The temperature for an electronic apparatus is highly regarded, since a high temperature may affect the performance of the electronic apparatus, or makes the user feel un-comfortable, or even burns the user.
Therefore, the temperature of the electronic apparatus should be carefully controlled. For example, following IEC 62368-1, Audio/Video, Information Technology and Communication Technology Equipment—Part 1: Safety Requirement, the touch temperature limit for touchable surfaces is 48° C.
However, if the temperature of the electronic apparatus is desired to be decreased, the whole performance of the electronic apparatus is always suppressed to decrease the temperature.
Therefore, one objective of the present invention is to provide a thermal management method can adjust only few devices of the electronic system to control the temperature.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an electronic system that can adjust only few devices thereof to control the temperature.
One embodiment of the present application is to provide a thermal management method comprising: (a) acquiring at least one device parameter for at least one first device of the image/video processing module; and (b) adjusting at least one operating parameter for at least one second device of the image/video processing module according to the device parameter to control a temperature of the image/video processing module.
Another embodiment of the present application is to provide an electronic system with a thermal control mechanism, which comprises: an image/video processing module, configured to process at least one image or video data; a parameter acquiring device, configured to acquire at least one device parameter for at least one first device of the image/video processing module; and a thermal management device, configured to adjust at least one operating parameter for at least one second device of the image/video processing module according to the device parameter to control a temperature of the image/video processing module.
In view of above-mentioned embodiments, the temperature can be controlled via adjusting only a few devices, thus the performance for whole electronic apparatus would not greatly decrease.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
The parameter acquiring device 103 can acquire at least one device parameter DP corresponding to a first device in the image/video processing module 101. The thermal management device 105 adjusts at least one operating parameter for a second device of the image/video processing module 101 according to the device parameter DP. In one embodiment of this invention, the thermal management device 105 may perform such adjustment without adjusting any setting or configuration of a central processing unit (CPU) of the electronic system 100. In another embodiment of this invention, the thermal management device 105 may further perform such adjustment to the setting or configuration of the CPU of the electronic system 100. Please note the first device and the second device can be the same device, and can be different devices as well. For example, the first device and the second device are the same memory device. Alternatively, in another example, the first device is a single image decoder, but the second device is a display processor. In some other embodiments, if the number of the first device or the second device is more than one, part of the device may be the same.
The device parameter DP may include a consequence parameter representing or indicating its temperatures, for example, a temperature, a current value, power consumption, a signal delay value which is related to temperature variation, or any other kind of consequence parameter related to temperatures. In such example, directly according to the device parameter DP, the thermal management device 105 adjusts the operating parameter. In some embodiments, the relation between the temperature variation and the signal delay value may be utilized. For example, the signal delay for an inverter chain may be dependent upon temperature. In detail, the signal delay for the inverter chain may increase as the temperature increases. Accordingly, the temperature may be determined based on a measured signal delay of an inverter chain of the first device.
Alternatively, the device parameter DP may include a configuration parameter related to the temperature, for example, a frame rate, an exposure value, a frame resolution, an operating speed, or any other kind of configuration parameter related to the temperature. In such example, the thermal management device 105 may compute or anticipate the temperature related value according to the device parameter DP first, and then adjusts the operating parameter accordingly. However, directly according to the configuration parameter DP, the thermal management device 105 may also adjust the operating parameter.
Corresponding to different device parameters, the parameter acquiring device 103 may comprise different structures or configurations. For example, if the device parameter DP includes a temperature, the parameter acquiring device 103 may include a thermal sensor. Also, if the device parameter DP includes a frame rate, the parameter acquiring device 103 may access the settings or configurations for the first device in the image/video processing module 101. For example, access configuration of the frame rate in a decoder in the image/video processing module 101.
The operating parameter to be adjusted may include an operating speed, any configuration parameter (such as a frame rate, an exposure value, a frame resolution, a brightness value, an operating voltage or any other configuration parameter), any parameter about operating the second device, or combination thereof.
Please note the device parameter DP and the operating parameter are not limited to above-mentioned examples. Further examples for the device parameter DP and the operating parameter will be explained later.
The image sensor 401 is configured to sense images (e.g. taking pictures). The image signal processor 403 is configured to process image signals from the image sensor 401. The single image encoder 405 and the single image decoder 407 are applied to process independent images (e.g. pictures) for image encoding and decoding respectively. Also, the micro control unit 408 is configured to control the operations for devices in the image/video processing module 101. The video encoder 409, the video decoder 411 are applied to process video data comprising a plurality of images (e.g. video stream) for video encoding and decoding respectively. The display processor 413 is configured to process images or video data from the image signal processor 403, the single image decoder 407 the video decoder 411 or the graphic engine 417, to generate images or video data that can be displayed on the display panel 421. The memory device 415 (e.g. a DRAM) is configured to store images or video data, and the stored images or video data can be accessed and displayed on the display panel 421. The graphic engine 417 is configured to draw an image. The panel driver IC 419 is configured to drive the display panel 421.
