Patent ID: 6934864

Claim:
A method for co-operative thermal management of a plurality of independent electronic devices housed within a common enclosure, said method comprising: designating a priority number for each of said plurality of independent electronic devices, wherein each of said plurality of independent electronic devices has a thermal controller; in response to a failure of at least one cooling fan coupled with said common enclosure, measuring a temperature of each of said plurality of independent electronic devices; and for each of said plurality of independent electronic devices: determining if said measured temperature exceeds a threshold value for said independent electronic device; in response to a determination that said measured temperature exceeds a threshold value, initializing a count-down value to said designated priority number of said independent electronic device; counting down said count-down value as long as said measured temperature exceeds said threshold value; and in response to said count-down value reaching a pre-determined action level, powering down said independent electronic device.