperature of a CPU. A storage unit(104) stores the clock and operational power of a video controller by matching with the detected CPU clock/temperature. A selector(106) selects the clock and the operational power of the video controller by matching the detected CPU clock/temperature. A setting unit(108) applies the selected clock and operational power to the video controller.

Description

TECHNICAL AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING OF VIDEO CONTROLLER USING A CLOCK AND TEMPERATURE OF CPU

The present invention relates to power management of a portable computer, and more particularly, 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 (CPU) of a portable computer. A method and apparatus for controlling a video controller using a temperature value are provided.

The various processors that make up a computer require a core power source from a central processing unit (CPU). To this end, the core power is converted and supplied to the CPU using a power regulator module (VRM). In the case of Intel Pentium Pro class CPU or higher, the level of core power may vary according to the type of CPU. As each CPU is different, the information on the required level of core power is divided into power supply modules. Informing them that they are getting the core power they need.

On the other hand, today's light-weight yet powerful mobile computers such as laptop computers, notebook computers, palmtop computers and PDAs Portable computers, such as personal digital assistance, are supplied to video processors among the processors, with the core power of the CPU being preset.

The video controller functions to display image information on a monitor. Due to the enhancements of the video controller, today's functions available only on desktop computers can now be performed on portable computers. In other words, advances in video controllers enable computationally intensive applications such as three-dimensional animation and multimedia. In recent years, more colorful and three-dimensional 3D images are represented.

For this reason, portable computers consume a lot of power from the video controller along with the CPU that controls the entire system. Because portable computers are portable and useable, the ultimate goal may be to reduce power consumption as much as possible. However, the power consumption of the CPU and video controller accelerates battery power consumption in battery-powered portable computers, which makes it difficult to use the portable computers for a long time. That is, the CPU supplies the core power to various processors, especially the video controller. 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 computational processes of the portable computer, the clock and temperature of the CPU are constantly changing according to various conditions when the portable computer is driven. Thus, the core power may be supplied in consideration of the CPU status. As described above, since a core power set to a predetermined value is supplied to a video controller, a problem arises in efficiently performing power management.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide a video controller control method and apparatus for applying an optimal video clock signal and driving power based on a clock value of a portable computer CPU and the ambient temperature of the CPU or CPU. To provide.

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

According to a feature of the present invention for achieving the above object, the sensing means for sensing the clock and temperature of the central processing unit (CPU); Storage means for storing the clock and driving power of the video controller in advance in correspondence with the sensed clock and temperature of the CPU; Selecting means for selecting a clock and driving power of the video controller corresponding to the sensed clock and temperature of the 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.

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

The setting means may change the clock and the driving power of the video controller together based on the clock and the temperature of the central processing unit, or change the clock when the driving power of the video controller is changed. The driving power can 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 temperature sensors, the selecting means may select driving power of the video controller based on sensing data having the highest temperature among the plurality of sensing data sensed by the temperature sensor.

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

In addition, according to another aspect of the invention, the step of sensing the clock and temperature of the central processing unit (CPU); Selecting clock and driving power values of a video controller corresponding to the sensed clock and temperature from a map table; And setting a clock and driving power value of the selected video controller as driving conditions of the video controller.

According to another feature of the invention, the step of sensing at least one or more of the clock of the central processing unit (CPU) and the ambient temperature of the central processing unit; Selecting clock and driving power values of a video controller corresponding to the sensed clock and temperature from a map table; And applying the clock and driving power values of the selected video controller as driving conditions of the video controller.

The clock and driving power of the video controller may change driving power when the clock is changed, or change clocks when the driving power is changed.

In addition, when one or more of the clock or driving power of the video controller is changed for system stabilization, it may not be changed until a predetermined time has elapsed.

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.

Alternatively, the average value of the sensed temperatures is calculated and a drive power source matching the average value is selected. At this time, if there is no driving power of the video controller that matches the average value, the driving power of the video controller corresponding to the temperature closest to the average value is selected.

According to the present invention having such a configuration, it can be seen that the clock and 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 the temperature of the CPU and the clock of the video controller provided in the form of a map table in advance according to the detection result and Since the driving power can be selected / applied, the clock and driving power of the video controller are variablely applied according to the state of the CPU during system driving, thereby reducing power consumption.

Hereinafter, a method and 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 a preferred embodiment 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.

1, a clock measuring unit 102a measuring a driving clock of a central processing unit (CPU) 100 and a temperature measuring unit 102b measuring a temperature of the CPU 100 or an ambient temperature thereof. Is provided. The reason for measuring the temperature of the CPU 100 or the ambient temperature is that not only the temperature of the CPU 100 but also the ambient temperature of the CPU 100 affects the optimum operating conditions of the video controller. For example, when the heat generated by the CPU 100 is transferred to the periphery, the performance of the peripheral elements positioned around the periphery is degraded, which may cause malfunction and failure.

