Heat Transfer Device Management

[0001] Computing devices are available in an ever increasing variety of configurations. As these configurations have gotten smaller, however, heat generated by the computing device has become increasingly problematic. For example, a computing device that is configured for a handheld form factor (e.g., phone, tablet) may have a limited amount of space to address heat generated by the components of the device.

[0002] Consequently, conventional techniques that were utilized to perform heat transfer could be inadequate and/or force compromise in selection of components when confronted with this form factor. For example, a manufacturer of a tablet computing device could be forced to forego processing capabilities provided by a processing system in situations in which the manufacturer is not able to solve a problem of how to keep the processing system in a specified temperature range during operation.

[0003] Techniques involving management of a heat transfer device are described. In one or more implementations, a device includes a housing, a heat-generating device disposed within the housing, and a heat transfer device disposed within the housing. The heat transfer device has a powered active cooling device. The device also includes one or more modules that are configured to adjust operation of the powered active cooling device based on a likely orientation of the heat transfer device.

[0004] In one or more implementations, a determination is made as to a likely orientation of a computing device by the computing device. A speed of at least one fan of the computing device is managed based on the likely orientation of the computing device.

[0005] In one or more implementations, a computing device includes a housing configured in a handheld form factor that is sized to be held by one or more hands of a user. The computing device also includes a heat transfer device disposed within the housing and configured to transfer heat in generally opposing directions, the heat transfer device including a plurality of fans, at least two of which positioned at the opposing directions, respectively. The computing device further includes one or more sensors configured to detect a likely orientation of the housing and one or more modules that are configured to adjust a speed of each of the plurality of fans of the heat transfer device individually based on the detected likely orientation.

[0006] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0015] Overview

[0016] Limitations involved with conventional techniques for heat transfer utilized by computing devices and other devices could have an adverse effect on overall functionality of the device. This effect, for instance, may limit functionality that may be incorporated by the device (e.g., speed of a processing system), a user's experience with the device (e.g., noise caused by fans and even an overall temperature of the device when physically contacted by a user), form factors that may be employed by the device (e.g., size and shape of the device that permits sufficient cooling), and so forth.

[0017] Heat transfer device management techniques are described herein. In one or more implementations, a heat transfer device is configured to provide generally uniform cooling in different orientations of a computing device. The heat transfer device, for instance, may include first and second heat pipes that are arranged in opposing directions away from a heat-generating device. Therefore, an effect of gravity on the first heat pipe may be compensated for by the second heat pipe and vice versa. Accordingly, the heat transfer device may support heat transfer during movement of a computing device through a variety of different orientations. Further, the heat pipes may be used to support a plurality of fans, which may be utilized to conserve space and improve energy efficiency of the computing device.

[0018] However, as stated above different orientations may involve different efficiencies of the heat pipes. Accordingly, management techniques may be utilized to adjust a speed of a fan based on the orientation. For example, an orientation may be encountered in which efficient of a first heat pipe is greater than a second heat pipe. Techniques may be employed such that a speed of a fan associated with the first heat pipe has a greater speed than a speed of a fan associated with the second heat pipe. In this way, the fans may be individually controlled to increase efficiency and conserve resources of a device. Further discussion of these and other techniques may be found in relation to the following sections.

[0019] In the following discussion, an example environment is first described that may employ the heat transfer techniques described herein. Example procedures are then described which may be performed in the example environment as well as other environments. Consequently, performance of the example procedures is not limited to the example environment and the example environment is not limited to performance of the example procedures.

[0020] Example Environment

[0021] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an environment 100 in an example implementation that is operable to employ techniques described herein. The illustrated environment 100 includes a computing device 102 having a processing system 104 and a computer-readable storage medium that is illustrated as a memory 106 although other confirmations are also contemplated as further described below.

