
Thermal Specifications and Design Considerations
82
Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor 3000 Series Datasheet
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5.3.1.2
Processor Thermal Data Sample Rate and Filtering
The processor digital thermal sensor (DTS) provides an improved capability to monitor
device hot spots, which inherently leads to more varying temperature readings over
short time intervals. The DTS sample interval range can be modified, and a data
filtering algorithm can be activated to help moderate this range. The DTS sample
interval range is 82 s (default) to 20 ms (maximum). This value can be set in BIOS.
To reduce the sample rate requirements on PECI and improve thermal data stability vs.
time the processor DTS also implements an averaging algorithm that filters the
incoming data. This is an alpha-beta filter with coefficients of 0.5, and is expressed
mathematically as: Current_filtered_temp = (Previous_filtered_temp / 2) +
(new_sensor_temp / 2). This filtering algorithm is fixed and cannot be changed. It is on
by default and can be turned off in BIOS.
Host controllers should use the min/max sample times to determine the appropriate
sample rate based on the controller's fan control algorithm and targeted response rate.
The key items to take into account when determining a fan control algorithm are the
DTS sample rate, whether the temperature filter is enabled, how often the PECI host
will poll the processor for temperature data, and the rate at which fan speed is
changed. Depending on the designer’s specific requirements, the DTS sample rate and
alpha-beta filter may have no effect on the fan control algorithm.
Figure 5-5. Temperature Data Format Comparison — Thermal Diode vs. PECI Digital
Thermal Sensor
Min
Max
Fan Speed
(RPM)
TCONTROL
Setting
TCC Activation
Temperature
PECI = 0 °C
TDIODE = 80 °C
PECI = -10 °C
TDIODE = 70 °C
PECI = -20 °C
Temperature
Note: Conceptual fan control diagram (not intended to depict
actual implementation)