CN1979442A - Operation monitoring device for hardware components - Google Patents

Abstract

A monitoring device for the operation of hardware element features that the pulse width modulation module is used to detect the variation of load current generated by the operation of hardware element to generate voltage variation, and the monitoring unit is used to detect the voltage variation and output the result to system. Therefore, when the load of the hardware element is increased, the load current is changed accordingly, so that the control unit changes the generated reference voltage, and further modulates the output voltage provided by the pulse width modulation module to the hardware element, so that the output voltage conforms to the execution state of the hardware element and the performance of the hardware element is improved.

Description

Operation monitoring device for hardware components

technical field

The invention relates to a device for monitoring the operation of hardware components, in particular for adjusting the voltage and core frequency required by the hardware components according to the load current corresponding to the operation of the hardware components.

Background technique

With the rapid development of science and technology, people rely more and more on the use of information processing devices, ranging from national government and enterprise systems to small families and individuals. In order to facilitate and improve work efficiency, the operating frequency of the relative information processing system is also increasing. promote.

Therefore, it is one of the most commonly used methods at present to make the information processing system play the best performance through over/under frequency of computer accessories or interface devices. Taking the display card as an example, there is a graphic processing unit (GPU) on the display card, which is specially used to process two-dimensional and three-dimensional images, and synchronizes operations such as instruction execution and memory access through clock signals. . Therefore, when the frequency of these clock signals is artificially increased, the performance of the graphics card can be improved.

Known methods for adjusting the operating frequency (clock frequency) of the display card, namely the so-called "overclocking" or "underclocking", are mostly adjusted by the user through manual operation. In other words, the overclocking of the graphics card usually requires the user to manually adjust the core frequency and memory frequency of the graphics card through application software. Wherein, adjusting the core frequency means overclocking/downclocking the core of the GPU, which is similar to overclocking/downclocking the internal frequency of a central processing unit (central processing unit; CPU). Adjusting the frequency of the video memory is to increase/decrease the access speed of the graphics cache, so as to reduce the bottleneck effect of the memory. This aspect is the same as adjusting the external frequency of the motherboard to obtain greater memory bandwidth.

However, before manually adjusting the operating frequency, the user must refer to the instructions in the manual and cooperate with the settings of other peripheral components to successfully perform the frequency adjustment work. Not only is the operation procedure quite cumbersome, but also the It is easy to cause FM errors. When the frequency adjustment is excessive or insufficient, it will often cause an additional burden on the operation, which in turn will cause unnecessary wear and tear on the relevant hardware components, resulting in a shortened service life. Furthermore, when performing manual frequency adjustment, after overclocking, if the user does not perform frequency down again, the graphics card must be used in an overclocked state all the time, which not only consumes power, but may also shorten the life of the graphics card .

Therefore, at present, many people engaged in related research and development are working on how to automatically and dynamically adjust the operating parameters of hardware components during dynamic execution, so as to avoid human intervention, thereby reducing the occurrence of component wear and tear, and keeping computer accessories or interface devices always at the most optimal state. Optimal state, in order to play the greatest operational efficiency. However, as can be seen from the above, in the process of adjusting the operating parameters of hardware components, how to provide accurate reference setting values will be a key point to achieve automatic and dynamic adjustment. Therefore, how to provide an accurate setting value is also an extremely important research topic in this related research and development field.

Contents of the invention

In view of the above problems, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide an operation monitoring device for hardware components, which solves the problem that the prior art cannot automatically and dynamically adjust the parameters and the required reference setting values when the hardware components are in operation. This improves the performance of hardware components and increases the control of their protection mechanisms.

Therefore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the operation monitoring device of the hardware component disclosed in the present invention is used to regulate the output voltage provided to the hardware component, wherein the hardware component operates in a system, and the operation monitoring device includes a pulse width modulation module , monitoring unit and control unit.

