PROCHOT# Signal. Intel E3300

Thermal Specifications and Design Considerations

5.2.4

Note:

5.2.5

PROCHOT# Signal

An external signal, PROCHOT# (processor hot), is asserted when the processor core temperature has reached its maximum operating temperature. If the Thermal Monitor is enabled (note that the Thermal Monitor must be enabled for the processor to be operating within specification), the TCC will be active when PROCHOT# is asserted. The processor can be configured to generate an interrupt upon the assertion or deassertion of PROCHOT#.

PROCHOT# is a bi-directional signal. As an output, PROCHOT# (Processor Hot) will go active when the processor temperature monitoring sensor detects that one or both cores has reached its maximum safe operating temperature. This indicates that the processor Thermal Control Circuit (TCC) has been activated, if enabled. As an input, assertion of PROCHOT# by the system will activate the TCC, if enabled, for both cores.

The TCC will remain active until the system de-asserts PROCHOT#.

PROCHOT# will not be asserted (as an output) or observed (as an input) when the processor is in the Stop Grant, Sleep, Deep Sleep, and Deeper Sleep low-power states, hence the thermal solution must be designed to ensure the processor remains within specification. If the processor enters one of the above low-power states with

PROCHOT# already asserted, PROCHOT# will remain asserted until the processor exits the low-power state and the processor DTS temperature drops below the thermal trip point.

PROCHOT# allows for some protection of various components from over-temperature situations. The PROCHOT# signal is bi-directional in that it can either signal when the processor (either core) has reached its maximum operating temperature or be driven from an external source to activate the TCC. The ability to activate the TCC using

PROCHOT# can provide a means for thermal protection of system components.

Bi-directional PROCHOT# can allow VR thermal designs to target maximum sustained current instead of maximum current. Systems should still provide proper cooling for the

VR, and rely on bi-directional PROCHOT# only as a backup in case of system cooling failure. The system thermal design should allow the power delivery circuitry to operate within its temperature specification even while the processor is operating at its Thermal

Design Power. With a properly designed and characterized thermal solution, it is anticipated that bi-directional PROCHOT# would only be asserted for very short periods of time when running the most power intensive applications. An under-designed thermal solution that is not able to prevent excessive assertion of PROCHOT# in the anticipated ambient environment may cause a noticeable performance loss. Refer to the Voltage Regulator Design Guide for details on implementing the bi-directional

PROCHOT# feature.

THERMTRIP# Signal

Regardless of whether or not Thermal Monitor or Thermal Monitor 2 is enabled, in the event of a catastrophic cooling failure, the processor will automatically shut down when the silicon has reached an elevated temperature (refer to the THERMTRIP# definition in

Table 24 ). At this point, the FSB signal THERMTRIP# will go active and stay active as described in Table 24 . THERMTRIP# activation is independent of processor activity and does not generate any bus cycles. If THERMTRIP# is asserted, processor core voltage

(V

CC

) must be removed within the timeframe defined in Table 10 .

Datasheet 81