Patent ID: 7997087

Claim:
A system for controlling temperatures on a semiconductor chip, the system comprising: heat generating circuits on the semiconductor chip; plural thermoelectric devices thermally coupled to the semiconductor chip and configured to extract heat from the heat generating circuits; at least one heat sink thermally coupled to the thermoelectric devices and configured to dissipate heat from the thermoelectric devices into an environment apart from the semiconductor chip; a thermal interface material configured to thermally couple the at least one heat sink to the semiconductor chip; and a processor configured to operate the plural thermoelectric devices in at least one of a cooling mode, a heat pump mode, and a power conversion mode to equilibrate temperatures across the semiconductor chip, wherein the processor comprises inputs configured to receive temperature measurements from the semiconductor chip and at least one of operating voltages, currents, and temperatures in the thermoelectric devices, and wherein the processor comprises a mapping unit configured to produce from the temperature measurements and the at least one of operating voltages, currents, and temperatures a power dissipation map for integrated circuits on the semiconductor chip, and wherein the processor is configured to provide the power dissipation map as feedback to control distribution of processing to the integrated circuits on the semiconductor chip.