Here, the pulse width modulation module is used to generate the output voltage/current to the hardware components according to the reference voltage, and detect the load current change caused by the operation of the hardware components, so as to generate the voltage variation to the monitoring unit for detection, so as to output The detection result is sent to the system, and the system will send the monitoring signal back to the monitoring unit according to the detection result, and the monitoring unit will generate a modulation signal in response to the monitoring unit, so that the control unit will generate a new reference voltage according to the modulation signal, and then the pulse The width modulation module modulates its output voltage accordingly. In other words, when the load of hardware components increases, the relative current consumption will also increase, so the load current output by the pulse width modulation module will change, which is used as a reference to enable the control unit to adjust the generated reference voltage, and the pulse width The modulation module changes the output voltage provided to the hardware components accordingly, so as to conform to the execution state of the hardware components and improve performance.

Wherein, the control unit includes a signal converter and a reference voltage generator; the signal converter can convert the modulation signal into a set of control signals, and the reference voltage generator generates a new reference voltage according to the set of control signals. Here, each element can be realized by an integrated circuit respectively. Furthermore, the signal converter has a built-in conversion table, and according to the conversion table, the modulating signal is converted into a control signal, so as to achieve the voltage required by changing the hardware components. In addition, the reference voltage generator also has a built-in parameter table, and modulates its reference voltage according to the parameter table and the control signal.

Furthermore, the monitoring unit can communicate with the control unit, hardware components and/or the system through an I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) bus. Wherein, the monitoring unit may be a hardware monitor.

In addition, the pulse width modulation module can have an integrated circuit, a power switch, an output circuit, a first impedance element, and a second impedance element; here, the integrated circuit changes the generated reference voltage according to the control signal generated by the control unit, and then regulates the power supply The switch is turned on, so that the input power is input to the output circuit, and the output circuit accordingly provides an output voltage to the hardware component; at this time, the first impedance component can generate a load current to the integrated circuit according to the load state of the hardware component, and The integrated circuit obtains a reference current from the output of the power switch and compares it to obtain the current variation, and then converts it into a voltage variation through the second impedance element and provides it to the monitoring unit for detection. Wherein, the power switch may be composed of a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). Moreover, the input power can be provided by a power source.

In addition, when the hardware element has a cooling element, the monitoring unit can also regulate the operation of the cooling element according to the monitoring signal.

Here, the hardware element may be a processor (for example: a graphics processing unit (graphic processing unit; GPU) or a central processing unit (central processing unit; CPU) etc.), a memory, and the like. The cooling element can be a fan.

Regarding the features and implementation of the present invention, the preferred embodiments are described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings.

Description of drawings

1 is a schematic structure showing an operation monitoring device for hardware elements according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic structure showing an operation monitoring device for hardware elements according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic structure showing an operation monitoring device for hardware components according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic structure showing an embodiment of a pulse width modulation (PWM) module according to the present invention; and

FIG. 5 shows a schematic structure of an operation monitoring device for hardware components according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of main component labels]

100 Operation monitoring device for hardware components

110 pulse width modulation module

112 integrated circuits

114 power switch

116 output circuit

118 The first impedance element

119 second impedance element

120 monitoring unit

122 hardware monitor

130 control unit

132 signal converter

134 reference voltage generator

200 Power

300 hardware components

310 power module

320 cooling element

400 system

500 graphics processing unit (GPU)

510 power module

520 fan

Vi input power

Vr reference voltage

Vd voltage variation

Vo pulse width modulation signal

Il load current

interface High-speed transmission interface

I2C Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) Interface

Detailed ways

Specific embodiments are listed below to describe the content of the present invention in detail, and illustrations are used as auxiliary descriptions. Reference numerals mentioned in the description are reference drawing numerals.

Referring to Fig. 1, it is to show the general structure of the operation monitoring device of the hardware element according to an embodiment of the present invention; The operation monitoring device 100 of this hardware element has a pulse width modulation (pulse widthmodulation; PWM) module 110, monitoring unit 120 and control unit 130.

The PWM module 110 connects the power source (power source) 200 and the power module 310 of the hardware component 300 to receive the input power from the power source 200, and provides an output voltage/current to the power module 310 according to the reference voltage, so as to provide the hardware component 300 required electricity.

