Appeal No. 2006-2707
Application No. 09/749,792
thermal sensor (335) is used to measure the temperature of the
processor (300), which is driven by a clock frequency (330).
Next, a frequency reduction circuit (FRC) (305), upon determining
that the processor temperature has reached a predetermined
threshold, reduces the clock frequency of the processor to
thereby allow the processor to cool off. The FRC (305) also
includes a performance demanding level (PDL) module (311), which
enables the FRC to determine the rate of reduction of the
temperature-related frequency of the processor.
Claim 1 is representative of the claimed invention and is
reproduced as follows:
1. An apparatus for dynamic power control of a
processor based on a thermal condition, comprising:
a sensor to measure a thermal characteristic of a processor
with a clock frequency;
a circuit to reduce the clock frequency of the processor
responsive to the measured thermal characteristic satisfying a
pre-determined threshold, the circuit including a performance
demanding level input to determine a rate of the temperature-
related frequency reduction.
References
The Examiner relies on the following references:
McDermott et al. (McDermott) 5,233,314 Aug. 3, 1993
Georgiou et al. (Georgiou) 5,940,785 Aug. 17, 1999
2
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