[0022] The computing device 102 may be configured in a variety of ways. For example, a computing device may be configured as a computer that is capable of communicating over a network, such as a desktop computer, a mobile station, an entertainment appliance, a set-top box communicatively coupled to a display device, a wireless phone, a game console, and so forth. Thus, the computing device 102 may range from full resource devices with substantial memory and processor resources (e.g., personal computers, game consoles) to a low-resource device with limited memory and/or processing resources (e.g., traditional set-top boxes, hand-held game consoles). Additionally, although a single computing device 102 is shown, the computing device 102 may be representative of a plurality of different devices, such as multiple servers utilized by a business to perform operations such as by a web service, a remote control and set-top box combination, an image capture device and a game console configured to capture gestures, and so on. Further discussion of different configurations that may be assumed by the computing device may be found in relation to FIG. 5.

[0023] The computing device 102 is further illustrated as including an operating system 108. The operating system 108 is configured to abstract underlying functionality of the computing device 102 to applications 110 that are executable on the computing device 102. For example, the operating system 108 may abstract the processing system 104, memory 106, network, and/or display device 112 functionality of the computing device 102 such that the applications 110 may be written without knowing “how” this underlying functionality is implemented. The application 110, for instance, may provide data to the operating system 108 to be rendered and displayed by the display device 112 without understanding how this rendering will be performed. The operating system 108 may also represent a variety of other functionality, such as to manage a file system and user interface that is navigable by a user of the computing device 102.

[0024] The computing device 102 may support a variety of different interactions. For example, the computing device 102 may include one or more hardware devices that are manipulable by a user to interact with the device, such as a keyboard, cursor control device (e.g., mouse), and so on. The computing device 102 may also support gestures, which may be detected in a variety of ways. The computing device 102, for instance, may support touch gestures that are detected using touch functionality of the computing device 102. The sensors 114, for instance, may be configured to provide touchscreen functionality in conjunction with the display device 112, alone as part of a track pad, and so on. An example of this is illustrated in FIG. 1 in which first and second hands 116, 118 of a user are illustrated. The first hand 116 of the user is shown as holding a housing 120 of the computing device 102. The second hand 118 of the user is illustrated as providing one or more inputs that are detected using touchscreen functionality of the display device 112 to perform an operation, such as to make a swipe gesture to pan through representations of applications in the start menu of the operating system 108 as illustrated.

[0025] Thus, recognition of the inputs may be leveraged to interact with a user interface output by the computing device 102, such as to interact with a game, an application, browse the internet, change one or more settings of the computing device 102, and so forth. The sensors 114 may also be configured to support a natural user interface (NUI) that may recognize interactions that may not involve touch. For example, the sensors 114 may be configured to detect inputs without having a user touch a particular device, such as to recognize audio inputs through use of a microphone. For instance, the sensors 114 may include a microphone to support voice recognition to recognize particular utterances (e.g., a spoken command) as well as to recognize a particular user that provided the utterances.

[0026] In another example, the sensors 114 may be configured to detect orientation of the computing device 102 in one or more dimensions, such as the x, y, and z dimensions as illustrated, through use of accelerometers, gyroscopes, inertial measurement units (IMUs), magnetometers, and so on. This orientation may be recognized in whole in in part for a variety of purposes, such as to support gestures, manage operation of the computing device 102, and so on.

[0027] The computing device 102 is further illustrated as including a heat management module 122 and a heat transfer device 124. The heat management module 122 is representative of functionality of the computing device 102 to manage operation of the heat transfer device 124. This may be based on sensors 114 such as temperature sensors, a determined orientation of the computing device 102, and so on. The heat transfer device 124 may be configured in a variety of ways, an example of which is described in relation to the following figure.

[0028] FIG. 2 depicts an example implementation 200 showing a portion of the heat transfer device 124 of FIG. 1 as employing a heat pipe. The heat transfer device 124 is illustrated as being disposed proximal to a heat-generating device 202, such as a processing system 104 as described in relation to FIG. 1 although other heat-generating devices are also contemplated such as other electrical devices of a computing device or other apparatus.

[0029] The heat transfer device 124 in this example includes a heat pipe 204. The heat pipe 204 is configured to transfer heat away from the heat-generating device 202 through use of thermal conductivity and phase transition. For example, the heat pipe 202 may be formed as an enclosed tube from a thermally conductive material, e.g., a metal such as copper, and thus may conduct heat away from the heat-generating device 202 using thermal conductivity.

