US20140041827A1 - Heat Transfer Device Management - Google Patents

Abstract

Techniques involving management of a heat transfer device are described. In one or more implementations, a device includes a housing, a heat-generating device disposed within the housing, and a heat transfer device disposed within the housing. The heat transfer device has a powered active cooling device. The device also includes one or more modules that are configured to adjust operation of the powered active cooling device based on a likely orientation of the heat transfer device.

Description

BACKGROUND
• Computing devices are available in an ever increasing variety of configurations. As these configurations have gotten smaller, however, heat generated by the computing device has become increasingly problematic. For example, a computing device that is configured for a handheld form factor (e.g., phone, tablet) may have a limited amount of space to address heat generated by the components of the device.
• Consequently, conventional techniques that were utilized to perform heat transfer could be inadequate and/or force compromise in selection of components when confronted with this form factor. For example, a manufacturer of a tablet computing device could be forced to forego processing capabilities provided by a processing system in situations in which the manufacturer is not able to solve a problem of how to keep the processing system in a specified temperature range during operation.
SUMMARY
• Techniques involving management of a heat transfer device are described. In one or more implementations, a device includes a housing, a heat-generating device disposed within the housing, and a heat transfer device disposed within the housing. The heat transfer device has a powered active cooling device. The device also includes one or more modules that are configured to adjust operation of the powered active cooling device based on a likely orientation of the heat transfer device.
• In one or more implementations, a determination is made as to a likely orientation of a computing device by the computing device. A speed of at least one fan of the computing device is managed based on the likely orientation of the computing device.
• In one or more implementations, a computing device includes a housing configured in a handheld form factor that is sized to be held by one or more hands of a user. The computing device also includes a heat transfer device disposed within the housing and configured to transfer heat in generally opposing directions, the heat transfer device including a plurality of fans, at least two of which positioned at the opposing directions, respectively. The computing device further includes one or more sensors configured to detect a likely orientation of the housing and one or more modules that are configured to adjust a speed of each of the plurality of fans of the heat transfer device individually based on the detected likely orientation.
• This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different instances in the description and the figures may indicate similar or identical items. Entities represented in the figures may be indicative of one or more entities and thus reference may be made interchangeably to single or plural forms of the entities in the discussion.
• FIG. 1 is an illustration of an environment in an example implementation that is operable to employ techniques to manage a heat transfer device.
• FIG. 2 depicts an example implementation showing a heat transfer device ofFIG. 1 as supporting heat transfer using a heat pipe.
• FIG. 3 depicts an example implementation showing a heat transfer device ofFIG. 1 as supporting generally uniform heat transfer through a variety of different orientations.
• FIG. 4 depicts an example of a system that employs the heat management module and heat transfer device.
• FIG. 5 depicts an example of a system that employs active fan control that leverages a temperature control and fan speed controller.
• FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting a procedure in an example implementation in which heat transfer device management is performed.
• FIG. 7 illustrates an example system including various components of an example device that can be implemented as any type of computing device as described with reference toFIGS. 1-5 to implement embodiments of the techniques described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• Overview
• Limitations involved with conventional techniques for heat transfer utilized by computing devices and other devices could have an adverse effect on overall functionality of the device. This effect, for instance, may limit functionality that may be incorporated by the device (e.g., speed of a processing system), a user's experience with the device (e.g., noise caused by fans and even an overall temperature of the device when physically contacted by a user), form factors that may be employed by the device (e.g., size and shape of the device that permits sufficient cooling), and so forth.
• Heat transfer device management techniques are described herein. In one or more implementations, a heat transfer device is configured to provide generally uniform cooling in different orientations of a computing device. The heat transfer device, for instance, may include first and second heat pipes that are arranged in opposing directions away from a heat-generating device. Therefore, an effect of gravity on the first heat pipe may be compensated for by the second heat pipe and vice versa. Accordingly, the heat transfer device may support heat transfer during movement of a computing device through a variety of different orientations. Further, the heat pipes may be used to support a plurality of fans, which may be utilized to conserve space and improve energy efficiency of the computing device.
