Patent Application
20160062421
The present invention generally relates to portable electronic devices and, more particularly, to device-side initiated thermal throttling in computing systems.
Some storage devices may be used for different types of computing systems. For example, solid state drives may be connected (either internally or externally) to desktop computers, laptops or notebooks, or other computing systems. Increasing performance capacity in storage devices may cause overheating in some computing systems. Typically, a storage device must satisfy industry standards (for example, Information Technology Equipment Safety specifications of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 60950-1) for safely operating within a host computing system. The thermal criteria for safely operating a storage device may be stored in the storage device itself. Thermal criteria may include, for example, the temperature limits for operating a computing system safely within the industry or manufacturer's standards. When the operating temperature of the storage device reaches a temperature limit, the storage device may be shut down to prevent overheating. As may be appreciated, shutting down the storage device may cause the entire computing system to fail or to perform at a greatly reduced level. In addition, the thermal output of a storage device may vary when operated, for instance, within a desktop computer as compared to operating in a laptop or notebook computer. The tighter environment in a laptop or notebook computer may trap more heat, causing a “hotspot” that may exceed the safe operating temperature.
One approach to controlling the system's temperature may include a host side initiated control using an application in the host computing device to monitor the thermal output of each subsystem device (for example, a storage device) and to control operation of each device subsystem as needed. However, this approach typically involves using software that is not installed in every host computing device and, thus, only works for those systems that have it stored. In addition, this approach relies on the host's temperature monitoring application to work while the operating system (OS) functions. There are times when the OS may become hung-up and thermal monitoring would not occur, allowing the storage device to continue to operate and build up heat beyond safe standards.
As can be seen, there is a need for reliable control of a storage device's thermal output through controlling its performance.
In one aspect of the present invention, a computing system comprises a host computing device; a storage device connectable to the host computing device; and a controller in the storage device configured to: read a threshold temperature value from the host computing device; and maintain an operating temperature of the storage device below the threshold temperature value.
In another aspect of the present invention, a storage device, comprises a memory device; a temperature sensor; and a controller configured to: throttle an amount of operating performance in the memory device based on a relationship of a detected temperature of the storage device to a threshold temperature value of the host computing device.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reducing the thermal output of a storage device in a host computing device comprises sending to the storage device, one or more threshold temperature values stored in a BIOS of the host computing device; reading a current operating temperature of the storage device; determining whether the current operating temperature of the storage device exceeds the one or more threshold temperature values; and determining an amount of operating performance throttling of the storage device in response to the current operating temperature of the storage device exceeding the one or more threshold temperature values.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.
The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features. However, any single inventive feature may not address any of the problems discussed above or may only address one of the problems discussed above. Furthermore, one or more of the problems discussed above may not be fully addressed by any of the features described below.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention generally provide thermal throttling of a storage device. The storage device may control thermal throttling (device side initiated throttling) as opposed to a host side controlling the throttling. The thermal throttling may be controlled based on information stored in a host computing device connected to the storage device. The storage device may throttle itself to operate at higher or lower operating performance depending on thermal criteria associated with the host computing device in order to avoid operating temperatures exceeding safety standards and to maximize operating uptime of the storage device.
Referring to
The host computing device 110 may include a BIOS 130. The BIOS 130 may include information related to the host computing device 110. The BIOS 130 may include, in its boot files, a safe operating temperature associated with the host computing device 110. Different desktop computers or different laptop computers (host computing devices 110) may have varying operating temperature requirements within their respective device type. Thus, the safe operating temperature stored in the BIOS 130 may depend on the make of the host computing device 110. In an exemplary embodiment, the safe operating temperature may be read by the data storage device 120 and used to control operating performance so that the performance of the storage device 120 is throttled to avoid overheating.
The storage device 120 may include a controller 140, a memory device 150, and a temperature sensor 160. The controller 140 may include firmware 170 with computer executable instructions controlling the operating performance of the data storage device 120. For example, the firmware 170 may receive a current operating temperature of the data storage device 120 detected by the temperature sensor 160. In some embodiments, the firmware 170 may include preset thermal throttling criteria for operation of the data storage device 120. In an exemplary embodiment, the firmware 170 may change the thermal throttling criteria by reading the BIOS 130 to obtain the safe operating temperature associated with the host computing device 110. The safe operating temperature associated with the host computing device 110 may be considered a threshold temperature value in determining whether the operating performance of the data storage device 120 should be increased, maintained, or reduced. The firmware 170 may compare the detected current operating temperature of the data storage device 120 to the threshold temperature value associated with the host computing device 110. The firmware 170 may control operating performance in the data storage device 120 to maintain an operating temperature of the data storage device 120 below the threshold temperature value. If the firmware 170 determines that the detected current operating temperature of the data storage device 120 exceeds the threshold temperature value, then the firmware 170 may direct the controller 140 to throttle operating performance of the data storage device 120. The controller 140 may be configured to control operating performance of the storage device 120, for example, by adjusting the amount of read/write operations performed by the memory device 150 over time (for example, in MB/s). The controller 140 may reduce the amount of read/write operations in the data storage device 120 to throttle down the operating temperature.
Referring now to
For example, in block 210, the system may power on. If the host computing device does not include thermal criteria for thermal throttling the storage device may be set by default to operate at full speed capability. The storage device may, by default, set light throttling to occur at a first temperature threshold value. The storage device may also by default set heavy throttling to occur at a second temperature threshold value. In block 215, a pre-defined command from the host computing device, may set the first temperature threshold value for light throttling and the second temperature threshold value for heavy throttling.
In block 220, the storage device may operate at full performance capability. In block 225, a controller in the storage device may determine whether a detected current temperature of the storage device is above the temperature threshold value for heavy throttling. If the temperature threshold value for heavy throttling is exceeded, then in block 235, the storage device may be operated under heavy throttling. Heavy throttling may be, for example, operating at approximately 5%-10% of full operating performance. The storage device may be operated under heavy throttling until the detected current temperature of the storage device drops by a predetermined amount, for example, by 3° C. (block 240), at which point, the storage device may be operated under light throttling in block 245. Light throttling may be, for example, approximately 50% of full operating performance.
If the determination in block 225 resulted in the detected current temperature of the storage device not exceeding the temperature threshold value for heavy throttling, then, in block 230, the controller may determine whether the detected current temperature of the storage device exceeds the temperature threshold value for light throttling. If the temperature threshold value for light throttling is not exceeded, then the method reverts back to block 220 and the storage device may continue to operate at full performance.
If the determination in block 230 results in the temperature threshold value for light throttling being exceeded, then in block 245, the storage device may be operated under light throttling. In block 250, the controller may determine whether, under light throttling, the current temperature of the storage device has exceeded the temperature threshold value for heavy throttling. If the temperature threshold value for heavy throttling has been exceeded, the storage device may be operated under heavy throttling as described earlier in blocks 235 and 240.
If the temperature threshold value for heavy throttling has not been exceeded in block 250, then the controller may determine in block 255 whether the current operating temperature of the storage device has dropped by a predetermined amount, for example, by 3° C. at which point, the storage device may be operated at full operating performance (block 220).
Referring to
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It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.