[0030] The tube may include material disposed therein that is configured to undergo a phase transition, such as from a liquid to a gas in this example. An evaporator portion of the heat pipe, for instance, may be disposed proximal to a heat source from which heat is to be transferred, e.g., the heat-generating device 202. Liquid disposed at the evaporator portion may absorb heat until a phase transition occurs to form a gas. The gas may then travel through the tube using convection to be cooled at a condenser portion of the heat pipe 204, e.g., through use of one or more heat cooling fins as illustrated such as forced convection fins, by air movement caused through use of one or more fans, and so on.

[0031] Cooling of the gas may cause the material to undergo another phase transition back to a liquid as the heat is released. The liquid may then move back toward the evaporator portion of the heat pipe 204 (e.g., through capillary action) and this process may be repeated. Although a heat pipe 204 is described in this example a variety of different heat sinks are contemplated, such as a folded-fin heat sink, a heat sink with a vapor chamber, a heat sink with a solid metal base, and so forth.

[0032] As previously described, the computing device 102 may be configured in a variety of ways. In some instances, those configurations may involve movement through and usage of the computing device 102 in a plurality of orientations in three dimensional space. Accordingly, the heat transfer device 124 may be configured to support heat transfer in these different orientations, an example of which may be found in relation to the following figure.

[0033] FIG. 3 depicts an example implementation 300 in which the heat transfer device of FIG. 1 is configured to provide generally uniform cooling when placed in a variety of different orientations. In this example, the heat transfer device 124 includes a plurality of heat pipes, shown as first and second heat pipes 302, 304. The first and second heat pipes 302, 304 are configured to conduct heat away from a heat-generating device 202 as before. For example, the first and second heat pipes 302, 304 may be configured to leverage thermal conductivity and phase transition. Thus, the first and second heat pipes 302, 304 may include evaporator portions disposed proximal to the heat-generating device 202, e.g., thermally coupled through a spread plate, and evaporator portions disposed away from the heat-generating device 202. The evaporator portions of the first and second heat pipes 302, 304 are illustrated as including fins in the example implementation 300, e.g., forced convection fins, and being cooled by powered active cooling devices that are illustrated as first and second fans, 306, 308, respectively.

[0034] The heat pipes in this example are arranged to provide generally uniform heat transfer from the heat-generating device 202 through a plurality of different orientations in one or more of the x, y, or z axis. For example, heat pipes are partially driven by gravity force. Therefore, orientation of a heat pipe relative to gravity may have an effect on the heat pipe's thermal load carrying capability.

[0035] Accordingly, the first and second heat pipes 302, 304 in the illustrated example are illustrated as being arranged in generally opposing directions from the heat-generating device 202. Arrangement of the first and second heat pipes 302, 304 in the opposing directions may be utilized to support a variety of features.

[0036] For example, during movement of the heat transfer device 124 through different orientations, one of the heat pipes may have a higher performance due to gravity than the opposing heat pipe. Therefore, this higher performance may help to reduce and even cancel lower performance experienced by the heat pipe that does not have this advantage. In this way, the heat transfer device 124 may provide generally uniform heat transfer from the heat-generating device 202 in a variety of different orientations. Although two heat pipes are described in this example, the heat transfer device 124 may employ different numbers of heat pipes arranged in different orientations without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, such as to employ an arrangement that coincides with contemplated orientations in which the computing device 102 is to be used.

[0037] In the illustrated example, the heat transfer device 124 is further illustrated as being cooled by a plurality of fans, examples of which are illustrated as first and second fans 306, 308 to cool the first and second heat pipes 302, 304, respectively. Use of more than one fan by the computing device 102 may support a variety of different features. For example, use of the first and second fans 306, 308 may occupy a smaller amount of system “footprint” within the housing 120 than that consumed by a single fan of equal cooling performance. For instance, the first and second fans 306, 308 may consume less space in the housing 120 along the y axis in the illustrated example. Further, two or more fans are able to operate with greater efficiency than a single fan that offers similar cooling performance. For example, power consumption by a fan increases as a third power of fan speed. Therefore, a single fan that operates at twice the speed of two fans demands four times as much power as the two fans. Thus, the heat transfer device 124 may be configured in a variety of ways to provide a variety of different functionality as previously described. Further, this efficiency may be further increased through management of operation of powered active cooling devices by the heat management module 122, further discussion of which may be found in relation to the following figure.