• However, as stated above different orientations may involve different efficiencies of the heat pipes. Accordingly, management techniques may be utilized to adjust a speed of a fan based on the orientation. For example, an orientation may be encountered in which efficient of a first heat pipe is greater than a second heat pipe. Techniques may be employed such that a speed of a fan associated with the first heat pipe has a greater speed than a speed of a fan associated with the second heat pipe. In this way, the fans may be individually controlled to increase efficiency and conserve resources of a device. Further discussion of these and other techniques may be found in relation to the following sections.
• In the following discussion, an example environment is first described that may employ the heat transfer techniques described herein. Example procedures are then described which may be performed in the example environment as well as other environments. Consequently, performance of the example procedures is not limited to the example environment and the example environment is not limited to performance of the example procedures.
• Example Environment
• FIG. 1 is an illustration of anenvironment100 in an example implementation that is operable to employ techniques described herein. The illustratedenvironment100 includes acomputing device102 having aprocessing system104 and a computer-readable storage medium that is illustrated as amemory106 although other confirmations are also contemplated as further described below.
• Thecomputing device102 may be configured in a variety of ways. For example, a computing device may be configured as a computer that is capable of communicating over a network, such as a desktop computer, a mobile station, an entertainment appliance, a set-top box communicatively coupled to a display device, a wireless phone, a game console, and so forth. Thus, thecomputing device102 may range from full resource devices with substantial memory and processor resources (e.g., personal computers, game consoles) to a low-resource device with limited memory and/or processing resources (e.g., traditional set-top boxes, hand-held game consoles). Additionally, although asingle computing device102 is shown, thecomputing device102 may be representative of a plurality of different devices, such as multiple servers utilized by a business to perform operations such as by a web service, a remote control and set-top box combination, an image capture device and a game console configured to capture gestures, and so on. Further discussion of different configurations that may be assumed by the computing device may be found in relation toFIG. 5.
• Thecomputing device102 is further illustrated as including anoperating system108. Theoperating system108 is configured to abstract underlying functionality of thecomputing device102 toapplications110 that are executable on thecomputing device102. For example, theoperating system108 may abstract theprocessing system104,memory106, network, and/ordisplay device112 functionality of thecomputing device102 such that theapplications110 may be written without knowing “how” this underlying functionality is implemented. Theapplication110, for instance, may provide data to theoperating system108 to be rendered and displayed by thedisplay device112 without understanding how this rendering will be performed. Theoperating system108 may also represent a variety of other functionality, such as to manage a file system and user interface that is navigable by a user of thecomputing device102.
• Thecomputing device102 may support a variety of different interactions. For example, thecomputing device102 may include one or more hardware devices that are manipulable by a user to interact with the device, such as a keyboard, cursor control device (e.g., mouse), and so on. Thecomputing device102 may also support gestures, which may be detected in a variety of ways. Thecomputing device102, for instance, may support touch gestures that are detected using touch functionality of thecomputing device102. Thesensors114, for instance, may be configured to provide touchscreen functionality in conjunction with thedisplay device112, alone as part of a track pad, and so on. An example of this is illustrated inFIG. 1 in which first andsecond hands116,118 of a user are illustrated. Thefirst hand116 of the user is shown as holding ahousing120 of thecomputing device102. Thesecond hand118 of the user is illustrated as providing one or more inputs that are detected using touchscreen functionality of thedisplay device112 to perform an operation, such as to make a swipe gesture to pan through representations of applications in the start menu of theoperating system108 as illustrated.
