Thermal sensors for stacked dies

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for obtaining temperature values from at least two thermal sensors arranged on resources within a three-dimensional die structure determining at least a partial three-dimensional temperature distribution for said die structure and controlling activity of said resources of said dies in response to said three-dimensional temperature distribution.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising
 obtaining temperature values from at least two thermal sensors arranged on resources within a three-dimensional die structure; 
 determining at least a partial three-dimensional temperature distribution for said die structure; and 
 controlling activity of said resources of said dies in response to said three-dimensional temperature distribution. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said determining includes
 comparing temperature values of said at least two thermal sensors with each other; 
 locating at least one heat source based on said comparing; 
 identifying at least one resource associated with said at least one heat source; and 
 wherein said controlling of activity includes throttling activity at least in said at least one identified resource. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein said activity is throttled if said at least one temperature value associated with said at least one identified resources is above a predefined threshold. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein said identifying includes identifying a resource associated with the highest of said compared temperature values. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a signal indicating a temperature value above a second predefined threshold. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising continuously sensing said temperature values. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 5 , further comprising sensing said temperature values in response to said received signal. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 6 , further comprising selecting a specific sensor to be sensed. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising providing a control sequence signal for switching elements connected to said sensor. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein said switching elements comprise multiplexers. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising
 selecting a specific sensor for evaluation; 
 wherein said obtained temperature values include a selected temperature value sensed by said selected sensor; and 
 wherein said comparing comprises comparing said selected temperature value to at least a further one of said obtained temperature values; and 
 issuing a throttle order for a resource associated with said selected sensor if said selected temperature value is determined to be the highest value in said comparing. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising issuing a throttle request for a defined further resource if a temperature value associated with said further resource is higher than said selected temperature value. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising checking whether a throttle request exists for a selected resource. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising
 comparing a selected temperature value associated with said selected resource to a second temperature value associated with the resource which has issued said throttle request; and 
 issuing a throttle order for said selected resource if said selected temperature value is higher than said second temperature value. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 2 , wherein said throttling is triggered by a binary throttle order associated with a specific resource. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a measure of confidence that at least a selected resource needs to be throttled. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein said measure of confidence is included in a throttle order. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 12 , wherein said throttle request is a binary value associated with a requesting resource. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of said comparing or said throttling is based on information on relative sensor locations within said die structure. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said at least two temperature values are obtained from adjacent sensors within said die structure. 
     
     
       21. A non-transitory computer program product including computer program code which, when executed, causes a device to execute a method according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
       22. A method comprising
 obtaining temperature values from a number of selected thermal sensors located on dies within a three-dimensional die structure; 
 determining at least a partial three-dimensional temperature distribution for said die structure; 
 controlling activity of resources of said dies in response to said three-dimensional temperature distribution. 
 
     
     
       23. A device comprising
 at least two semiconductor dies packaged together in a three-dimensional die structure; 
 at least one thermal sensor located on each of said dies; 
 a control unit connected to and controlling said thermal sensors; 
 wherein said control unit is adapted to obtain temperature values sensed by said thermal sensors; 
 determine at least a partial three-dimensional temperature distribution for said die structure; and 
 issue throttle orders for resources on said dies in dependence of said temperature distribution. 
 
     
     
       24. The device of  claim 23 , wherein said control unit is further adapted to sense a selected thermal sensor. 
     
     
       25. The device of  claim 23 , wherein said control unit is adapted to continuously evaluate at least a part of said thermal sensors, said evaluation including said determining of a temperature distribution and said issuing of throttle orders. 
     
     
       26. The device of  claim 23 , further comprising a memory element configured for storing said throttle orders. 
     
     
       27. The device of  claim 23 , further comprising a memory element configured for storing said temperature values or said temperature distribution. 
     
     
       28. The device of  claim 23 , further comprising switching elements coupled between said control unit and said thermal sensors, said switching elements being configured for selecting a specific thermal sensor. 
     