Each of the clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b may be provided as a sensor having a unique function. The clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b may each include a thermal sensor capable of detecting the clock and the temperature of the CPU 100 at a time. May be

In addition, when detecting the CPU 100 and its surrounding temperature, a plurality of temperature measuring units 102b may be mounted. If there are a plurality of temperature measuring units 102b, the application criterion is provided by the user such that the highest detected temperature value is used or the average of all measured temperature values is used.

The optimal clock and driving power (core power supply) of the video controller 110 may be selected based on driving clock and temperature information of the CPU 100 measured by the clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b. The storage unit 104 in the form of a map table in which clock / temperature information of the CPU 100 and clock / drive power information of the video controller 110 correspond to each other is provided.

Here, the clock and temperature of the CPU 100, and the clock and driving power information of the video controller 110 corresponding to each other are provided differently according to system specifications, so that each system has a video controller (compared to the CPU 100). The clock / drive power information of 110 is also provided differently. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is assumed that the clock / temperature of the CPU 100 and the clock / drive power supply of the video controller 110 applied in the present embodiment are given as shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1

1, the clock and driving power 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. The selection unit 106 for selecting the storage unit 104 is provided.

A setting unit 108 is provided to apply the clock and driving power of the video controller 110 selected by the selection unit 106 to the video controller 110. The setting unit 108 may change and set both the clock and the driving power of the video controller 110, or change and set only one of them. That is, when the clock of the CPU 100 is not changed and only the temperature is changed, only the driving power of the video controller 110 is changed. On the contrary, when only the clock of the CPU 100 is changed, the video controller 110 is changed. Set the clock to change as well. In this case, when the driving power is changed when the clock and driving power of the video controller 110 are changed, the clock may also be changed, and when the clock is changed, the driving power may be changed.

For this reason, the setting unit 108 includes a clock change unit 108a and a power change unit 108b. The clock change unit 108a uses a video driver for processing video information. In addition, the power change unit 108b is preferably provided with a circuit that can change the power. The circuit may be a DC / DC conversion circuit or various adapters for changing the output of the input driving power.

In addition, there is a video controller 110 that is operated by a clock and driving power selected by the storage unit 104 according to the clock and temperature of the CPU 100. In general, the video controller 110 includes a video chipset, a video memory, a RAM DAC, and a ROM BIOS. The video chipset is a place where arithmetic processing is performed, and the video memory is a place where an image is made. The more memory, the higher the resolution of the monitor. Ramdack also includes a palette that allows the programmer to choose from 256 different digital 256K colors and converts video data in digital signal format into analog signals. The ROM BIOS is where program routines are stored that inform the video adapter and provide basic input and output.

A monitor 112 for displaying image information processed by the video controller 110 is provided.

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

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

In the following embodiment, a portable computer that can be expected to have an advantage of maximally reducing the consumption of power supplied from a battery when the system is driven will be described as an example.

Once power is supplied to the portable computer, a general OS driving process is performed and a standby state for using the portable computer is maintained (S120). Thereafter, the CPU 100 is substantially in the driving state of the CPU 100 by executing a specific application program by a user request.

When the CPU 100 is driven, the clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b continuously detect the clock and the temperature of the CPU 100 in step 122. The sensing operation is preferably executed continuously until the portable computer is powered off.

Clock and temperature information of the CPU 100 sensed by the clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b is transferred to the selecting unit 106. In operation 124, the selector 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. .

As a result of the inspection, in step 126, the selector 106 selects the clock / drive power of the video controller 110 corresponding to the detected clock / temperature information of the CPU 100.

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

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

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

Referring to Table 1, it is assumed that the CPU 100 has a clock value of 2 Hz and a temperature of 80 ° C. as a default value, wherein the corresponding clock of the video controller 110 is 1.3 Hz and the driving power is 3.3V. .

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

When the CPU 100 is driven, the clock measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b continuously monitor the clock and temperature of the CPU 100. Thus, when the clock and temperature of the CPU 100 continue to be driven to the default value, the clock and driving power of the video controller 110 are also driven without change.

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 value, and the clock is 1.8 ㎓ and the temperature is 75 ° C., the clock is The measuring unit 102a and the temperature measuring unit 102b transmit the changed 'clock: 1.8 kW, temperature: 75 ° C.' to the selection unit 106.

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

The value of 'clock: 1 ㎓, driving power: 3.0 V' is selected and transferred to the setting unit 108. Then, the clock changing unit 108a and the power changing unit 108b of the setting unit 108 change the clock and 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 kHz to 1 kHz, and the driving power is changed from 3.3 V to 3.0 volts.

The setting unit 108 is configured to apply the changed clock 1 kHz and the driving power 3.3V to the video controller 110. Therefore, the video controller 110 is driven by the clock 1 kHz and the driving power 3.3V changed by the setting unit 108.

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

For example, if the clock of the CPU 100 maintains 1.8 s but the sensed temperature rises from 75 ° C. to 85 ° C., the clock of the video controller 110 is kept at 1 s while the driving power is maintained at 3.0 V. It can be changed to 2.5V.