• Thus, recognition of the inputs may be leveraged to interact with a user interface output by thecomputing device102, such as to interact with a game, an application, browse the internet, change one or more settings of thecomputing device102, and so forth. Thesensors114 may also be configured to support a natural user interface (NUI) that may recognize interactions that may not involve touch. For example, thesensors114 may be configured to detect inputs without having a user touch a particular device, such as to recognize audio inputs through use of a microphone. For instance, thesensors114 may include a microphone to support voice recognition to recognize particular utterances (e.g., a spoken command) as well as to recognize a particular user that provided the utterances.
• In another example, thesensors114 may be configured to detect orientation of thecomputing device102 in one or more dimensions, such as the x, y, and z dimensions as illustrated, through use of accelerometers, gyroscopes, inertial measurement units (IMUs), magnetometers, and so on. This orientation may be recognized in whole in in part for a variety of purposes, such as to support gestures, manage operation of thecomputing device102, and so on.
• Thecomputing device102 is further illustrated as including aheat management module122 and aheat transfer device124. Theheat management module122 is representative of functionality of thecomputing device102 to manage operation of theheat transfer device124. This may be based onsensors114 such as temperature sensors, a determined orientation of thecomputing device102, and so on. Theheat transfer device124 may be configured in a variety of ways, an example of which is described in relation to the following figure.
• FIG. 2 depicts anexample implementation200 showing a portion of theheat transfer device124 ofFIG. 1 as employing a heat pipe. Theheat transfer device124 is illustrated as being disposed proximal to a heat-generatingdevice202, such as aprocessing system104 as described in relation toFIG. 1 although other heat-generating devices are also contemplated such as other electrical devices of a computing device or other apparatus.
• Theheat transfer device124 in this example includes aheat pipe204. Theheat pipe204 is configured to transfer heat away from the heat-generatingdevice202 through use of thermal conductivity and phase transition. For example, theheat pipe202 may be formed as an enclosed tube from a thermally conductive material, e.g., a metal such as copper, and thus may conduct heat away from the heat-generatingdevice202 using thermal conductivity.
• The tube may include material disposed therein that is configured to undergo a phase transition, such as from a liquid to a gas in this example. An evaporator portion of the heat pipe, for instance, may be disposed proximal to a heat source from which heat is to be transferred, e.g., the heat-generatingdevice202. Liquid disposed at the evaporator portion may absorb heat until a phase transition occurs to form a gas. The gas may then travel through the tube using convection to be cooled at a condenser portion of theheat pipe204, e.g., through use of one or more heat cooling fins as illustrated such as forced convection fins, by air movement caused through use of one or more fans, and so on.
• Cooling of the gas may cause the material to undergo another phase transition back to a liquid as the heat is released. The liquid may then move back toward the evaporator portion of the heat pipe204 (e.g., through capillary action) and this process may be repeated. Although aheat pipe204 is described in this example a variety of different heat sinks are contemplated, such as a folded-fin heat sink, a heat sink with a vapor chamber, a heat sink with a solid metal base, and so forth.
• As previously described, thecomputing device102 may be configured in a variety of ways. In some instances, those configurations may involve movement through and usage of thecomputing device102 in a plurality of orientations in three dimensional space. Accordingly, theheat transfer device124 may be configured to support heat transfer in these different orientations, an example of which may be found in relation to the following figure.
• FIG. 3 depicts anexample implementation300 in which the heat transfer device ofFIG. 1 is configured to provide generally uniform cooling when placed in a variety of different orientations. In this example, theheat transfer device124 includes a plurality of heat pipes, shown as first andsecond heat pipes302,304. The first andsecond heat pipes302,304 are configured to conduct heat away from a heat-generatingdevice202 as before. For example, the first andsecond heat pipes302,304 may be configured to leverage thermal conductivity and phase transition. Thus, the first andsecond heat pipes302,304 may include evaporator portions disposed proximal to the heat-generatingdevice202, e.g., thermally coupled through a spread plate, and evaporator portions disposed away from the heat-generatingdevice202. The evaporator portions of the first andsecond heat pipes302,304 are illustrated as including fins in theexample implementation300, e.g., forced convection fins, and being cooled by powered active cooling devices that are illustrated as first and second fans,306,308, respectively.
• The heat pipes in this example are arranged to provide generally uniform heat transfer from the heat-generatingdevice202 through a plurality of different orientations in one or more of the x, y, or z axis. For example, heat pipes are partially driven by gravity force. Therefore, orientation of a heat pipe relative to gravity may have an effect on the heat pipe's thermal load carrying capability.