When the load of the hardware component 300 increases, the current supplied by the PWM module 110 to the power module 310 will increase relatively. At this time, the load current is fed back to the PWM module 110 , and the current variation is obtained according to the load current, and then the current variation is converted into a voltage variation and provided to the monitoring unit 120 for detection, so as to generate a detection result. The application program of the system 400 can convert the detection result into an actual current value, and return a monitoring signal according to the actual current value corresponding to the predetermined modulation item of the application program, so as to control the monitoring unit 120 to perform various operations of the hardware component 300 parameter adjustment.

Wherein, the monitoring unit 120 generates a modulation signal in response to the monitoring signal, and the control unit 130 generates a new reference voltage according to the modulation signal, so that the PWM module 110 modulates the output voltage supplied to the hardware component 300 according to the reference voltage, thereby making it Conforms to the execution state of the hardware component 300 . Herein, each element may be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, respectively.

Wherein, the control unit 130 may include a signal converter 132 and a reference voltage generator 134, as shown in FIG. 2; the signal converter 132 may convert the modulation signal into a set of control signals, so that the reference voltage generator 134 And generate a new reference voltage. Here, each element can be realized by an integrated circuit respectively.

In addition, because most of the hardware components 300 will generate a lot of heat during operation, the heat dissipation element 320 is needed to assist the hardware component 300 to dissipate heat. Here, the monitoring device according to the present invention can also dissipate heat from the corresponding hardware component 300 The operation of the component 320 is regulated; in other words, the application program of the system 400 can convert the detection result from the monitoring unit 120 into an actual current value, and return a monitoring signal corresponding to the predetermined modulation item of the application program. At this time, the monitoring unit 120 In addition to generating a modulation signal to the control unit 130 in response to the monitoring signal, the operation of the cooling element 320 of the corresponding hardware component 300 can be adjusted according to the modulation signal, as shown in FIG. 3 .

Wherein, the hardware component may be a processor (such as a graphics processing unit (graphic processing unit; GPU) or a central processing unit (central processing unit; CPU), etc.), a memory, and the like. The heat dissipation element of the corresponding hardware element may be a fan.

Referring to FIG. 4 , it is an embodiment of PWM module I; Here, the integrated circuit 112 controls the conduction of the power switch 114 according to the reference voltage Vr generated by the control unit (not shown), so that the input power Vi provided by the power supply (not shown) is input to the output circuit 116 , and accordingly generate an output voltage/current to provide the power required by the hardware component 300 . At this time, the load current I1 generated by the operation of the hardware components passes through the first impedance element 118, thereby generating a potential difference, which is then fed back to the integrated circuit 112, and the amount of current change is obtained according to the potential difference. The current variation is converted into a voltage variation Vd via the second impedance element 119 to be provided to a monitoring unit (not shown in the figure) for detection. Wherein, the power switch can be composed of a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET).

The monitoring unit can be a hardware monitor (hardware monitor; H/W monitor). Herein, since the structure and operation principle of the monitoring unit are well known to those skilled in the art, details will not be repeated here.

