Patent Application
20150241092
1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure is directed to heat flow control.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of cases, the max thermal power budget is limited by a hot spot. This can result in poor surface temperature uniformity, which in turn leads to a small thermal power budget and lowered system performance. Thermal Interface Material (TIM) and air gap can have different impacts on thermal performance at skin as well as junction. Various temperature limit levels can depend on the hardware nearby, the point of contact with the user, etc. For example, the temperature thresholds may be skin (45C), memory (85C), and CPU (105-120C). Hot spots can also change with use. For example, the processor and memory while a user is gaming, the camera module when a user is recording a video, the transmitter when a user is making a call, etc.
The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion of temperature differences to electric voltage and vice versa. A thermoelectric device creates voltage when there is a different temperature on each side. Conversely, when a voltage is applied to it, it creates a temperature difference. At the atomic scale, an applied temperature gradient causes charge carriers in the material to diffuse from the hot side to the cold side.
The Peltier effect can be used to create a refrigerator which is compact and has no circulating fluid or moving parts; such refrigerators are useful in applications where their advantages outweigh the disadvantage of their very low efficiency. A Peltier cooler, heater, or thermoelectric heat pump is a solid-state active heat pump which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other, with consumption of electrical energy, depending on the direction of the current. Such an instrument is also called a Peltier device, Peltier heat pump, solid state refrigerator, or thermoelectric cooler.
This disclosure is directed to active heat flow control in a mobile system.
For example, an exemplary embodiment is directed to a method for controlling heat flow in a mobile system, the method comprising: determining a temperature value for each of at least one temperature sensors; determining a delta value of the temperature value and a temperature threshold at each of the a plurality of locations; mapping each delta value to a thermoelectric module; calculating a heat flow direction signal to minimize positive delta values using at least one of the following: a system level model and an IC level thermal model; and transmitting the heat flow direction signal to at least one thermoelectric module, wherein the thermoelectric module is associated with more than one temperature sensor.
Another exemplary embodiment is directed to a heat flow control apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a memory, the memory comprising: a temperature data module for determining a temperature value for each of at least one temperature sensors, a comparing module for determining a delta value of the temperature value and a temperature threshold at each of the a plurality of locations, a mapping module for mapping each delta value to a thermoelectric module, and a heat flow direction module for calculating a heat flow direction signal to minimize positive delta values using at least one of the following: a system level model and an IC level thermal model; and a processor for transmitting the heat flow direction signal to at least one thermoelectric module, wherein the thermoelectric module is associated with more than one temperature sensor.
Still another exemplary embodiment is directed to a heat flow control apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a memory, the memory comprising: means for determining a temperature value for each of at least one temperature sensors, means for determining a delta value of the temperature value and a temperature threshold at each of the a plurality of locations, means for mapping each delta value to a thermoelectric module, means for calculating a heat flow direction signal to minimize positive delta values using at least one of the following: a system level model and an IC level thermal model; and means for transmitting the heat flow direction signal to at least one thermoelectric module, wherein the thermoelectric module is associated with more than one temperature sensor.
A more complete appreciation of aspects of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which are presented solely for illustration and not limitation of the disclosure, and in which:
Various aspects are disclosed in the following description and related drawings. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.
The words “exemplary” and/or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and/or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.
Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequence of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon execution would cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.
The mobile station 100 may include one or more wide area network (WAN) transceiver(s) 104 that may be connected to one or more antennas 102. The WAN transceiver 104 comprises suitable devices, hardware, and/or software for communicating with and/or detecting signals to/from WAN-WAPs, and/or directly with other wireless devices within a network. In one aspect, the WAN transceiver 104 may comprise a CDMA communication system suitable for communicating with a CDMA network of wireless base stations; however in other aspects, the wireless communication system may comprise another type of cellular telephony network, such as, for example, TDMA or GSM. Additionally, any other type of wide area wireless networking technologies may be used, for example, WiMAX (802.16), etc. The mobile station 100 may also include one or more local area network (LAN) transceivers 106 that may be connected to one or more antennas 102. The LAN transceiver 106 comprises suitable devices, hardware, and/or software for communicating with and/or detecting signals to/from LAN-WAPs, and/or directly with other wireless devices within a network. In one aspect, the LAN transceiver 106 may comprise a WLAN (802.11x) communication system suitable for communicating with one or more wireless access points; however in other aspects, the LAN transceiver 106 comprise another type of local area network, personal area network, (e.g., Bluetooth). Additionally, any other type of wireless networking technologies may be used, for example, Ultra Wide Band, ZigBee, wireless USB etc.
