EAGER: Characterization and Modeling for Architectural Thermal Energy Harvesting

EAGER：建筑热能收集的表征和建模

• 批准号: 1358805
• 负责人: Carole-Jean Wu
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1358805&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Characterization; Modeling; Architectural; Thermal

To reduce the ever-increasing power dissipation caused by high temperature in computing systems, current approaches seek to apply cooling mechanisms to remove heat aggressively, as well as devising management techniques to avoid thermal emergencies by slowing down heat generation. Complementary to existing techniques, this proposal attempts to address the heat management problem using a fundamentally different approach -- rather than removing the heat or slowing down heat generation, we transform this heat into reusable energy by using thermoelectric materials. A Thermal Energy Harvesting (TEHar) framework is proposed here that will allow heat energy generated by computing devices to be recovered, transformed, and harvested efficiently, to achieve better energy efficiency. TEHar is based on the interesting implication of thermal energy distribution of computing platforms: the temperature differences between the hottest and the coldest components can be more than tens of degrees, creating a steep spatial thermal gradient. We discover that, by leveraging the thermoelectric effects at the architectural level, the varying spatial thermal gradients created as a result of computations can be exploited to transform heat into reusable energy. Therefore, the heat generated by the circuitry of the computing devices is not wasted but is rather harvested for reuse. This research explores possibilities in thermal energy harvesting techniques at the architectural level. Overall, this proposal explores the potential for energy harvestability, particularly in the steep thermal gradients commonly observed in computing systems, while also investigating applications that can reuse this recovered energy.The TEHar solution proposed here is anticipated to not only reduce cooling expenses and ambient temperatures, but also increase energy utilization, device lifetime, and physical space utilization. The TEHar technology developed here can be applied to a broad range of computing devices, large or small. If the research is successful, it has the potential of having a significant economic benefit as well as a significant, positive impact on the environment. Furthermore, this energy harvesting research requires cross-disciplinary engagement in areas such as material engineering, VLSI architecture, system architecture, and mechanical engineering and will attract a diverse set of student researchers. Overall, the engineering and scientific contributions will also have important societal impacts, including the broadening of ASU's engineering curriculum, the engagement of graduate as well as undergraduate research activities, the potential of creating high-school or middle-school scientific projects, and the increased representation of target underrepresented minorities in science and engineering.

为了减少由计算系统中高温引起的不断增加的功率耗散，当前的方法试图应用冷却机制来积极地去除热量，并设计管理技术以减慢热量产生的速度来避免热潮。与现有技术相辅相成，该提案试图使用根本不同的方法来解决热管理问题 - 而不是消除热量或减慢热量的产生，而是使用热电材料将这种热量转化为可重复使用的能量。这里提出了一个热能收集（TEHAR）框架，该框架将使通过计算设备有效地计算设备产生的热能，从而实现更好的能效效率。 TEHAR基于计算平台热能分布的有趣含义：最热和最冷的组件之间的温度差异可能大于数十度，从而产生陡峭的空间热梯度。我们发现，通过利用体系结构的热电效应，可以利用计算而产生的不同空间热梯度，以将热量转化为可重复使用的能量。因此，计算设备电路产生的热量不会浪费，而是被收获以重复使用。这项研究探讨了建筑层面的热能收集技术的可能性。总体而言，该提案探讨了能源收获性的潜力，特别是在计算系统中通常观察到的陡峭热梯度中，同时还研究了可以重复使用此回收能量的应用。此处提出的TEHAR解决方案不仅可以降低冷却费用和环境温度，而且还会增加能源利用，设备的生命周期和物理空间。这里开发的TEHAR技术可以应用于大小的广泛计算设备。如果这项研究成功，它将有可能获得巨大的经济利益以及对环境的重大积极影响。此外，这项能源收集研究需要在材料工程，VLSI建筑，系统体系结构和机械工程等领域进行跨学科的参与，并将吸引各种各样的学生研究人员。总体而言，工程和科学贡献还将产生重要的社会影响，包括扩大ASU的工程课程，研究生的参与以及本科研究活动，有可能在科学和工程学中创造高中或中学科学项目的潜力，以及增加目标不足的少数群体的代表性。