High performance GPU cooling fan systems

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GPUs (Graphics Processing units) are getting smaller and more performing. Temperature control of these units is an essential aspect of their functionality. This is typically done by using a cooling fan driven by a motor and a PWM chip. As the temperature of the GPU chip increases, a cooling fan is driven faster and air is used to stabilize the temperature around a target value. Current cooling fan temperature control technology leads to oscillations in the fan speed. These oscillations are not desirable as they lead to excessive noise and overshoot. If the target value is low, the temperature control fan will be active for long periods of time. On the other hand, as the target value increases and is close to a maximum safe operating temperature, the control fan is needed to operate during shorter periods of time as compared to the previous scenario. However, as the target value is chosen to be close to a maximum safe value, the temperature control using air needs to be fast, accurate and effective as the GPU temperature can easily increase beyond the safe temperature. An improved cooling fan driving technology needs to be developed to ensure quiet operation while enabling safe operation at a temperature close to the maximum safe temperature. Characterization of the operating conditions of the system will be pursued empirically. More efficient and more compact piezoelectric ultrasonic motor and bimorph fan piezoelectric technologies suitable for this cooling task will be investigated and their performance characterized.