Power Management System

• US 20070266266A1
• Filed: 07/20/2007
• Published: 11/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dubinsky, Dean
• Granted Patent: US 7,596,686 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A power management system for a multiple compute component system. The management system enables operational management of individual compute components in two low power states of operation, suspend and hibernate. In addition, the management system enables granular management of power consuming accessories within an individual compute component. When a compute component is in the low power state of suspend or hibernate, it may be hot-swapped to a different locale. In addition, when a compute component is restored from a low power state of hibernate, it may access an alternate image in the system. Accordingly, the power management system allows for five state of operation of an individual component in a multiple compute component system.

Claims

1. A method for managing power within a compute component of a multiprocessor system comprising:

individually analyzing utilization of at least two compute components within a networked computing environment;

determining if a continued operating state is required for each of said compute components based upon said analysis; and

individually modifying a state of operation of said compute components in response to said determination of said required operating state, wherein one available state supports communication of an operating system image of said compute component to storage media.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling granular management of a power consuming accessory within said compute component.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said power consuming accessory is selected from the group consisting of:

a microprocessor, a disk drive, I/O port, a chip, and combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying a state of operation of said component includes changing power consumption of said compute component through a switch.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying a state of operation of said compute component includes a software management system to control said state of operation of said compute component.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said state of operation of said compute component is selected from the group consisting of:

maximum power, selective reduction of a hardware accessory, suspend, hibernate, resume, restore, off, and combinations thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing an alternative image when said compute component is returning from a low power state of operation.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising hot-swapping said compute component when said component has been modified to operate in said low power state.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said low power state is selected from the group consisting of:

suspend and hibernate.

10. A multiprocessor computing system, comprising:

at least two compute components in a networked computing environment;

a manager adapted to analyze operation of said components within said networked computing environment, wherein said operation includes component utilization; and

said manager to individually modify of a state of operation of said components in response to said analysis, wherein one available state supports communication of an operating system image of said compute component to storage media.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said modification of a state of operation includes granular management of a power consuming accessory of said component.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said accessory is selected from the group consisting of:

a microprocessor, a disk drive, an I/O port, a chip, and combinations thereof.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein said component operates in a state selected from the group consisting of:

maximum power, selective reduction of power, suspend, hibernate, resume, restore, off, and combinations thereof.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein said component is adapted to accommodate a hot-swap procedure when said component has been modified to operate in a low power state.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said low power state is selected from the group consisting of:

suspend and hibernate.

16. An article comprising:

a computer-readable carrier including computer program instructions configured to manage power of a compute component, comprising;

instructions to individually analyze operation of at least two compute components within a networked computer environment;

instructions to determine if a continued operating state is required for each of said compute components based upon said analysis; and

instructions to modify a state of operation of said components in response to said determination of said required operating state, wherein one available state supports communication of an operating system image of said compute component to storage media.

17. The article of claim 16, wherein said state of operation of said compute component is selected from the group consisting of:

maximum power, selective reduction of a hardware accessory, suspend, hibernate, resume, restore, off, and combinations thereof.

18. The article of claim 16, further comprising instructions to control granular management of a power consuming accessory within said compute component.

19. The article of claim 16, wherein said instructions to modify a state of operation of said components includes instructions to accommodate a hot-swap of said compute component when said component has been modified to operate in said low power state.

20. The article of claim 16, further comprising instructions to access an alternative operating system image when said component returns from a low power state of operation.