[0038] FIG. 4 depicts a system 400 in an example implementation in which operation of powered active cooling devices is adjusted based on orientation. The system 400 in this example includes the heat management module 122 and the heat transfer device 124 of FIG. 1. The heat transfer device 124 in this example includes a plurality of powered active cooling devices that are illustrated a fans 306, 308.

[0039] The heat management module 122 is configured to control operation of the fans 306, 308, such as to adjust a fan speed to support a plurality of operational modes, adjust between an operation mode and non-operational mode (i.e., “on” and “off”), and so on. Other numbers and types of powered active cooling devices are also contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, such as to control a compressor (e.g., of a powered phase change cooling unit), valves, use of a single fan, and so on.

[0040] When in a landscape mode as shown in FIG. 3, both heat pipes have the same efficiency of heat transfer. However, in portrait, the heat pipe with condensing section on the top have higher efficiency since the gravity helps condensed fluid readily to return to the evaporating section. For example, rotation of the device of FIG. 3 ninety degrees causes the top heat pipe to have increased efficiency than that of the bottom heat pipe.

[0041] The heat management module 122 may be configured to leverage the differences in efficiency to support a variety of functionality. For example, the heat management module 122 may be configured to increase a speed of a fan associated with a heat pipe having increased efficiency and reduce and even stop a fan associated with a heat pipe having decreased efficiency. In this way, power consumption and noise of the heat transfer device 124 may be lessened, thereby conserving power and resulting in an improved user experience. The fan law for noise level is N2−N1=50*log 10(rpm2/rpm1). Doubling the speed of a single fan increases the sound power by 15.1 dB. Two fans, both at rpm1, increases the noise by 3 dB, which doubles the noise output. Thus running a single fan at 2*rpm1 outputs ˜12 dB more sound power than running two fans at rpm1.

[0042] The heat management module 122 may determine an orientation of the heat transfer device 124 in a variety of ways. The heat management module 122, for instance, may receive inputs from one or orientation sensors 402 of the computing device, such as a three-dimensional accelerometer, inertial measurement unit, gyroscope, magnetometer, and so on. Thus, the heat management module 122 may receive an indication of a likely orientation of the computing device 102 and also components of the heat management module 122, e.g., the heat pipes 302, 304 of FIG. 3.

[0043] The system includes a representation of a three-dimensional coordinate system that includes x, y, and z axes. Roll around the y axis, pitch around the x axis, and even yaw around the z axis may be computing in a variety of ways to describe the orientation, an example of which is described as follows.

[0044] The roll and pitch can be computed from the following

roll=a tan 2(Gx,√{square root over (Gy²+Gz²))}

pitch=a tan 2(Gy,√(Gŷ2+Gẑ2))

[0045] When the roll is equal to 90 degrees, for instance, the system may assume a portrait orientation in which a first heat pipe has increased efficiency in comparison with a second heat pipe. However, when the roll is equal to −90 degrees, the system is also in the portrait orientation but the second heat pipe has increased efficiency in comparison with the first heat pipe.

[0046] Weighting strategies may then be employed by the heat management module 122 to manage operation of powered active cooling devices accordingly. For example, when the roll is within a predefined amount of degrees away from 90 degrees, a first fan may be operated alone to take advantage of the higher efficiency of a corresponding first heat pipe. Further, the heat management module 122 may be configured to cease operation of a second fan associated with the second heat pipe that has the reduced efficiency. In this way, power may be conserved and noise reduced in the operation of the fans. A variety of other examples are also contemplated, such as to take into account both roll and pitch, yaw, and so on. For instance, a variety of different operational modes may be employed as previously described, such as to operate the fans or other powered active cooling devices at a plurality of different operational modes, e.g., speeds.