If the image/video processing module 101 is applied to process video data, the devices that tend to generate thermal may include: the video decoder 411, the display processor 413, the memory device 415, the panel driver IC 419, the display panel 421 or combination thereof. Therefore, these devices are applied as examples in the embodiments depicted in
Step 501
Start
Step 503
Image/video processing module 101 may be enabled.
Step 505
Process a group of pixels (e.g. decode). The pixels can be received from the memory device 415, or from any other source inside or outside the image/video processing module 101.
Step 507
Measure or receive the current value (i.e. the above-mentioned device parameter) of the image/video processing module 101. Please note, in some embodiments of step 507, the current value for only one first device of the image/video processing module 101 may be measured or received, or a current amount for several first devices of the image/video processing module 101 may be measured or received. In some embodiments of step 507, if the image/video processing module 101 is enabled to process video data, the current value for the video decoder 411, the display processor 413, the memory device 415 or combination thereof may be measured or received. In some other embodiments of the step 507, the current value of the battery may be measured or received to represent the current value of the image/video processing module 101.
Step 509
Determine if the current measured or received in the step 507 is over a current threshold value or not. If yes, go to step 511, if not, go to step 513.
Step 511
Lower the operating speed (i.e. the above-mentioned operating parameter) for a second device of the image/video processing module 101. In one embodiment of step 511, the second device of the image/video processing module 101 may mean at least one of: the video processor 411, the display processor 413, the memory device 415, the panel driver IC 419 and the display panel 421.
Step 513
Increase or keep the operating speed for a second device of the image/video processing module 101. In one embodiment of step 513, the second device of the image/video processing module 101 may mean at least one of: the video processor 411, the display processor 413, the memory device 415, the panel driver IC 419 and the display panel 421.
In one embodiment, several current threshold values can be provided, such as
Step 515
If the operation of processing pixels ends may be determined. If yes, go to step 517, if not, go back to the step 505.
Step 517
End.
Since the current measured or received in the step 507 is a parameter representing or indicating the temperature, thus the step 507 can be regarded as an embodiment for “acquiring device parameter representing or indicating temperature”. In other embodiments, a temperature, a current value, a signal delay value which is related to temperature variation, any other device parameter representing or indicating the temperature or combination thereof may be acquired.
In another embodiment, the step 507 is replaced with a step for “acquiring device parameter related to the temperature”. For example, acquire a frame rate, an exposure value, a frame resolution, an operating speed, or any other parameter related to the temperature. In such embodiment, the step 509 is correspondingly replaced by another step. For example, if the step 507 is replaced by a step of acquiring a frame resolution, the step 509 is replaced by a step of “determining if the frame resolution is over a resolution threshold value”.
For such embodiment, several resolution threshold values may be provided as well. As shown in following Table 1, several resolution threshold values are provided, and the operating speed may be adjusted to different values corresponding to which range the frame resolution located in. For example, but not limitation, when resolution is high, temperature may also go high. Therefore, when resolution is high, a low operating speed is set.
In
In the embodiment of
In the embodiments of
In the embodiments of
In the embodiments of
In the embodiments of
If the image/video processing module is applied to process an image rather than video data, the devices that tend to generate thermal may include: the image decoder 407, the display processor 413, the memory device 415, the panel driver IC 419, the display panel 421 or combination thereof, as depicted in
Please refer to
In the embodiments of
In the embodiments of
In the embodiments of
In the embodiments of
In the embodiments of
In the embodiments of
In above-mentioned embodiments, the operating parameters are adjusted based on the temperature or parameters representing or indicating the temperature (e.g. current). However, as above-mentioned the operating parameters can be adjusted according to a device parameter related to the temperature. In one embodiment, the operating speed of the image decoder or any other device of the image/video processing module are adjusted according to the frame resolution, since displaying frames with high resolutions may generate much thermal. In another embodiment, the brightness value of the display panel is adjusted according to the frame resolution.
In view of above-mentioned embodiments, a thermal management method for controlling a temperature of an image/video processing module can be acquired. The method comprises: (a) acquiring at least one device parameter corresponding to at least one first device of the image/video processing module; and (b) adjusting at least one operating parameter for at least one second device of the image/video processing module according to the device parameter. The device parameter and the operating parameter can have various combinations, depending on which device of the image/video processing module is adjusted, as above mentioned.
In view of above-mentioned embodiments, the temperature can be controlled via adjusting only a few devices of the image/video processing module, thus the performance for whole electronic apparatus would not greatly decrease. In some embodiments, the image/video processing module may be implemented as part of a device for displaying a photo gallery, video playback or providing any other image/video related functions.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/011,189, filed on Jun. 12, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2015/081373 | 6/12/2015 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62011189 | Jun 2014 | US |