JP2000305673A - Method and device for managing power consumption - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To completely prevent a non-essential power consuming device from consuming power when the device is not used by regulating a control type power plane through a logic means and performing the power-on or power-off of the control type power plane in response to a power-on or power-off signal through a regulating means. SOLUTION: After system initialization or loading of an MPEG decoder device driver, a monitor program 204 is automatically started and the start of a DVD application 202 is detected, a power source regulator 218 maintains power supply to a subsystem power plane (iPlane) 216. Then, power is supplied to an MPEG decoder 210 or the like connected to the iPlane 216. When it is detected that the DVD application 202 is not started, a signal is generated by a control and address recovery logic 220 according to the monitor program 204 and the power source regulator 218 is commanded to remove power from the iPlane 216.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to data processing systems, and more particularly, to power management of electronic components in a data processing system. More specifically, the present invention relates to low power consumption of electronic components.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As technology advances and the latest electronic devices become portable, there is a clear need for low power electronic components. In the personal computer space, there are several industry initiatives, the most prominent of which are A
CPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface)
e) The specification, which is when the electronic components are idle
Require a low power operation mode. Since these modes are usually implemented at the silicon level, many existing components are not compatible with the aforementioned initiatives. A
CPI generally reduces power consumption through the collaboration of application programs, system BIOS, and hardware. An ACPI-compliant BIOS provides power management services to a computer operating system (OS). The operating system arbitrates power management calls and transfers calls and information to the BIO
Transfer between S and the application program.
Application software AC power management information
Communicate through PI device.

[0003] As a result of the newly defined initiative, manufacturers with inventories of non-compliant parts are facing additional costs for disposal and development of compliant parts.
In fact, most components used in modern electronics are
Currently non-compliant with ACPI. OEMs prefer to use ACPI compliant components to obtain ACPI certification at the system level. However, due to redevelopment costs and costs associated with the transition from non-compliance to full compliance,
Improvement is slow.

[0004] One example of an application that uses low power compliant components, which still leaks power, is a portable personal computer (laptop) with DVD playback capabilities. For example, a laptop is
IBM CD1M or CD1V MP provided by BM
You may have a DVD that uses an EG-2 decoder. Decoders and related components implement sleep mode for low power consumption, but they consume excessive power according to ACPI standards even in sleep mode, consuming 75 mA for CD1M and 55 mA for CD1V.
In this example, even if the DVD application is not used, the MPEG decoder consumes power and is
Depletes the computer battery.

When a data processing system, including a laptop, powers on, power is typically applied to all power planes in the system, and limited diagnostics are generally performed before full power is applied. When the system loses power or powers off during program execution, registers containing data (including those associated with screen graphics) are dumped. If the laptop is powered down while watching a movie on a DVD, as in the previous example of a laptop using a DVD, the movie will be "
It is not "bookmarked" and thus the movie cannot continue where it left off. The graphics registers (also called buffers) normally present on graphics adapters that display data on the terminal screen are:
There are other registers that contain unordered data, but contain a pointer to that data. The application program restores the screen image
Retrieve the contents of the buffer and pointer registers. When the system loses power, these registers are dumped and the image is lost.

[0006]

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus that allows non-essential power consuming devices to consume no power when not in use. Furthermore,
After restoring power to the component, it is desirable to provide proper initialization and program loading of the subject device under program control. In addition, laptops
It would be desirable to provide methods and systems that allow the use of non-compliant electronic components in power saving systems such as computers. It would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus that allows the correct state to be resumed when the system is powered off.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for managing non-essential devices that consume power so that power is not consumed when not in use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for proper initialization and program loading of a device to provide proper operation of the device which is not essential.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for controlling power to devices not designated as energy saving devices.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for storing the contents of a designated register in a non-volatile memory in response to a power down signal.

[0011]

The above object is achieved as follows. Digitally controlled power conditioner
Connected to a subsystem power plane connected to the system power plane to reduce the power consumption of connected non-essential non-operating devices to zero during sleep or suspend mode. Associated logic controls the power conditioner to remove power from the subsystem power plane during critical periods during startup and operation. During system startup, logic is provided to remove power from non-essential devices after initialization. However, power supply is continued when an application involving a non-essential device is started. In addition, starting the non-essential device provides logic for the application to re-initialize the relevant components required for operation of the non-essential device. Also, instead of attempting to save the RAM memory at power down, the associated logic routine saves the contents of the specified processor's internal registers, and accurately restores the RAM memory state at power down.