[0047] In this example, the heat management module 122 may leverage existing hardware of a device, e.g., orientation sensors 402 that are utilized to support gestures and other functionality. Thus, this functionality may be supported without increasing manufacturing costs of the device yet still achieve the benefits described herein. The heat management module 122 may also leverage other inputs to perform the management, such as temperature sensors 404 and other functionality as further described below.

[0048] FIG. 5 depicts an example implementation 500 of the heat management module 122 as including a temperature controller and a fan speed controller. In this example implementation, the heat management module 122 is configured as a closed loop active fan control. As before, the heat management module 122 may leverage a variety of sensors including on board temperature sensors on dual in-line memory modules, on board temperature sensors on a display device, on board temperature sensors near a touch surface, on die processor digital thermal sensors, on die PCH digital thermal sensors, and so on.

[0049] A temperature controller module 502 is illustrated as included in an outer loop of the diagram. Given a fixed target temperature input, this module may attempt to keep a component's temperature (e.g., processor temperature) below the input. If there is enough thermal disturbance from the system 506, e.g., heat, the fans may be driven at various speeds by the temperature controller.

[0050] The inner loop of the diagram includes a fan speed controller module 504. This module may be driven by the temperature controller module 502. This close-loop controller may be used to maintain a desired speed (e.g., RPM) for one or more fans, including different speeds for different fans as described above as well as other powered active cooling devices.

[0051] The temperature controller module 502 and the fan speed controller module 504 may be implemented using a variety of devices. For example, a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller may be used. The PID control output u(t) may be calculated based on an error between a desired value and sensed value e(t), an example of which is shown in the following expression.

$u\left(t\right)=K_pe\left(t\right)+K_i{\int }_0^te\left(\tau \right)\tau +K_d\frac{}{t}e\left(t\right)$

The PID control expression above includes three terms, proportional term evaluating present error, integral term evaluating accumulation of past errors, and derivative term evaluating prediction of future errors. This is in contrast to traditional fan curve calculation that is based on adjusting the fan duty cycles based on the temperature values. Rather, the PID controller in this instance is capable of adapting to environment change such as ambient temperature and environmental change. It should be readily apparent, however, that other examples are also contemplated.

[0052] Although described for devices that assume a mobile form factor that is configured to be grasped by one or more hands of a user, these techniques may be leveraged for a variety of other devices. For example, a game console may be configured to be placed in a variety of orientations, such as flat or “on end.” The game console may determine the orientation (e.g., by leveraging a sensor utilized to determine how to display which controls are active) and thus adjust the active cooling accordingly. A manufacturer, for instance, may design different speeds for use of a fan based on the orientation without employing dedicated temperature monitoring. Other devices are also contemplated, such as for a desktop monitor configured to assume portrait and landscape orientations.

[0053] Example Procedures

[0054] The following discussion describes heat transfer techniques that may be implemented utilizing the previously described systems and devices. Aspects of each of the procedures may be implemented in hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination thereof. The procedures are shown as a set of blocks that specify operations performed by one or more devices and are not necessarily limited to the orders shown for performing the operations by the respective blocks. In portions of the following discussion, reference will be made to FIGS. 1-5.

[0055] FIG. 6 depicts a procedure 600 in an example implementation in which heat transfer device management is performed. A likely orientation of a computing device is determined by a computing device (block 602). This may include receiving inputs from one or more sensors (e.g., accelerometers) and then calculating the likely orientation. In another example, this may include receiving an input that describes the orientation as already calculated. The orientation of the computing device 102 (e.g., the housing 120) may be indicative of the likely orientation of the heat transfer device 124 and thus determination of one may be indicative of the other, although other embodiments are also contemplated.

[0056] A speed of at least one fan of the computing device is managed based on the likely orientation of the computing device (block 604). This may include permitting or restriction operation of the fan (e.g., “on” or “off”), use of a plurality of different operational modes (e.g., low speed or high speed), and so on. Further, although management of fan speed was described for this example, a variety of other examples of management of powered active cooling devices are contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

[0057] Example System and Device

[0058] FIG. 7 illustrates an example system generally at 700 that includes an example computing device 702 that is representative of one or more computing systems and/or devices that may implement the various techniques described herein. The computing device 702 may be, for example, a server of a service provider, a device associated with a client (e.g., a client device), an on-chip system, and/or any other suitable computing device or computing system. As such, the heat management module 122 is illustrated as part of the device to support the techniques previously described to manage powered active cooling devices, such as fans, compressors, and so forth.