• Accordingly, the first andsecond heat pipes302,304 in the illustrated example are illustrated as being arranged in generally opposing directions from the heat-generatingdevice202. Arrangement of the first andsecond heat pipes302,304 in the opposing directions may be utilized to support a variety of features.
• For example, during movement of theheat transfer device124 through different orientations, one of the heat pipes may have a higher performance due to gravity than the opposing heat pipe. Therefore, this higher performance may help to reduce and even cancel lower performance experienced by the heat pipe that does not have this advantage. In this way, theheat transfer device124 may provide generally uniform heat transfer from the heat-generatingdevice202 in a variety of different orientations. Although two heat pipes are described in this example, theheat transfer device124 may employ different numbers of heat pipes arranged in different orientations without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, such as to employ an arrangement that coincides with contemplated orientations in which thecomputing device102 is to be used.
• In the illustrated example, theheat transfer device124 is further illustrated as being cooled by a plurality of fans, examples of which are illustrated as first andsecond fans306,308 to cool the first andsecond heat pipes302,304, respectively. Use of more than one fan by thecomputing device102 may support a variety of different features. For example, use of the first andsecond fans306,308 may occupy a smaller amount of system “footprint” within thehousing120 than that consumed by a single fan of equal cooling performance. For instance, the first andsecond fans306,308 may consume less space in thehousing120 along the y axis in the illustrated example. Further, two or more fans are able to operate with greater efficiency than a single fan that offers similar cooling performance. For example, power consumption by a fan increases as a third power of fan speed. Therefore, a single fan that operates at twice the speed of two fans demands four times as much power as the two fans. Thus, theheat transfer device124 may be configured in a variety of ways to provide a variety of different functionality as previously described. Further, this efficiency may be further increased through management of operation of powered active cooling devices by theheat management module122, further discussion of which may be found in relation to the following figure.
• FIG. 4 depicts asystem400 in an example implementation in which operation of powered active cooling devices is adjusted based on orientation. Thesystem400 in this example includes theheat management module122 and theheat transfer device124 ofFIG. 1. Theheat transfer device124 in this example includes a plurality of powered active cooling devices that are illustrated afans306,308.
• Theheat management module122 is configured to control operation of thefans306,308, such as to adjust a fan speed to support a plurality of operational modes, adjust between an operation mode and non-operational mode (i.e., “on” and “off”), and so on. Other numbers and types of powered active cooling devices are also contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, such as to control a compressor (e.g., of a powered phase change cooling unit), valves, use of a single fan, and so on.
• When in a landscape mode as shown inFIG. 3, both heat pipes have the same efficiency of heat transfer. However, in portrait, the heat pipe with condensing section on the top have higher efficiency since the gravity helps condensed fluid readily to return to the evaporating section. For example, rotation of the device ofFIG. 3 ninety degrees causes the top heat pipe to have increased efficiency than that of the bottom heat pipe.
• Theheat management module122 may be configured to leverage the differences in efficiency to support a variety of functionality. For example, theheat management module122 may be configured to increase a speed of a fan associated with a heat pipe having increased efficiency and reduce and even stop a fan associated with a heat pipe having decreased efficiency. In this way, power consumption and noise of theheat transfer device124 may be lessened, thereby conserving power and resulting in an improved user experience. The fan law for noise level is N2−N1=50*log 10(rpm2/rpm1). Doubling the speed of a single fan increases the sound power by 15.1 dB. Two fans, both at rpm1, increases the noise by 3 dB, which doubles the noise output. Thus running a single fan at 2*rpm1 outputs ˜12 dB more sound power than running two fans at rpm1.
• Theheat management module122 may determine an orientation of theheat transfer device124 in a variety of ways. Theheat management module122, for instance, may receive inputs from one ororientation sensors402 of the computing device, such as a three-dimensional accelerometer, inertial measurement unit, gyroscope, magnetometer, and so on. Thus, theheat management module122 may receive an indication of a likely orientation of thecomputing device102 and also components of theheat management module122, e.g., theheat pipes302,304 ofFIG. 3.
• The system includes a representation of a three-dimensional coordinate system that includes x, y, and z axes. Roll around the y axis, pitch around the x axis, and even yaw around the z axis may be computing in a variety of ways to describe the orientation, an example of which is described as follows.
• The roll and pitch can be computed from the following
• 
  roll=atan 2(Gx,√{square root over (Gy²+Gz²))}
• 
  pitch=atan 2(Gy,√(