For example, assume that an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a display card, at this time, the hardware element can be a graphics processing unit (graphic processing unit; GPU) 500, and the GPU 500 has a fan 520 to assist the GPU 500 Heat dissipation, as shown in Figure 5; wherein, this display card is through the high-speed transmission interface interface on the GPU500, for example: peripheral components connect high-speed transmission interface (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express interface; PCI-Einterface), AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port/Advanced Graphics Port; accelerated graphics interface/advanced graphics interface), etc., communicate with the execution unit (which can be the central processing unit) of the system, so the hardware monitor 122 (ie, the above-mentioned monitoring unit), the signal converter 132 and the GPU 500 through I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit; internal integrated circuit) bus to communicate with each other, in other words, the hardware monitor 122 is connected to the I2C interface on the GPU 500 via the I2C bus, and then communicates with the system through the high-speed transmission interface interface on the GPU 500; in other words, the hardware The monitor 122 is connected to the I2C interface on the GPU 500 via the I2C bus, and then communicates with the system via the high-speed transmission interface interface on the GPU 500. Here, when the system is converted from a general operating environment (such as: surfing the Internet, word processing, or video playback, etc.) to a three-dimensional (3-dimensional; 3D) operating environment (such as: 3D games or image processing, etc.), the display card The load of the GPU 500 will increase, and its current consumption will increase relatively. The PWM module 110 uses the current sensing method to obtain the load current and obtain the current variation, and then convert the current variation into a micro amount. The voltage is provided to the hardware monitor 122 for detection. At this time, the value detected by the hardware monitor 122 will be transmitted to the application program of the system through the I2C bus via the GPU 500, and converted into an actual current value by the application program. , and use the actual current value to execute the program set by the application program, and return the monitoring signal to the hardware monitor 122, so the hardware monitor 122 can perform some monitoring actions according to the monitoring signal, such as: current display , GPU 500/storage operating voltage adjustment, overload protection mechanism, fan 520 speed display and control, GPU 500/storage operating frequency display and change, and GPU 500/storage temperature display, etc.; wherein, the hardware monitor 122 will respond Monitor the signal to generate a modulated signal, and send it to the signal converter 132 through the I2C bus. The signal converter 132 converts the modulated signal into one or more groups of GPIO (General-Purpose Input/Output; General input and output) signal (that is, the above-mentioned control signal), then, the reference voltage generator 134 then changes the reference voltage provided to the PWM module 110 according to the built-in parameter table, and then changes the power module provided by the PWM module 110 to the GPU 500 510 voltage. In this way, performance improvement and monitoring can be achieved through repeated execution of the above components.

Although the present invention is disclosed above with the aforementioned preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, The scope of protection required by the present invention shall be defined by the scope of claims appended to this specification.

Claims (16)

1. the monitoring device for operation of a hardware element is used to regulate and control the required output voltage of this hardware element, and wherein this hardware element is to operate in a system, includes:

Pulse width modulation module is used for producing this output voltage according to reference voltage, and detects the load current that the running because of this hardware element produces and produce voltage variety according to this;

Monitoring unit is used to detect this voltage variety and gives this system with the output testing result, and receives this testing result of this system responses and the pilot signal that returns, produces modulation signal according to this; And

Control module is used for adjusting this reference voltage that is produced according to this modulation signal.

2. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 1, this control module wherein includes:

Signal converter is used for converting this modulation signal to one group of control signal; And

Reference voltage generator is used for producing this reference voltage according to this group control signal.

3. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 2, wherein this signal converter is an integrated circuit.

4. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 3 wherein has conversion table in this integrated circuit, to convert this modulation signal to this group control signal according to this conversion table.

5. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 2, wherein this group control signal is one group of above general input/output signal.

6. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 2, wherein this reference voltage generator is an integrated circuit.

7. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 6 wherein has parameter list in this integrated circuit, to produce this reference voltage according to this parameter list with this group control signal.

8. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 1, wherein this monitoring unit is to link up with this control module by internal integrate circuit bus.

9. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 1, wherein this monitoring unit is to link up with this hardware element by internal integrate circuit bus.

10. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 1, wherein this monitoring unit is to link up with this system by internal integrate circuit bus.

11. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 1, this pulse width modulation module wherein includes:

Power switch is used for receiving the input power supply;

Output circuit is used for producing this output voltage according to this input power supply of this power switch of flowing through, uses the running that drives this hardware element;

First impedor receives this load current and produces potential difference (PD) according to this;

Integrated circuit is used for controlling according to this reference voltage the conducting of this power switch, and learns current change quantity by this potential difference (PD); And

Second impedor is used for converting this current change quantity to this voltage variety.

12. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 11, wherein this power switch includes at least one mos field effect transistor.

13. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 11, wherein this input power supply is from a power supply.

14. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 1, wherein this monitoring unit is an integrated circuit.

15. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 14, wherein this integrated circuit is a hardware monitor.

16. the monitoring device for operation of hardware element according to claim 1, wherein when this hardware element had heat dissipation element, this monitoring unit was used for regulating and control according to this pilot signal the running of this heat dissipation element.

Images