For decades, determining exactly where to place heat-sensitive sensors on Intel’s client processors required equal parts science and art.
Circuit designers would be guided by historical data when deciding where to place thermal sensors on the central processing units (CPUs) that go in modern day laptops. They would also rely on experience to know exactly where hotspots tend to flare up. This exhaustive dance could take up to six weeks of testing, running simulated workloads, optimizing sensor placement – and then repeating the process all over again.
Today, thanks to a new augmented intelligence tool developed in-house by Intel engineers, system-on-chip (SoC) designers aren’t waiting six weeks to learn if they hit the sensor sweet spot. They’re getting answers in minutes.