Method and apparatus for external processor thermal control

Abstract

A system and method for throttling a slave component of a computer system to reduce an overall temperature of the computing system upon receiving a first signal is disclosed. The first signal may be from a master component indicating that a temperature for the master component has exceeded its threshold temperature. The slave component or the master component may be a central processing unit, a graphics memory and controller hub, or a central processing unit memory controller hub. The slave component may send a second signal to indicate that a temperature for the slave component has exceeded its temperature. The master component would then initiate throttling of the master component to reduce the overall temperature of the computing system. The master component may be throttled to a degree less than the slave component. A first component may be designated the master component and the second component may be designated the slave component based on a selection policy. The selection policy may be received from a user through a graphical user interface. The selection policy may be based on an action being performed by the computing system.

1 . A method comprising: 
 receiving in a slave component a first signal from a master component indicating that a temperature for the master component has exceeded a master threshold temperature; and    throttling the slave component to reduce an overall temperature of the computing system.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 sending to the master component a second signal from the slave component indicating that a temperature for the slave component has exceeded a slave threshold temperature to initiate throttling of the master component to reduce the overall temperature of the computing system.    
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising throttling the master component to a degree less than the slave component.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 selecting a first component to be the master component based on a selection policy; and    selecting a second component to be the slave component based on a selection policy.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising allowing a user to create the selection policy.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the selection policy is determined by an action being performed by the computing system.  
   
   
       7 . A set of instructions residing in a storage medium, said set of instructions to be executed by a processor to implement a method for processing data, the method comprising: 
 receiving at a pin of a slave component a first signal from a master component indicating that a temperature for the master component has exceeded a master threshold temperature; and    throttling the slave component to reduce an overall temperature of the computing system.    
   
   
       8 . The set of instructions of  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 sending to the master component a second signal from the slave component indicating that a temperature for the slave component has exceeded a slave threshold temperature to initiate throttling of the master component to reduce the overall temperature of the computing system.    
   
   
       9 . The set of instructions of  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 selecting a first component to be the master component based on a selection policy; and    selecting a second component to be the slave component based on a selection policy.    
   
   
       10 . The set of instructions of  claim 9 , wherein the selection policy is determined by an action being performed by the computing system.  
   
   
       11 . A slave component of a computing system comprising: 
 a slave throttling hardware to throttle the slave component; upon receiving; and    a throttling control logic to activate the slave throttling hardware of the slave component upon receiving a first signal from a master component that shares a cooling system with the slave component, the signal indicating that a temperature for the master component has exceeded a master threshold temperature.    
   
   
       12 . The slave component of  claim 11 , wherein the master component and the slave component are each one of a central processing unit, a graphics memory and controller hub, or a central processing unit memory controller hub.  
   
   
       13 . The slave component of  claim 11 , further comprising a first slave pin to receive the first signal.  
   
   
       14 . The slave component of  claim 13 , further comprising: 
 a thermal sensor to read a temperature for the slave component; and    a second slave pin to send a second signal from the slave component indicating that a temperature for the slave component has exceeded a slave threshold temperature to induce throttling of the master component.    
   
   
       15 . A computing system comprising: 
 a first component including: 
 a first component throttling hardware to throttle the first component; and  
 a first throttling control logic to activate the first throttling hardware of the first component upon receiving a first signal;  
   a second component including: 
 a second component thermal sensor to sense a temperature of the second component; and  
 a second throttling control logic to send the first signal indicating that the temperature of the second component has exceeded a second threshold temperature; and  
   a shared cooling solution to cool the first component and the second component.    
   
   
       16 . The computing system of  claim 15 , wherein the first component and the second component are each one of a central processing unit, a graphics memory and controller hub, or a central processing unit memory controller hub.  
   
   
       17 . The computing system of  claim 15 , wherein 
 the first component further includes a first component thermal sensor to read a temperature for the slave component;    the second component further includes a second component throttling hardware to throttle the second component; and    the first throttling control logic sends a second signal to the second throttling control logic to throttle the second component.    
   
   
       18 . The computing system of  claim 17 , wherein the first throttling control logic and the second throttling control logic select the first component to be a master component and the second component to be a slave component based on a selection policy.  
   
   
       19 . The computing system of  claim 18 , further comprising a graphical user interface to allow a user to create the selection policy.  
   
   
       20 . The computing system of  claim 18 , wherein the selection policy is determined by an action being performed by the computing system.  
   
   
       21 . The computing system of  claim 17 , wherein 
 the first component further includes a first receiving pin to receive the first signal and a first transmitting pin to send the second signal; and    the second component further includes a second receiving pin to receive the second signal and a second transmitting pin to send the first signal.    
   
   
       22 . The computing system of  claim 17 , further comprising a front side bus coupling the first component to the second component to communicate the first signal and the second signal.