     
       29. The device of  claim 28 , wherein said switching elements comprise multiplexers. 
     
     
       30. The device of  claim 28 , wherein said switching elements are arranged such that only a single sensor at a time is connected to said control unit. 
     
     
       31. The device of  claim 23 , said device further including a sensing unit. 
     
     
       32. The device of  claim 31 , wherein said sensing unit comprises an analog-to-digital converter. 
     
     
       33. The device of  claim 23 , wherein said thermal sensor comprises a thermal diode. 
     
     
       34. The device of  claim 31 , wherein said sensing unit is coupled to a compensation unit configured for modifying values sensed by said sensing unit. 
     
     
       35. The device of claim  31  34, wherein said sensing unit or said compensation unit are is coupled to a comparator configured for comparing values sensed by said sensing unit. 
     
     
       36. The device of claim  31  35, wherein said control unit includes at least one of said sensing unit, said compensation unit and or said comparator. 
     
     
       37. The device of  claim 23 , wherein said control unit is implemented via configured to use software code. 
     
     
       38. A method comprising:
 obtaining temperature values from at least two thermal sensors arranged in proximity to resources within a three-dimensional die structure;   performing one or more comparisons of the temperature values to each other; and   controlling activity of one or more of the resources in response to the one or more comparisons.   
     
     
       39. The method of claim 38, wherein said performing includes:
 locating at least one heat source based on said one or more comparisons;   identifying at least one resource associated with said at least one heat source; and   wherein said controlling activity includes throttling activity at least in said at least one identified resource.   
     
     
       40. The method of claim 39, wherein said activity is throttled if said at least one temperature value associated with said at least one identified resources is above a predefined threshold. 
     
     
       41. The method of claim 39, wherein said identifying includes identifying a resource associated with the highest of the compared temperature values. 
     
     
       42. The method of claim 39, wherein at least one of said comparing or said throttling is based on information on relative sensor locations within the die structure. 
     
     
       43. The method of claim 38, further comprising receiving a signal indicating a temperature value above a second predefined threshold. 
     
     
       44. The method of claim 43, further comprising sensing said temperature values in response to said received signal. 
     
     
       45. The method of claim 38, further comprising continuously sensing said temperature values. 
     
     
       46. The method of claim 44, further comprising:
 selecting a specific sensor to be sensed and   providing a control sequence signal for switching elements connected to said specific sensor.   
     
     
       47. The method of claim 38, further comprising
 selecting a specific sensor for evaluation;   wherein the obtained temperature values include a specific sensor temperature value sensed by the specific sensor; and   wherein said performing comprises comparing said specific sensor temperature value to at least a further one of the obtained temperature values; and   issuing a throttle order for a resource associated with the specific sensor if the specific sensor temperature value is determined to be the highest value in said comparing.   
     
     
       48. The method of claim 47, further comprising issuing a throttle request for a defined further resource if a temperature value associated with the further resource is higher than the specific sensor temperature value. 
     
     
       49. The method of claim 38, further comprising:
 checking whether a throttle request exists for a selected resource;   comparing a selected temperature value associated with the selected resource to a second temperature value associated with the resource which has issued said throttle request; and   issuing a throttle order for the selected resource if the selected temperature value is higher than the second temperature value.   
     
     
       50. The method of claim 38, further comprising determining a measure of confidence that at least a selected resource needs to be throttled. 
     
     
       51. The method of claim 50, wherein the measure of confidence is include in a throttle order. 
     
     
       52. A device comprising:
 at least two semiconductor dies packaged together in a three-dimensional die structure;   at least one thermal sensor located on each of said dies;   a control unit connected to and configured to control the thermal sensors;   wherein the control unit is further configured to:
 obtain temperature values from at least two thermal sensors arranged in proximity to resources within the three-dimensional die structure; 
 perform one or more comparisons of the temperature values to each other; and 
 control activity of one or more of the resources in response to the one or more comparisons. 
   
     
     
       53. The device of claim 52, wherein the control unit is further configured to sense a selected thermal sensor. 
     
     
       54. The device of claim 52, wherein the control unit is configured to continuously evaluate at least a subset of the thermal sensors, said evaluation including the performing of comparisons and the controlling activity of one or more of the resources. 
     
