Rate-controlling of heat generating data processing operations

摘要

In one embodiment, individual or groups of heat generating data processing operations are rate-controlled such that a component, a set of components, a board or line card, and/or an entire apparatus or any portion thereof stays within a corresponding heat budget. One or more heat price tags are associated with these data processing operations which are used to determine whether or not a corresponding data processing operation can be currently performed within one or more corresponding heat budgets. If so, the data procession operation proceeds. If not, the data processing operation is delayed. Examples of such data processing operations include, but are not limited to, data retrieval from memory, data storage in memory, lookup operations in memory, lookup operations in a binary or ternary content-addressable memory, regular expression processing, cryptographic processing, or data manipulation.

主权项

1. A method, comprising:
performing rate-controlling data processing operations by a particular apparatus to stay within a heat budget for performing said data processing operations based on one or more heat price tags associated with said data processing operations, wherein said performing rate-controlling data processing operations includes: determining, by the particular apparatus, to delay performing a particular next scheduled non-latency sensitive or low-priority operation of said data processing operations in response to a particular heat price tag associated with the particular next scheduled non-latency sensitive or low-priority operation that would not allow said data processing operations to stay within a predetermined additional heat budget margin below the heat budget if the particular next scheduled non-latency sensitive or low-priority operation is performed prior to a time delay, with said heat budget margin providing a heat margin such that a low-latency or high-priority operation of said data processing operations may be performed prior to a next scheduled non-latency sensitive or low-priority operation if performance of the low-latency or high-priority operation will allow said data processing operations to stay within the heat budget; in response to said determining to delay performing the particular next scheduled non-latency sensitive or low-priority operation, the particular apparatus performing a particular latency sensitive or high-priority operation of said data processing operations while staying within the heat budget; and subsequent to said performing the particular latency sensitive or high-priority operation of said data processing operations, performing the particular next scheduled non-latency sensitive or low-priority operation in response to the particular heat price tag associated with the particular next scheduled non-latency sensitive or low-priority operation allowing said data processing operations to stay within the predetermined additional heat budget margin below the heat budget.