  

  Gy

  

  ̂2+

  

  Gz

  

  ̂2))
• When the roll is equal to 90 degrees, for instance, the system may assume a portrait orientation in which a first heat pipe has increased efficiency in comparison with a second heat pipe. However, when the roll is equal to −90 degrees, the system is also in the portrait orientation but the second heat pipe has increased efficiency in comparison with the first heat pipe.
• Weighting strategies may then be employed by theheat management module122 to manage operation of powered active cooling devices accordingly. For example, when the roll is within a predefined amount of degrees away from 90 degrees, a first fan may be operated alone to take advantage of the higher efficiency of a corresponding first heat pipe. Further, theheat management module122 may be configured to cease operation of a second fan associated with the second heat pipe that has the reduced efficiency. In this way, power may be conserved and noise reduced in the operation of the fans. A variety of other examples are also contemplated, such as to take into account both roll and pitch, yaw, and so on. For instance, a variety of different operational modes may be employed as previously described, such as to operate the fans or other powered active cooling devices at a plurality of different operational modes, e.g., speeds.
• In this example, theheat management module122 may leverage existing hardware of a device, e.g.,orientation sensors402 that are utilized to support gestures and other functionality. Thus, this functionality may be supported without increasing manufacturing costs of the device yet still achieve the benefits described herein. Theheat management module122 may also leverage other inputs to perform the management, such astemperature sensors404 and other functionality as further described below.
• FIG. 5 depicts anexample implementation500 of theheat management module122 as including a temperature controller and a fan speed controller. In this example implementation, theheat management module122 is configured as a closed loop active fan control. As before, theheat management module122 may leverage a variety of sensors including on board temperature sensors on dual in-line memory modules, on board temperature sensors on a display device, on board temperature sensors near a touch surface, on die processor digital thermal sensors, on die PCH digital thermal sensors, and so on.
• Atemperature controller module502 is illustrated as included in an outer loop of the diagram. Given a fixed target temperature input, this module may attempt to keep a component's temperature (e.g., processor temperature) below the input. If there is enough thermal disturbance from thesystem506, e.g., heat, the fans may be driven at various speeds by the temperature controller.
• The inner loop of the diagram includes a fanspeed controller module504. This module may be driven by thetemperature controller module502. This close-loop controller may be used to maintain a desired speed (e.g., RPM) for one or more fans, including different speeds for different fans as described above as well as other powered active cooling devices.
• Thetemperature controller module502 and the fanspeed controller module504 may be implemented using a variety of devices. For example, a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller may be used. The PID control output u(t) may be calculated based on an error between a desired value and sensed value e(t), an example of which is shown in the following expression.
• $u\left(t\right)=K_pe\left(t\right)+K_i{\int }_0^te\left(\tau \right)\tau +K_d\frac{}{t}e\left(t\right)$
• The PID control expression above includes three terms, proportional term evaluating present error, integral term evaluating accumulation of past errors, and derivative term evaluating prediction of future errors. This is in contrast to traditional fan curve calculation that is based on adjusting the fan duty cycles based on the temperature values. Rather, the PID controller in this instance is capable of adapting to environment change such as ambient temperature and environmental change. It should be readily apparent, however, that other examples are also contemplated.
• Although described for devices that assume a mobile form factor that is configured to be grasped by one or more hands of a user, these techniques may be leveraged for a variety of other devices. For example, a game console may be configured to be placed in a variety of orientations, such as flat or “on end.” The game console may determine the orientation (e.g., by leveraging a sensor utilized to determine how to display which controls are active) and thus adjust the active cooling accordingly. A manufacturer, for instance, may design different speeds for use of a fan based on the orientation without employing dedicated temperature monitoring. Other devices are also contemplated, such as for a desktop monitor configured to assume portrait and landscape orientations.
• Example Procedures
• The following discussion describes heat transfer techniques that may be implemented utilizing the previously described systems and devices. Aspects of each of the procedures may be implemented in hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination thereof. The procedures are shown as a set of blocks that specify operations performed by one or more devices and are not necessarily limited to the orders shown for performing the operations by the respective blocks. In portions of the following discussion, reference will be made toFIGS. 1-5.
• FIG. 6 depicts aprocedure600 in an example implementation in which heat transfer device management is performed. A likely orientation of a computing device is determined by a computing device (block602). This may include receiving inputs from one or more sensors (e.g., accelerometers) and then calculating the likely orientation. In another example, this may include receiving an input that describes the orientation as already calculated. The orientation of the computing device102 (e.g., the housing120) may be indicative of the likely orientation of theheat transfer device124 and thus determination of one may be indicative of the other, although other embodiments are also contemplated.