[0012] In addition to the objects set forth above, additional objects of the present invention include:
Features and advantages will be apparent from the detailed description below.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a high level block diagram of a data processing system in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention may be implemented. The exemplary embodiment data processing system 100 includes a processor 102, which may be an IBM PowerPC ™ processor. The processor 102 is connected to a level 2 (L2) cache 104, which has a low access latency and
Used to stage data between two. L
2 cache 104 is interconnect or system bus 1
06, which is further connected to the system memory 108 and the memory-mapped graphics adapter 110 in the illustrated embodiment. Graphics adapter 110 provides a connection for a display device (not shown). On the display device, the data processing system 100
The user interface of the software running in the is displayed.

In an exemplary embodiment, an input / output (I / O) bus bridge 112 is further connected to the system bus 106, and is connected to the system bus 106 and the I / O bus 114.
Provides an interface to and from. The non-volatile memory such as the hard disk drive 116 is the I / O bus 1
Connected to 14, a keyboard / mouse adapter 118 also provides a connection to the I / O bus for a keyboard 120 and a pointing device 122.
The pointing device 122 is a mouse, a trackball, or the like. The I / O bus 114 is further connected to a network adapter 124 for connecting the data processing system 100 to a local area network (LAN) or the Internet. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other devices such as optical disks or modems,
It will be appreciated that it may be incorporated within data processing system 100.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a high level logic block diagram of the present invention used by a data processing system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The invention is DVD
Shown to be used by the device (not shown),
It can be incorporated into applications that have similar power requirements. The components required to operate the DVD device in the data processing system include the MPEG decoder 210 and all associated power consuming circuits, the latter including a memory module 212 and circuits 2 such as a clock and an oscillator.
14 are included. Each related component is a common subsystem power plane (iPlane) 2 in the data processing system.
16 is shared. As shown, iPlane 216 is separate from main system power plane 222 but is connected to the main system power plane via control and address decoding logic module 220 in series with power regulator 218. 218 and 220 are powered at system initialization (startup).

After system initialization and loading of the MPEG decoder device driver, the power restoration / initialization monitor program 204 is automatically started and the MP
It is determined whether the EG decoder 210 is used by the DVD application 202. In particular, the monitor program 204 detects whether the DVD application 202 has been started. DVD application 20
2 is started, the power regulator 218
Maintain power to 216. A decoder 210 connected to and powered by iPlane 216, and associated components such as a memory module 212 and circuits 214, such as a clock and an oscillator, are initiated by the monitor program 204 to operate the DVD device. Monitor program is DV
Upon detecting that the D-application 202 has not been started (ie, no DVD-related components are required), a signal is generated by the monitor program 204 to the control and address decoding logic 220 to cause the power regulator 218 to remove power from the iPlane 216. To do so. Thereby, the power consumption of the MPEG decoder 210 and all the related circuits is reduced to zero.

Following system initialization, at the subsequent start of the DVD application 202, the monitor program 204 starts the control and address decoding logic 220 and instructs the power supply regulator 218 to power the iPlane 216. The monitor program 204 then proceeds to MP
Start the EG decoder subsystem (decoder 210, memory module 212, and circuitry 214 such as clocks, oscillators, etc.) to support the operation of the DVD device (not shown). Similarly, when the entire data processing system enters the power suspend mode, the monitor program 204 receives power from the iPlane 216 and the MPEG decoder subsystem (the decoder 210, the memory module 212, and the circuit 214 such as a clock and an oscillator). Start the logic to command the removal of. When the data processing system exits suspend mode, monitor program 204 detects a change in system state and provides decoder 210 with logic to restore power.

