Method and apparatus for managing power in computer systems

Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support – Computer power control

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C700S286000, C307S031000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06802014

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Numerous power management schemes have been proposed for managing the power consumption of computer systems. Such schemes typically power down idle devices in order to save power and reduce heat. Power conservation is especially important in portable computers that need to maximize their battery life.
FIG. 1
illustrates a conventional power management scheme. This power management scheme
100
utilizes a single centralized power manager to control the power consumption of its computer system. This power management scheme includes a power manager
105
, several power management clients
110
, and several device drivers
115
. As shown in
FIG. 1
, the device drivers control several devices
120
of the computer system.
The power manager
105
is a centralized piece of software that controls the power consumption of the devices
120
. Specifically, this manager communicates with device drivers
115
and with certain devices
120
, in order to receive information about the operational states of the devices
120
. Based on these operational states and on the power manager's knowledge of the hardware devices, the power manager determines when to change each device's power state.
The power management clients
110
can also order the power manager to change the device power states. For instance, the power management clients might order the power manager to put the system to sleep based on a user's manual request or the computer's automated sleep setting. In portable computers, the power management clients
110
might also request the power manager to put the system to sleep when the battery level is critically low. As shown in
FIG. 1
, the power manager
105
directly orders certain devices (e.g., device
4
in this figure) to change their power states, while ordering other devices through the device drivers
115
.
The centralized power management scheme of
FIG. 1
has several disadvantages. For instance, it requires one centralized power manager module to know how to communicate with the device drivers and in some instances with the devices themselves. This, in turn, complicates the development and maintenance of the power manager module. The power manager needs to be modified each time a device driver is modified or a new one is added. Moreover, the power manager needs to have detailed information about the operation of the devices. This manager also needs to know the hierarchical relationship between the devices. These requirements, in turn, complicate the structure and operation of the power manager.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a distributed power management method. Ideally, this method should simplify the structure and operation of the power management system, and impose minimal development and maintenance requirements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is directed towards minimizing power consumption in computer systems. One embodiment of the invention is a power management system that is used for a computer system that has at least one device and one power domain. This embodiment uses two different power managers to manage the power consumption of the device and the power domain. Specifically, this embodiment has (1) a first power manager that determines when to change power state of the device, and (2) a second power manager that determines when to change power state of the power domain. Each of these power managers decides to change the power state of its corresponding device or domain based on information from several different sources. These sources can include power-management clients and power managers of related domains or devices.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5251320 (1993-10-01), Kuzawinski et al.
patent: 5752050 (1998-05-01), Hernandez et al.
patent: 5919263 (1999-07-01), Kikinis et al.
patent: 5925134 (1999-07-01), Solomon
patent: 5987614 (1999-11-01), Mitchell et al.
patent: 6105097 (2000-08-01), Larky et al.
patent: 6272644 (2001-08-01), Urade et al.
patent: 6281601 (2001-08-01), Edelman et al.
patent: 6377874 (2002-04-01), Ykema
patent: 6541879 (2003-04-01), Wright
patent: 2000232452 (2000-08-01), None
Universal Serial Bus Specification, Revision 1.1, Sep. 23, 1998.

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Method and apparatus for managing power in computer systems does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Method and apparatus for managing power in computer systems, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and apparatus for managing power in computer systems will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3279858

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.