Adapting link speed of a network controller to available power supply
First Claim
1. A link speed adjusting system comprising:
- a network adapter to provide communication between a computing system and a network, said network adapter operable at more than one link speed;
a network device driver to control functionality of said network adapter; and
a power source to provide power to said computing system, wherein said network device driver causes said network adapter to switch said link speed to maximize longevity of said power source.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method of adapting the link speed of a network controller to the available power supply is provided. At higher network link speeds, computing systems consume more power. Thus, a network controller of the present invention selects a network adapter link speed in response to the availability and capacity of a local power supply, so as to maximize the longevity of system operation based upon this power supply. The network link speed may be altered in response to a periodic maintenance routine that lowers the link speed when the local power supply is finite in capacity (e.g., a battery or Uninterruptible Power System) and raises the link speed when the local power supply is infinite in capacity (e.g., an AC power source).
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A link speed adjusting system comprising:
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a network adapter to provide communication between a computing system and a network, said network adapter operable at more than one link speed;
a network device driver to control functionality of said network adapter; and
a power source to provide power to said computing system, wherein said network device driver causes said network adapter to switch said link speed to maximize longevity of said power source. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of adapting a link speed of a network controller in a computing system to maximize longevity of a local power supply, comprising:
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querying said computing system to determine if said local power supply has recently changed to a source of finite power capacity; and
lowering said link speed if said computing system has recently changed to said source of finite power capacity. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A link speed adjusting system, comprising:
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a machine-readable storage medium; and
machine-readable program code, stored on the machine-readable storage medium, the machine-readable program code having instructions to;
query a computing system to determine if a local power supply has recently changed to a source of finite power capacity; and
lower said link speed if said computing system has recently changed to said source of finite power capacity. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification