Programmable scheduling interval

• US 20060288349A1
• Filed: 06/17/2005
• Published: 12/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Zimmer, Vincent J., Rothman, Michael A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,286,169 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/107
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4893 taking into account power or heat criteria power management in computers in general G06F1/3203; thermal management in computers in general G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

In some embodiments, the invention involves a platform-based firmware to provide a programmable scheduling timer interval. Dynamic scheduling intervals for non-interrupt driven device drivers and services utilize polling to determine device activity. In at least one embodiment, the disclosed subject matter reduces power consumption of a platform by decreasing the frequency of the system timer-tick when the platform is running in a lower power state. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

enabling a dynamic scheduling interval in a processor, the scheduling interval to be used for scheduling an interval for polling a plurality of devices; and

determining a current scheduling interval based on current operational mode.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to run an extensible firmware interface (EFI) architecture.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the polling of the plurality of devices is performed by an EFI firmware service.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising:

increasing the current scheduling interval when the processor is in a low power state.

5. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising:

decreasing the current scheduling interval when the processor is in one of (a) a higher power state, (b) at least one of the plurality of devices requires more frequent polling, and (c) an external device interrupt is received.

6. The method as recited by claim 1, wherein determining the current scheduling interval comprises:

using pre-determined heuristics to determine a preferred scheduling interval; and

dynamically adjusting the current scheduling interval to substantially match the preferred scheduling interval, the adjusting to occur while the processor is operating, wherein the adjusting results in no discernable system perturbation.

7. The method as recited by claim 6, wherein the processor is operating in an environment controlled by EFI firmware services.

8. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the processor operates in an environment that is one of pre-boot, post-operating system (post-OS) or a stand-alone EFI environment.

9. The method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

dynamically adjusting the current scheduling interval without requiring a re-boot of the processor.

10. The method as recited by claim 1, wherein the operational mode is defined by a current power state of the processor, a new power state of the processor when transitioning to a power state other than the current power state of the processor, throughput requirements of the plurality of devices, and user interaction with the processor and the plurality of devices.

11. A machine readable medium having instructions that when executed cause the machine to:

dynamically adjust a scheduling interval in the machine, the scheduling interval to be used for scheduling an interval for polling a plurality of devices; and

determine a current scheduling interval based on current operational mode.

12. The medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the machine comprises an extensible firmware interface (EFI) architecture.

13. The medium as recited in claim 12, wherein the polling of the plurality of devices is to be performed by an EFI firmware service.

14. The medium as recited in claim 13, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the machine to:

increase the current scheduling interval when the machine is in a low power state.

15. The medium as recited in claim 13, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the machine to:

decrease the current scheduling interval when the machine is in one of (a) a higher power state, (b) at least one of the plurality of devices requires more frequent polling, and (c) an external device interrupt is received.

16. The medium as recited by claim 11, wherein determining the current scheduling interval comprises instructions that when executed cause the machine to:

determine a preferred scheduling interval using pre-determined heuristics; and

dynamically adjust the current scheduling interval to match the preferred scheduling interval while the machine is operating.

17. The medium as recited by claim 11, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the machine to:

dynamically adjust the current scheduling interval without requiring a re-boot of the processor.

18. The medium as recited by claim 11, wherein the operational mode is defined by a current power state of the machine, a new power state of the machine when transitioning to a power state other than the current power state of the machine, throughput requirements of the plurality of devices, and user interaction with the machine and the plurality of devices.

19. A system comprising:

a platform comprising a processor, chipset and a plurality of ancillary components, the processor configured to run an extensible firmware interface (EFI) architecture;

a firmware coupled to the processor, the firmware comprising a plurality of EFI services, the firmware further comprising at least one non-interrupt driven device driver, the at least one non-interrupt driven device driver to poll a corresponding device for activity, the polling to occur at a current scheduling interval; and

a dynamic scheduler to adjust the current scheduling interval based on an operational mode of the processor.

20. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the dynamic scheduler is to increase the current scheduling interval when the processor is in a low power state.

21. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the dynamic scheduler is to

decrease the current scheduling interval when the processor is in one of (a) a higher power state, (b) at least one corresponding device requires more frequent polling, and (c) an external device interrupt is received.

22. The system as recited by claim 19, wherein the dynamic scheduler uses pre-determined heuristics to determine a preferred scheduling interval and dynamically adjusts the current scheduling interval to substantially match the preferred scheduling interval while the processor is operating.

23. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the dynamic scheduler adjusts the current scheduling interval without requiring a re-boot of the processor.

24. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the operational mode is defined by a current power state of the processor, a new power state of the processor when transitioning to a power state other than the current power state of the processor, throughput requirements of the plurality of devices, and user interaction with the processor and the plurality of devices.