• A speed of at least one fan of the computing device is managed based on the likely orientation of the computing device (block604). This may include permitting or restriction operation of the fan (e.g., “on” or “off”), use of a plurality of different operational modes (e.g., low speed or high speed), and so on. Further, although management of fan speed was described for this example, a variety of other examples of management of powered active cooling devices are contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.
• Example System and Device
• FIG. 7 illustrates an example system generally at700 that includes anexample computing device702 that is representative of one or more computing systems and/or devices that may implement the various techniques described herein. Thecomputing device702 may be, for example, a server of a service provider, a device associated with a client (e.g., a client device), an on-chip system, and/or any other suitable computing device or computing system. As such, theheat management module122 is illustrated as part of the device to support the techniques previously described to manage powered active cooling devices, such as fans, compressors, and so forth.
• Theexample computing device702 as illustrated includes aprocessing system704, one or more computer-readable media706, and one or more I/O interface708 that are communicatively coupled, one to another. Although not shown, thecomputing device702 may further include a system bus or other data and command transfer system that couples the various components, one to another. A system bus can include any one or combination of different bus structures, such as a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, a universal serial bus, and/or a processor or local bus that utilizes any of a variety of bus architectures. A variety of other examples are also contemplated, such as control and data lines.
• Theprocessing system704 is representative of functionality to perform one or more operations using hardware. Accordingly, theprocessing system704 is illustrated as includinghardware element710 that may be configured as processors, functional blocks, and so forth. This may include implementation in hardware as an application specific integrated circuit or other logic device formed using one or more semiconductors. Thehardware elements710 are not limited by the materials from which they are formed or the processing mechanisms employed therein. For example, processors may be comprised of semiconductor(s) and/or transistors (e.g., electronic integrated circuits (ICs)). In such a context, processor-executable instructions may be electronically-executable instructions.
• The computer-readable storage media706 is illustrated as including memory/storage712. The memory/storage712 represents memory/storage capacity associated with one or more computer-readable media. The memory/storage component712 may include volatile media (such as random access memory (RAM)) and/or nonvolatile media (such as read only memory (ROM), Flash memory, optical disks, magnetic disks, and so forth). The memory/storage component712 may include fixed media (e.g., RAM, ROM, a fixed hard drive, and so on) as well as removable media (e.g., Flash memory, a removable hard drive, an optical disc, and so forth). The computer-readable media706 may be configured in a variety of other ways as further described below.
• Input/output interface(s)708 are representative of functionality to allow a user to enter commands and information tocomputing device702, and also allow information to be presented to the user and/or other components or devices using various input/output devices. Examples of input devices include a keyboard, a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse), a microphone, a scanner, touch functionality (e.g., capacitive or other sensors that are configured to detect physical touch), a camera (e.g., which may employ visible or non-visible wavelengths such as infrared frequencies to recognize movement as gestures that do not involve touch), and so forth. Examples of output devices include a display device (e.g., a monitor or projector), speakers, a printer, a network card, tactile-response device, and so forth. Thus, thecomputing device702 may be configured in a variety of ways as further described below to support user interaction.
• Various techniques may be described herein in the general context of software, hardware elements, or program modules. Generally, such modules include routines, programs, objects, elements, components, data structures, and so forth that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The terms “module,” “functionality,” and “component” as used herein generally represent software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof. The features of the techniques described herein are platform-independent, meaning that the techniques may be implemented on a variety of commercial computing platforms having a variety of processors.
• An implementation of the described modules and techniques may be stored on or transmitted across some form of computer-readable media. The computer-readable media may include a variety of media that may be accessed by thecomputing device702. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may include “computer-readable storage media” and “computer-readable signal media.”
• “Computer-readable storage media” may refer to media and/or devices that enable persistent and/or non-transitory storage of information in contrast to mere signal transmission, carrier waves, or signals per se. Thus, computer-readable storage media refers to non-signal bearing media. The computer-readable storage media includes hardware such as volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media and/or storage devices implemented in a method or technology suitable for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, logic elements/circuits, or other data. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, hard disks, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or other storage device, tangible media, or article of manufacture suitable to store the desired information and which may be accessed by a computer.
