Appeal No. 1997-3792
Application No. 08/321,334
embodiment of the invention in FIG. 1 maintains no more than
one time interval of the CPU running "hot" for every interval
of the CPU running "cool"; thus, the ratio of time running
"hot" to time running "cool" is approximately
equal to or less than one (col. 6, lines 8-14). This is
described as a power use ratio of 50% (col. 6, line 53).
The embodiment of Figures 2a and 2b is responsive, via
multiplexer 229, to status lines representing CPU bus speed
(CPUCLKHI) and bus activity (BUSACTV) (col. 7, lines 12-22).
Line BUSACTV is high when there is bus activity (col. 7, line
68 to col. 8, line 1).
The Figure 4 embodiment includes a heat generation sensor
402 (responsive to status lines 401), an excess heat counter
405, and a cooling trigger 407 (col. 9, lines 8-31). When the
counter reaches a count indicating that the circuit to be
protected has reached a particular temperature, cooling
trigger 407 issues a "cooling trigger" signal on line 408 to
force the circuit that is being monitored to cool, such as by
"reduc[ing] the clock speed of the circuit" (col. 9, lines 31-
35).
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