As used herein, the abbreviated term “wireless access point” (WAP) may be used to refer to LAN-WAPs and/or WAN-WAPs. Specifically, in the description presented below, when the term “WAP” is used, it should be understood that embodiments may include a mobile station 100 that can exploit signals from a plurality of LAN-WAPs, a plurality of WAN-WAPs, or any combination of the two. The specific type of WAP being utilized by the mobile station 100 may depend upon the environment of operation. Moreover, the mobile station 100 may dynamically select between the various types of WAPs in order to arrive at an accurate position solution. In other embodiments, various network elements may operate in a peer-to-peer manner, whereby, for example, the mobile station 100 may be replaced with the WAP, or vice versa. Other peer-to-peer embodiments may include another mobile station (not shown) acting in place of one or more WAP. An SPS receiver 108 may also be included in the mobile station 100. The SPS receiver 108 may be connected to the one or more antennas 102 for receiving satellite signals.
A heat flow control memory 114 may be coupled to a processor 110 to control heat flow using thermoelectric layers. The heat flow control memory 114 can comprise a temperature data module 126, a threshold database 124, a comparing module 118, a mapping module 128, and a heat flow direction module 116. In some embodiments, the temperature data module 126 can receive data from at least on temperature sensor and determine the temperature from that data. The comparing module 118 can determine a delta value of the temperature and a temperature threshold, which can be provided from the threshold database 124. The mapping module 128 can map the delta value to thermal module. The heat flow direction module 118 can then calculate a heat flow direction signal to minimize positive delta values. The heat flow control memory 114 can then transmit the heat flow direction signal to at least one thermoelectric module. The method In some embodiments, the heat flow control memory 114 can operate using real-time data.
The processor 110 may include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, and/or digital signal processors that provide processing functions, as well as other calculation and control functionality. The processor 110 may also include heat flow control memory 114 for storing data and software instructions for executing programmed functionality within the mobile station 100. The heat flow control memory 114 may be on-board the processor 110 (e.g., within the same IC package), and/or the memory 114 may be external memory to the processor 110 and functionally coupled over a data bus. The functional details associated with aspects of the disclosure will be discussed in more detail below.
A number of software modules and data tables may reside in heat flow control memory 114 and be utilized by the processor 110 in order to manage both communications and positioning determination functionality. Memory 114 may include and/or otherwise receive a heat flow direction module 116, a comparing module 118, and a mapping module 128. One should appreciate that the organization of the memory contents as shown in
While the modules shown in
The processor 110 may include any form of logic suitable for performing at least the techniques provided herein. For example, the processor 110 may be operatively configurable based on instructions in the heat flow control memory 114 to selectively initiate one or more routines that exploit heat flow control data for use in other portions of the mobile device.
The mobile station 100 may include a user interface 150 which provides any suitable interface systems, such as a microphone/speaker 152, keypad 154, and display 156 that allows user interaction with the mobile station 100. The microphone/speaker 152 provides for voice communication services using the WAN transceiver 104 and/or the LAN transceiver 106. The keypad 154 comprises any suitable buttons for user input. The display 156 comprises any suitable display, such as, for example, a backlit LCD display, and may further include a touch screen display for additional user input modes.
As used herein, the mobile station 100 may be any portable or movable device or machine that is configurable to acquire wireless signals transmitted from, and transmit wireless signals to, one or more wireless communication devices or networks. By way of example but not limitation, the mobile station 100 may include a radio device, a cellular telephone device, a computing device, a personal communication system (PCS) device, or other like movable wireless communication equipped device, appliance, or machine. Also, “mobile station” is intended to include all devices, including wireless devices, computers, laptops, etc. which are capable of communication with a server, such as via the Internet, WLAN, or other network, and regardless of whether satellite signal reception, assistance data reception, and/or position-related processing occurs at the device, at a server, or at another device associated with the network. Any operable combination of the above is also considered a “mobile station.”
As used herein, the term “wireless device” may refer to any type of wireless communication device which may transfer information over a network and also have position determination and/or navigation functionality. The wireless device may be any cellular mobile terminal, personal communication system (PCS) device, personal navigation device, laptop, personal digital assistant, or any other suitable mobile device capable of receiving and processing network and/or SPS signals.
As illustrated in
In some embodiments, the thermoelectric arrays 202, 204, 206 can have different module locations and patterns. Each of the thermoelectric modules 202A, 202B, 202C can receive a heat flow direction signal. In some embodiments, the heat flow direction signal can transmit one of four states: off, light cooling, strong cooling, and reverse cooling.
As illustrated in
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In some embodiments, a current temperature threshold for one location can be different than a current temperature threshold for another location. For example, the temperature threshold for the middle of the mobile system can be lower than the temperature threshold for the top case or bottom case. Conversely, the top and bottom cases may have lower temperature thresholds so as not to injure the user.
In some embodiments, at least one thermoelectric module can be positioned to the outer portion of the device. For example, a mobile system can comprise a thermoelectric module accessory and a mobile device.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.
Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in an electronic object. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.
In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes CD, laser disc, optical disc, DVD, floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.