The monitor program 204 controls the power supply to specified system devices by controlling the power supply to at least one particular subsystem power plane. The invention is "intelligent"
Includes a power plane or iPlane 216, which provides separately controllable power supplies for non-critical devices and logic to initialize and establish proper operation of non-essential devices. The logic provided to the system by the present invention allows the system to use ACPI non-compliant devices to promote low power consumption and to allow zero power consumption when devices are not in use.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a high level flow diagram of a method for managing power consumption in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. This flow diagram is best understood with reference to FIG. 2, which illustrates the case where the present invention is used by a DVD device (or subsystem). The process begins at step 300, where power is provided to a data processing system. The process then moves to step 302, where power is provided to the subsystem. The process then goes to step 3
Moving to 06, the data processing system loads the operating system. The process then proceeds to step 30
8 and load the device driver for the subsystem. The process then moves to step 310, where the monitor program 204 is initialized.

Next, the process moves to step 312,
It is determined whether stored data exists. Logic in the monitor program checks non-volatile memory for stored register data. If so, the process moves to step 314 to determine if the target application is running. If the application is not running, the process returns to step 314 to continue checking for the start of the application. If the application is running, the process moves to step 316 where power is supplied to the subsystem, i.e., the subsystem power plane (iPlane). The process then moves to step 318, where the system is reloaded. Next, the process proceeds to step 32
0, and determines whether the application is running.

Returning to step 312, if no stored data exists, the process moves to step 320 to determine if the application is running. If the application is not running, the process moves to step 322, where the monitor program determines if the subsystem power
Power down the plane. Since the application is not running, no stored data is normally required and the process moves to step 324 to clear any stored data. The process then moves to step 326,
It is determined whether the target application is running. If not, the process returns to step 326 and repeats. If the application is running at this point, the process moves to step 316 and the monitor program repowers the subsystem power plane.

Returning to step 320, if the monitor program determines that the target application is running, the process moves to step 328 to determine whether the application has paused. If not, the process returns to step 320 to check if the application is running. If the application has paused, the process moves to step 330 where the timeout counter is incremented while waiting for the application to resume. The process then moves to step 332 and determines whether the preset counter has timed out. If not, the process returns to step 328 to determine if the application is still in sleep mode.

If the counter times out, the process proceeds to step 334, where the register data is stored in non-volatile memory. The process continues at step 336, where the monitor program powers down the subsystem power plane. Next, the process moves to step 338 to determine if the application is active. If not, the process returns to step 338 to continue checking for activity. When the application is active, the process moves to step 316 where the monitor program
Re-power the power plane.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a high level flow diagram of a method for storing data in non-volatile memory when a power off signal is received, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The process starts at step 350, where a system power off signal is detected by the monitor program. The process moves to step 352 and determines whether the monitored application is running. If the application is running, the process proceeds to step 35
Going to 4, the monitor program saves data from the specified internal register of the particular processor in non-volatile memory. The process then moves to step 356, where the monitor program ends. Returning to step 352, if the application is not running, there is no register data to save and the process proceeds to step 3
The process proceeds to 56, and the monitor program ends.

Referring to FIG. 5, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the power supply / detection /
Pseudo code for the remove / restore application is shown. In this example, the data processing system is tested to see if the iPlane device application or DVD navigator was running before the ACPI sleep or sub-pend mode occurs (power down). If so, the subsystem power plane (iPlane) is turned on and when ACPI mode enters the power-up cycle, the components required for DVD operation are powered.
To restore the state when the DVD is powered down, a routine that executes a restore / initialization application is called by the BIOS. This is because the system is requesting a return from the power down state. When the DVD is started, the subsystem power plane is turned on, and a routine for powering up the DVD-related components is called. The restore / initialization application is executed even if there are no registers to restore.

When the system is in a power down mode, power is removed from the subsystem power plane that is powering the decoder, and power is restored when the system powers up. In this case, the routine to remove power from the subsystem power plane is BIOS
Called by If the DVD is turned off and the application is terminated, the application calls a routine that removes power from the subsystem power plane, thereby turning off power to DVD-related components.
To be reduced.

Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown pseudo code for a restore / initialization application associated with a DVD device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. This code is activated when the system is powered down and a restore of device state at power down is performed. The application verifies that the necessary equipment (in this example, an MPEG decoder for DVD) and the processor chip are available. In addition, the availability of the configuration space is confirmed. The processor chip is reset, and the particular register receives the contents that existed at shutdown from the non-volatile memory location. The application then sets the various modes that allow the device to begin operation at the bit level that the device left off on power down. If all components are available and restored, the DVD starts when it is powered down. If the bus connected to the chip, chip configuration space, or decoder is not available, the routine is aborted and the DVD does not start operation.