• “Computer-readable signal media” may refer to a signal-bearing medium that is configured to transmit instructions to the hardware of thecomputing device702, such as via a network. Signal media typically may embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as carrier waves, data signals, or other transport mechanism. Signal media also include any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media.
• As previously described,hardware elements710 and computer-readable media706 are representative of modules, programmable device logic and/or fixed device logic implemented in a hardware form that may be employed in some embodiments to implement at least some aspects of the techniques described herein, such as to perform one or more instructions. Hardware may include components of an integrated circuit or on-chip system, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and other implementations in silicon or other hardware. In this context, hardware may operate as a processing device that performs program tasks defined by instructions and/or logic embodied by the hardware as well as a hardware utilized to store instructions for execution, e.g., the computer-readable storage media described previously.
• Combinations of the foregoing may also be employed to implement various techniques described herein. Accordingly, software, hardware, or executable modules may be implemented as one or more instructions and/or logic embodied on some form of computer-readable storage media and/or by one ormore hardware elements710. Thecomputing device702 may be configured to implement particular instructions and/or functions corresponding to the software and/or hardware modules. Accordingly, implementation of a module that is executable by thecomputing device702 as software may be achieved at least partially in hardware, e.g., through use of computer-readable storage media and/orhardware elements710 of theprocessing system704. The instructions and/or functions may be executable/operable by one or more articles of manufacture (for example, one ormore computing devices702 and/or processing systems704) to implement techniques, modules, and examples described herein.
• As further illustrated inFIG. 7, theexample system700 enables ubiquitous environments for a seamless user experience when running applications on a personal computer (PC), a television device, and/or a mobile device. Services and applications run substantially similar in all three environments for a common user experience when transitioning from one device to the next while utilizing an application, playing a video game, watching a video, and so on.
• In theexample system700, multiple devices are interconnected through a central computing device. The central computing device may be local to the multiple devices or may be located remotely from the multiple devices. In one embodiment, the central computing device may be a cloud of one or more server computers that are connected to the multiple devices through a network, the Internet, or other data communication link.
• In one embodiment, this interconnection architecture enables functionality to be delivered across multiple devices to provide a common and seamless experience to a user of the multiple devices. Each of the multiple devices may have different physical requirements and capabilities, and the central computing device uses a platform to enable the delivery of an experience to the device that is both tailored to the device and yet common to all devices. In one embodiment, a class of target devices is created and experiences are tailored to the generic class of devices. A class of devices may be defined by physical features, types of usage, or other common characteristics of the devices.
• In various implementations, thecomputing device702 may assume a variety of different configurations, such as forcomputer714, mobile716, andtelevision718 uses. Each of these configurations includes devices that may have generally different constructs and capabilities, and thus thecomputing device702 may be configured according to one or more of the different device classes. For instance, thecomputing device702 may be implemented as thecomputer714 class of a device that includes a personal computer, desktop computer, a multi-screen computer, laptop computer, netbook, and so on.
• Thecomputing device702 may also be implemented as the mobile716 class of device that includes mobile devices, such as a mobile phone, portable music player, portable gaming device, a tablet computer, a multi-screen computer, and so on. Thecomputing device702 may also be implemented as thetelevision718 class of device that includes devices having or connected to generally larger screens in casual viewing environments. These devices include televisions, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, and so on.
• The techniques described herein may be supported by these various configurations of thecomputing device702 and are not limited to the specific examples of the techniques described herein.
• Functionality may also be implemented all or in part through use of a distributed system, such as over a “cloud”720 via aplatform722 as described below. Thecloud720 includes and/or is representative of aplatform722 forresources724. Theplatform722 abstracts underlying functionality of hardware (e.g., servers) and software resources of thecloud720. Theresources724 may include applications and/or data that can be utilized while computer processing is executed on servers that are remote from thecomputing device702.Resources724 can also include services provided over the Internet and/or through a subscriber network, such as a cellular or Wi-Fi network.
• Theplatform722 may abstract resources and functions to connect thecomputing device702 with other computing devices. Theplatform722 may also serve to abstract scaling of resources to provide a corresponding level of scale to encountered demand for theresources724 that are implemented via theplatform722. Accordingly, in an interconnected device embodiment, implementation of functionality described herein may be distributed throughout thesystem700. For example, the functionality may be implemented in part on thecomputing device702 as well as via theplatform722 that abstracts the functionality of thecloud720.
CONCLUSION
• Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claimed invention.