     
       55. The device of claim 52, further comprising one or more memory elements configured to store at least one of throttle orders issued in conjunction with the controlling activity of one or more of the resources or the temperature values. 
     
     
       56. The device of claim 52, further comprising switching elements coupled between the control unit and the thermal sensors, the switching elements being configured to select a specific thermal sensor. 
     
     
       57. The device of claim 56, wherein one or more of the switching elements comprises a multiplexer. 
     
     
       58. The device of claim 56, wherein the switching elements are arranged such that only a single sensor at a time is connected to the control unit. 
     
     
       59. The device of claim 52, further including a sensing unit. 
     
     
       60. The device of claim 59, wherein the sensing unit comprises an analog-to-digital converter. 
     
     
       61. The device of claim 59, wherein the sensing unit is coupled to a compensation unit configured to modify values sensed by the sensing unit. 
     
     
       62. The device of claim 61, wherein at least one of the sensing unit or the compensation unit is coupled to a comparator configured to compare values sensed by the sensing unit. 
     
     
       63. The device of claim 62, wherein the control unit includes at least one of the sensing unit, the compensation unit, or the comparator. 
     
     
       64. The device of claim 52, wherein at least one said thermal sensor comprises a thermal diode. 
     
     
       65. A non-transitory computer program product including computer program code that, if executed by a device, causes the device to implement operations comprising:
 obtaining temperature values from at least two thermal sensors arranged in proximity to resources within a three-dimensional die structure;   performing one or more comparisons of the temperature values to each other; and   controlling activity of one or more of the resources in response to the one or more comparisons.   
     
     
       66. The computer program product of claim 65, wherein said performing includes:
 locating at least one heat source based on said one or more comparisons;   identifying at least one resource associated with said at least one heat source; and   wherein said controlling activity includes throttling activity at least in said at least one identified resource.   
     
     
       67. The computer program product of claim 66, wherein said activity is throttled if said at least one temperature value associated with said at least one identified resources is above a predefined threshold. 
     
     
       68. The computer program product of claim 66, wherein said identifying includes identifying a resource associated with the highest of the compared temperature values. 
     
     
       69. The computer program product of claim 66, wherein at least one of said comparing or said throttling is based on information on relative sensor locations within the die structure. 
     
     
       70. The computer program product of claim 65, the operations further comprising receiving a signal indicating a temperature value above a second predefined threshold. 
     
     
       71. The computer program product of claim 70, the operations further comprising sensing said temperature values in response to said received signal. 
     
     
       72. The computer program product of claim 65, the operations further comprising continuously sensing said temperature values. 
     
     
       73. The computer program product of claim 72, the operations further comprising:
 selecting a specific sensor to be sensed; and   providing a control sequence signal for switching elements connected to said sensor.   
     
     
       74. The computer program product of claim 65, the operations further comprising
 selecting a specific sensor for evaluation;   wherein the obtained temperature values include a specific sensor temperature value sensed by the specific sensor; and   wherein said performing comprises comparing said specific sensor temperature value to at least a further one of the obtained temperature values; and   issuing a throttle order for a resource associated with the specific sensor if the specific sensor temperature value is determined to be the highest value in said comparing.   
     
     
       75. The computer program product of claim 74, the operations further comprising issuing a throttle request for a defined further resource if a temperature value associated with the further resource is higher than the specific sensor temperature value. 
     
     
       76. The computer program product of claim 65, the operations further comprising:
 checking whether a throttle request exists for a selected resource;   comparing a selected temperature value associated with the selected resource to a second temperature value associated with the resource which has issued said throttle request; and   issuing a throttle order for the selected resource if the selected temperature value is higher than the second temperature value.   
     
     
       77. The computer program product of claim 65, the operations further comprising determining a measure of confidence that at least a selected resource needs to be throttled. 
     
     
       78. The computer program product of claim 77, wherein the measure of confidence is included in a throttle order.