Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
PREEMPTIVELY COOLING OF PROCESSING UNIT COMPUTE ELEMENTS

Abstract:

A processing unit preemptively cools selected compute units prior to initiating execution of a wavefront at the selected compute units. A scheduler of the processing unit identifies that a wavefront is to be executed at a selected subset of compute units of the processing unit. In response, the processing unit's temperature control subsystem activates one or more cooling elements to reduce the temperature of the subset of compute units, prior to the scheduler initiating execution of the wavefront. By preemptively cooling the compute units, the temperature control subsystem increases the difference between the initial temperature of the compute units and a thermal throttling threshold that triggers performance-impacting temperature control measures, such as the reduction of a compute unit clock frequency.