[0059] The example computing device 702 as illustrated includes a processing system 704, one or more computer-readable media 706, and one or more I/O interface 708 that are communicatively coupled, one to another. Although not shown, the computing device 702 may further include a system bus or other data and command transfer system that couples the various components, one to another. A system bus can include any one or combination of different bus structures, such as a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, a universal serial bus, and/or a processor or local bus that utilizes any of a variety of bus architectures. A variety of other examples are also contemplated, such as control and data lines.

[0060] The processing system 704 is representative of functionality to perform one or more operations using hardware. Accordingly, the processing system 704 is illustrated as including hardware element 710 that may be configured as processors, functional blocks, and so forth. This may include implementation in hardware as an application specific integrated circuit or other logic device formed using one or more semiconductors. The hardware elements 710 are not limited by the materials from which they are formed or the processing mechanisms employed therein. For example, processors may be comprised of semiconductor(s) and/or transistors (e.g., electronic integrated circuits (ICs)). In such a context, processor-executable instructions may be electronically-executable instructions.

[0061] The computer-readable storage media 706 is illustrated as including memory/storage 712. The memory/storage 712 represents memory/storage capacity associated with one or more computer-readable media. The memory/storage component 712 may include volatile media (such as random access memory (RAM)) and/or nonvolatile media (such as read only memory (ROM), Flash memory, optical disks, magnetic disks, and so forth). The memory/storage component 712 may include fixed media (e.g., RAM, ROM, a fixed hard drive, and so on) as well as removable media (e.g., Flash memory, a removable hard drive, an optical disc, and so forth). The computer-readable media 706 may be configured in a variety of other ways as further described below.

[0062] Input/output interface(s) 708 are representative of functionality to allow a user to enter commands and information to computing device 702, and also allow information to be presented to the user and/or other components or devices using various input/output devices. Examples of input devices include a keyboard, a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse), a microphone, a scanner, touch functionality (e.g., capacitive or other sensors that are configured to detect physical touch), a camera (e.g., which may employ visible or non-visible wavelengths such as infrared frequencies to recognize movement as gestures that do not involve touch), and so forth. Examples of output devices include a display device (e.g., a monitor or projector), speakers, a printer, a network card, tactile-response device, and so forth. Thus, the computing device 702 may be configured in a variety of ways as further described below to support user interaction.

[0063] Various techniques may be described herein in the general context of software, hardware elements, or program modules. Generally, such modules include routines, programs, objects, elements, components, data structures, and so forth that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The terms “module,” “functionality,” and “component” as used herein generally represent software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof. The features of the techniques described herein are platform-independent, meaning that the techniques may be implemented on a variety of commercial computing platforms having a variety of processors.

[0064] An implementation of the described modules and techniques may be stored on or transmitted across some form of computer-readable media. The computer-readable media may include a variety of media that may be accessed by the computing device 702. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may include “computer-readable storage media” and “computer-readable signal media.”

[0065] “Computer-readable storage media” may refer to media and/or devices that enable persistent and/or non-transitory storage of information in contrast to mere signal transmission, carrier waves, or signals per se. Thus, computer-readable storage media refers to non-signal bearing media. The computer-readable storage media includes hardware such as volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media and/or storage devices implemented in a method or technology suitable for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, logic elements/circuits, or other data. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, hard disks, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or other storage device, tangible media, or article of manufacture suitable to store the desired information and which may be accessed by a computer.

[0066] “Computer-readable signal media” may refer to a signal-bearing medium that is configured to transmit instructions to the hardware of the computing device 702, such as via a network. Signal media typically may embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as carrier waves, data signals, or other transport mechanism. Signal media also include any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media.