The power consumption of the device implementing iPlane consumes no power since the subsystem power plane is powered down when not in use. In the operating mode, electronic components that are not configured to achieve low power consumption can be made to consume no power when not in use. The present invention provides for proper initialization and program loading of non-ACPI components after power has been restored to those components. In addition, the present invention saves the contents of internal registers in the designated processor associated with the target device, so that proper re-initialization and program
Provide a load. The contents are stored in non-volatile memory,
It is possible to completely and accurately restore the power-down state of the target device.

Although the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functional device, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the features of the invention, or aspects thereof, may be distributed in various forms on computer readable media, and the invention will be described in more detail. It will be appreciated that the same is applicable irrespective of the particular type of signal-bearing medium actually used for distribution. Examples of computer-readable media are non-volatile hard-coded media such as read-only memory (ROM) or electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM);
Disk, hard disk drive and CD-RO
Recordable media such as M and transmission-type media such as digital and analog communication links are included.

In summary, the following matters are disclosed regarding the configuration of the present invention.

(1) An apparatus for managing power in a data processing system, comprising: a main power plane; at least one controlled power plane electrically connected to the main power plane; An apparatus comprising: logic means for adjusting a power plane; and adjustment means for powering on or off said controlled power plane in response to a power on or power off signal. (2) The device according to (1), further including a detection unit that determines whether an application for operating a specific device has been started. (3) connected to the adjusting means,
Control and address logic means for enabling a system to access said controlled power plane;
The device according to (2). (4) The apparatus according to (1), wherein the at least one controlled power plane includes adjustment means for adjusting the controlled power plane. (5) The device according to (1), wherein components associated with the operation of the specific device are electrically connected to the controlled power plane. (6) The apparatus according to (1), further including logic means for storing the contents of the designated processor register in a nonvolatile memory. (7) The apparatus according to (1), further comprising logic means for writing back the content of the designated processor register previously stored in the non-volatile memory to the designated processor register. (8) A method for managing power consumption, comprising: monitoring an operation state of a device; determining whether the contents of a specific register of the device are stored in a non-volatile memory; Supplying power to a subsystem power plane connected to a component associated with the device in response to a determination that an application for operating the device has been started, and storing the data in the specific register from the nonvolatile memory. A method comprising: reloading data; and removing power from the subsystem power plane in response to determining that the device is non-operational. (9) The method according to (8), including a step of determining whether an application for operating a specific device has been started. (10) The method of (9), further comprising providing logic means for operating the voltage regulating means to allow an operating system to access the controlled power plane. (11) The method according to (8), wherein the step of supplying power includes the step of adjusting the controlled power plane using voltage adjustment means. (12) The method of (8), including connecting components associated with the operation of the particular device to the controlled power plane. (13) The method according to (8), further including the step of storing the contents of the designated processor register in a non-volatile memory. (14) The contents of the designated processor register previously stored in the non-volatile memory are stored in the designated processor
The method according to (8), including the step of writing back to the register. (15) A computer-readable medium having instructions for managing power consumption, the instructions comprising instructions for monitoring an operating state of a device, and contents of a specific register of the device being stored in a non-volatile memory. An instruction for determining whether or not an application for operating the device has been started, and an instruction for supplying power to a subsystem power plane connected to a component associated with the device. A computer-readable medium, comprising: instructions for reloading the particular register with stored data from the non-volatile memory; and instructions for removing power from the subsystem power plane. (16) The computer-readable medium according to (15), including an instruction to determine whether an application for operating a specific device has been started. (17) The computer readable medium of (16), including instructions for providing logic means for operating a voltage regulating means to allow an operating system to access the controlled power plane. (18) The computer-readable medium of (15), wherein the instructions for supplying power include instructions for adjusting the controlled power plane using voltage adjustment means. (19) The computer-readable medium of (15), including instructions for connecting components associated with operation of the particular device to the controlled power plane. (20) The computer-readable medium according to (15), including an instruction to save the contents of a specified processor register in a non-volatile memory. (21) The contents of the designated processor register previously stored in the non-volatile memory are stored in the designated processor
The computer-readable medium of claim 15, including instructions for writing back to a register.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a data processing system in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a high level logic block diagram of the present invention used by a data processing system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a high-level flow diagram of a method for managing power consumption according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a high-level flow diagram of a method for storing data in non-volatile memory when a power-off signal is received, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is pseudo-code for a power supply / detection / removal / restore application associated with a DVD device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is pseudo code for a restore / initialization application associated with a DVD device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Data Processing System 102 Processor 104 Level 2 (L2) Cache 106 Interconnect or System Bus 108 System Memory 110 Memory Mapped Graphics Adapter 112 Input / Output (I / O) Bus Bridge 114 I / O Bus 116 Hard Disk Drive 118 Keyboard / Mouse Adapter 120 Keyboard 122 Pointing Device 202 DVD Application 204 Power Recovery / Initialization Monitor Program 210 MPEG Decoder 212 Memory Module 214 Clock Oscillator 216 Subsystem Power Plane (iPlane) 218 Power Regulator 220 Address Decoding Logic Module 222 Main System Power Plane