When the clock of the video controller 110 is changed, the driving power thereof may be changed. In addition, when the driving power of the video controller 110 is changed, the clock may be changed together.

Through this process, since the driving condition of the video controller 110 is optimally changed according to the clock and temperature of the CPU 100, the video controller 110 can expect more efficient driving and can also reduce battery power consumption.

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

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

In order to perform the process of FIG. 3, since the CPU 100 needs to sense an ambient temperature, at least one temperature measuring unit 102b is preferably provided.

First, when the portable computer starts to boot in step 140, in step 142, the clock and the ambient temperature of the CPU 100 are sensed. In this case, when a plurality of ambient temperature values of the CPU 100 are sensed in step 144, the temperature measuring unit 102b may determine the largest or closest value among the plurality of detected temperature values as in step 146. Or the average value of the sensed temperature value or a value close to the average value.

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

Therefore, when the temperature of the CPU 100 is sensed, the storage unit 104 is inspected in operation 148, and the clock and driving power of the video controller 110 corresponding to the changed condition of the CPU 100 in operation 150. Select.

Since the clock or the temperature has been changed in step 152 as described above, step 154 allows the clock and / or driving power of the video controller 110 selected in step 150 to be applied, and in step 156 the clock or / or driving power is applied. And driven by a driving power source.

As described above, the clock and driving power of the video controller 110 may be optimally applied according to the clock and the temperature of the CPU 100.

Meanwhile, when one or more of the clock or driving power of the video controller is changed to stabilize the system, the driving power or clock of the video controller 110 may be changed even if the temperature or clock of the CPU 100 is changed until a predetermined time elapses. It is a good idea not to change it immediately. That is, since the system is composed of electric / electronic devices, if the driving condition is changed and executed at any time, a load for performing the device and the changing process may be unnecessarily generated. This may not be efficient for overall system performance.

Although described with reference to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention as described above, this is merely exemplary, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains various modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will be apparent that other embodiments may be modified and equivalent. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

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

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

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

3 is a flowchart for optimally driving a video controller as a CPU state is changed by another embodiment of the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

100: central processing unit (CPU) 102a: clock measuring unit

102b: temperature measurement unit 106: selection unit

104: storage unit 108: setting unit

108a: clock changing section 108b: power changing section

110: video controller 112: monitor

Claims (16)

Sensing means for sensing a clock and a temperature of a central processing unit (CPU); Storage means for storing the clock and driving power of the video controller in advance in correspondence with the sensed clock and temperature of the CPU; Selecting means for selecting a clock and driving power of the video controller corresponding to the sensed clock and temperature of the central processing unit; And, And a setting means for applying the selected clock and driving power to the video controller. The method of claim 1, The sensing means is a video sensor control device using a CPU clock and the temperature value, characterized in that the thermal sensor (Thermal sensor). The method of claim 1, The setting means includes a clock and a temperature of the video controller based on a clock and a temperature of the central processing unit when the clock and temperature of the central processing unit currently detected and the clock and driving power of the video controller stored in the storage means are different. A video controller control apparatus using a CPU clock and a temperature value, comprising a clock change unit and a power change unit for changing driving power. The method of claim 3, The clock change unit is a video driver, And the power change unit is a power change circuit. The method of claim 4, wherein And the power change circuit is a DC-DC conversion circuit. The method of claim 1, And said setting means changes the clock and driving power of said video controller together based on the clock and temperature of said central processing unit. The method of claim 6, And a clock is changed together when the driving power of the video controller is changed, or the driving power is changed when the clock is changed. The method of claim 1, And the sensing means further comprises at least two temperature sensors for sensing the ambient temperature of the central processing unit. The method of claim 8, When there are a plurality of temperature sensors, the selecting means selects a driving power of the video controller based on sensing data having the highest temperature among the plurality of sensing data detected by the temperature sensor. Video controller control using. The method of claim 8, And a plurality of the temperature sensors, the selecting means selects a driving power of the video controller based on an average value of the temperature data detected by the temperature sensor. Sensing the clock and temperature of the central processing unit (CPU); Selecting clock and driving power values of a video controller corresponding to the sensed clock and temperature from a map table; And, And setting the clock and driving power values of the selected video controller as driving conditions of the video controller. Detecting at least one temperature of a clock of the CPU and a temperature of the periphery of the CPU; Selecting clock and driving power values of a video controller corresponding to the sensed clock and temperature from a map table; And, And applying the clock and driving power values of the selected video controller as driving conditions of the video controller. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein The video controller control method using the CPU clock and the temperature value, characterized in that only one of the clock and the driving power of the video controller can be changed. The method of claim 13, If one or more of the clock or the driving power of the video controller is changed for system stabilization, the video controller control method using a CPU clock and temperature value, characterized in that it is impossible to change again until a predetermined time has elapsed. The method of claim 12, And when more than one temperature is sensed, driving power of a video controller corresponding to temperature data having the highest temperature is selected. The method of claim 15, And a driving power supply matching the average value of the sensed temperatures or a driving power supply closest to the average value is selected.

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