A constrained extremum-seeking control for CPU thermal management

Abstract

The increasing complexity of computing architectures is pushing for novel Dynamic Thermal Management (DTM) techniques. Accordingly, more accurate power and thermal models are required. In this work, we propose a thermal controller based on a constrained extremum-seeking algorithm, enabling resource allocation optimization under specific thermal constraints. This approach comes with many advantages. First, the controller does not require any model of the system, dropping the need for a complex and potentially imprecise estimation phase. Second, it allows the control of derived measurements. We show how this may positively impact on the CPU reliability.