Claims (20)

What is claimed is:

1. A device comprising:

a housing;

a heat-generating device disposed within the housing;

a heat transfer device disposed within the housing, the heat transfer device having a powered active cooling device; and

one or more modules that are configured to adjust operation of the powered active cooling device based on a likely orientation of the heat transfer device.

2. A device as described inclaim 1, wherein the operation is adjusted by adjusting a speed of a fan of the heat transfer device based on the likely orientation of the heat transfer device.

3. A device as described inclaim 1, wherein the operation is adjusted by adjusting an amount of cooling provided by the powered active cooling device of the heat transfer device based on the likely orientation.

4. A device as described inclaim 1, wherein the one or more modules are configured to determine the likely orientation of the heat transfer device in two or more dimensions based on one or more sensors of the device.

5. A device as described inclaim 1, wherein the heat transfer device includes plurality of heat pipes, at least two of which are arranged in generally opposing directions.

6. A device as described inclaim 5, further comprising a display device and wherein the housing is configured to assume at least one orientation in which the display device is viewable by a user in a landscape orientation and at least two of the plurality of heat pipes are arranged generally horizontally when in the landscape orientation.

7. A device as described inclaim 5, wherein each of the plurality of heat pipes is thermally coupled to the heat-generating device through use of a single spreading plate.

8. A device as described inclaim 5, wherein the plurality of heat pipes are arranged such that an effect of gravity on one of the heat pipes to perform heat transfer is counteracted by another one of the heat pipes.

9. A device as described inclaim 1, wherein:

the heat transfer device includes first and second heat pipes;

each of the first and second heat pipes have an evaporator portion and a condenser portion; and

the condenser portions of the first and second heat pipes are positioned further from each other than the evaporator portions of the first and second heat pipes.

10. A device as described inclaim 9, wherein each said condenser portion is disposed proximal to a respective said fan to be cooled by the respective said fan.

11. A device as described inclaim 1, wherein the housing is configured to be held by one or more hands of a user and moved through the at least two dimensions during usage.

12. A device as described inclaim 11, wherein the housing is configured for use as a mobile communications device.

13. A device as described inclaim 1, wherein the heat-generating device is a processing system and the device is a computing device.

14. A method comprising:

determining a likely orientation of a computing device by the computing device; and

managing a speed of at least one fan of the computing device based on the likely orientation of the computing device.

15. A method as described inclaim 14, wherein the determining is performed by one or more modules of the computing device using inputs received from one or more sensors of the computing device.

16. A method as described inclaim 14, wherein the computing device includes a plurality of said fans and the managing includes adjusting the speed of respective said fans individually based on the orientation.

17. A method as described inclaim 14, wherein the likely orientation results in a portrait view of a display device of the computing device and the managing includes adjusting a speed of one of the plurality of said fans to be greater than a speed of another one of the plurality of said fans.

18. A computing device comprising:

a housing configured in a handheld form factor that is sized to be held by one or more hands of a user;

a heat transfer device disposed within the housing and configured to transfer heat in generally opposing directions, the heat transfer device including a plurality of fans, at least two of which positioned at the opposing directions, respectively;

one or more sensors configured to detect a likely orientation of the housing; and

one or more modules that are configured to adjust a speed of each of the plurality of fans of the heat transfer device individually based on the detected likely orientation.

19. A computing device as described inclaim 18, wherein the one or more modules are configured to performed the adjustment of the speed of each of the plurality of fans using pulse width modulation.

20. A computing device as described inclaim 18, wherein the detected likely orientation of the housing describes roll or pitch in three dimensional space.

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