Adaptive thermal control system

Systems, apparatuses, and methods for implementing an optimized adaptive thermal control mechanism for an integrated circuit (IC) are described. A control unit receives a digital input value which is representative of a temperature of an IC. The control unit compares the input value to at least two set points. A result of a first comparison determines whether an accumulator is incremented or decremented by a programmable gain value. A result of a second comparison determines whether the accumulator is primed with a preset ramp-up value. The preset ramp-up value is used since the accumulator can take several sensing cycles to reach the optimal control value while thermal gradients can become critical in only a few cycles. The output of the accumulator is provided to an actuator which adjusts parameter(s) to modulate the IC's temperature. The granularity and range of the accumulator matches the granularity and range of the actuator.