[0067] As previously described, hardware elements 710 and computer-readable media 706 are representative of modules, programmable device logic and/or fixed device logic implemented in a hardware form that may be employed in some embodiments to implement at least some aspects of the techniques described herein, such as to perform one or more instructions. Hardware may include components of an integrated circuit or on-chip system, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and other implementations in silicon or other hardware. In this context, hardware may operate as a processing device that performs program tasks defined by instructions and/or logic embodied by the hardware as well as a hardware utilized to store instructions for execution, e.g., the computer-readable storage media described previously.

[0068] Combinations of the foregoing may also be employed to implement various techniques described herein. Accordingly, software, hardware, or executable modules may be implemented as one or more instructions and/or logic embodied on some form of computer-readable storage media and/or by one or more hardware elements 710. The computing device 702 may be configured to implement particular instructions and/or functions corresponding to the software and/or hardware modules. Accordingly, implementation of a module that is executable by the computing device 702 as software may be achieved at least partially in hardware, e.g., through use of computer-readable storage media and/or hardware elements 710 of the processing system 704. The instructions and/or functions may be executable/operable by one or more articles of manufacture (for example, one or more computing devices 702 and/or processing systems 704) to implement techniques, modules, and examples described herein.

[0069] As further illustrated in FIG. 7, the example system 700 enables ubiquitous environments for a seamless user experience when running applications on a personal computer (PC), a television device, and/or a mobile device. Services and applications run substantially similar in all three environments for a common user experience when transitioning from one device to the next while utilizing an application, playing a video game, watching a video, and so on.

[0070] In the example system 700, multiple devices are interconnected through a central computing device. The central computing device may be local to the multiple devices or may be located remotely from the multiple devices. In one embodiment, the central computing device may be a cloud of one or more server computers that are connected to the multiple devices through a network, the Internet, or other data communication link.

[0071] In one embodiment, this interconnection architecture enables functionality to be delivered across multiple devices to provide a common and seamless experience to a user of the multiple devices. Each of the multiple devices may have different physical requirements and capabilities, and the central computing device uses a platform to enable the delivery of an experience to the device that is both tailored to the device and yet common to all devices. In one embodiment, a class of target devices is created and experiences are tailored to the generic class of devices. A class of devices may be defined by physical features, types of usage, or other common characteristics of the devices.

[0072] In various implementations, the computing device 702 may assume a variety of different configurations, such as for computer 714, mobile 716, and television 718 uses. Each of these configurations includes devices that may have generally different constructs and capabilities, and thus the computing device 702 may be configured according to one or more of the different device classes. For instance, the computing device 702 may be implemented as the computer 714 class of a device that includes a personal computer, desktop computer, a multi-screen computer, laptop computer, netbook, and so on.

[0073] The computing device 702 may also be implemented as the mobile 716 class of device that includes mobile devices, such as a mobile phone, portable music player, portable gaming device, a tablet computer, a multi-screen computer, and so on. The computing device 702 may also be implemented as the television 718 class of device that includes devices having or connected to generally larger screens in casual viewing environments. These devices include televisions, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, and so on.

[0074] The techniques described herein may be supported by these various configurations of the computing device 702 and are not limited to the specific examples of the techniques described herein.

[0075] Functionality may also be implemented all or in part through use of a distributed system, such as over a “cloud” 720 via a platform 722 as described below. The cloud 720 includes and/or is representative of a platform 722 for resources 724. The platform 722 abstracts underlying functionality of hardware (e.g., servers) and software resources of the cloud 720. The resources 724 may include applications and/or data that can be utilized while computer processing is executed on servers that are remote from the computing device 702. Resources 724 can also include services provided over the Internet and/or through a subscriber network, such as a cellular or Wi-Fi network.

[0076] The platform 722 may abstract resources and functions to connect the computing device 702 with other computing devices. The platform 722 may also serve to abstract scaling of resources to provide a corresponding level of scale to encountered demand for the resources 724 that are implemented via the platform 722. Accordingly, in an interconnected device embodiment, implementation of functionality described herein may be distributed throughout the system 700. For example, the functionality may be implemented in part on the computing device 702 as well as via the platform 722 that abstracts the functionality of the cloud 720.

[0077] Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claimed invention.