Continuing the front page (72) Inventor George Kokkosouris, United States 78729, Austin, Texas, Windrush Drive 7701 (72) Inventor Kenneth Eugene Null, United States 78664, Round Rock, Texas, Ferrox Court 2108 (72) Inventor Daniel Anthony Temple 78729 United States, 6905 Riverton Drive, Austin, Texas

Claims (21)

[Claims] An apparatus for managing power in a data processing system, comprising: a main power plane; at least one controlled power plane electrically connected to the main power plane; An apparatus comprising: logic means for adjusting the plane; and adjusting means for powering on or off the controlled power plane in response to a power on or power off signal. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising detecting means for determining whether an application for operating a specific device has been started.
The described device. 3. The apparatus of claim 2 including control and address logic means connected to said adjusting means for enabling an operating system to access said controlled power plane. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said at least one controlled power plane includes adjustment means for adjusting said controlled power plane. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein components associated with operation of said particular apparatus are electrically connected to said controlled power plane. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, including logic means for storing the contents of the designated processor register in non-volatile memory. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising logic means for writing back the contents of said designated processor register previously stored in said non-volatile memory to said designated processor register. 8. A method for managing power consumption, comprising: monitoring an operating state of a device; determining whether the contents of a particular register of the device are stored in a non-volatile memory; Supplying power to a subsystem power plane connected to a component associated with the device in response to a determination that an application for operating the device has been started; and Reloading stored data of the device; and removing power from the subsystem power plane in response to determining that the device is non-operational. 9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of determining whether an application for operating a specific device has been started.
The described method. 10. The method of claim 9 including the step of providing logic means for operating the voltage regulating means to allow an operating system to access the controlled power plane. 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of providing power comprises adjusting the controlled power plane using voltage adjustment means. 12. The method of claim 8, including the step of connecting components associated with operation of said particular device to said controlled power plane. 13. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of storing the contents of the designated processor register in non-volatile memory.
The described method. 14. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of writing back the contents of said designated processor register previously stored in said non-volatile memory to said designated processor register. 15. A computer readable medium having instructions for managing power consumption, the instructions comprising: monitoring an operating state of a device; and storing the contents of a particular register of the device in a non-volatile memory. Instructions for determining whether to be stored, instructions for determining that an application operating the device has been started, and supplying power to a subsystem power plane connected to a component associated with the device. A computer-readable medium comprising: instructions; instructions for reloading the particular register with stored data from the non-volatile memory; and instructions for removing power from the subsystem power plane. 16. An instruction for determining whether an application for operating a specific device has been started.
A computer-readable medium as described. 17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, including instructions for providing logic means for operating a voltage regulating means to allow an operating system to access the controlled power plane. . 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions for providing power include instructions for adjusting the controlled power plane using voltage adjustment means. 19. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, including instructions for connecting components associated with operation of the particular device to the controlled power plane. 20. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, including instructions for storing the contents of a designated processor register in non-volatile memory. 21. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, including instructions for writing back the contents of the designated processor register previously stored in the non-volatile memory to the designated processor register.