Token based power control mechanism

• US 20080263373A1
• Filed: 04/18/2007
• Published: 10/23/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Globalfoundries US Incorporated (GlobalFoundries, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
• Inventors: Meier, Stephan, Evers, Marius
• Granted Patent: US 7,818,592 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: G06F 1/3243 Power saving in microcontroller unit
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/30149 of variable length instructions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3017 Runtime instruction translation, e.g. macros
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/383 Operand prefetching cache prefetching G06F12/0862
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3842 Speculative instruction execution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3851 from multiple instruction streams, e.g. multistreaming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3853 of compound instructions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3885 using a plurality of independent parallel functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3891 organised in groups of units sharing resources, e.g. clusters
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A token-based power control mechanism for an apparatus including a power controller and a plurality of processing devices. The power controller may detect a power budget allotted for the apparatus. The power controller may convert the allotted power budget into a plurality of power tokens, each power token being a portion of the allotted power budget. The power controller may then assign one or more of the plurality of power tokens to each of the processing devices. The assigned power tokens may determine the power allotted for each of the processing devices. The power controller may receive one or more requests from the plurality of processing devices for one or more additional power tokens. In response to receiving the requests, the power controller may determine whether to change the distribution of power tokens among the processing devices.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of processing units;

a power controller configured to detect a power budget allotted for the apparatus;

wherein the power controller is configured to convert the allotted power budget into a plurality of power tokens, wherein each power token is a portion of the allotted power budget;

wherein the power controller is further configured to assign one or more of the plurality of power tokens to each of the processing units, wherein the assigned power tokens determine the power allotted for each of the processing units.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the power controller is configured to receive one or more requests from the plurality of processing units for one or more additional power tokens.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein, in response to receiving the one or more requests, the power controller is configured to determine whether to change the distribution of power tokens among the processing units.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the processing units is configured to detect its current power usage, wherein each of the processing units is further configured to compare its current power usage to the allotted power corresponding to the assigned power tokens for the processing unit.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein if its current power usage is more than the allotted power for the processing unit, the processing unit is configured to request one or more additional power tokens from the power controller.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein if its current power usage is more than the allotted power for the processing unit, the processing unit is configured to reduce the current power usage and request one or more additional power tokens from the power controller.

7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein if its current power usage is less than the allotted power for the processing unit by at least the power amount of a power token, the processing unit is configured to return one or more power tokens to the power controller.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the power controller is configured to receive one or more requests from the plurality of processing units for one or more additional power tokens, wherein, in response to receiving the one or more requests, the power controller is configured to determine whether to change the distribution of power tokens among the processing units based on at least the number of extra power tokens available, the number of additional power tokens requested, and the priority of the requesting processing units.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a processor integrated circuit, and the plurality of processing units comprises one or more of a processing core, a cache subsystem, a system interface unit, and a memory controller.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a computer system, and the plurality of processing units comprises one or more of a processor integrated circuit, a memory module, a disk drive, a network interface card, and a graphics card.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a modular server system, and the plurality of processing units are a plurality of server blades.

12. A method for managing power in a system including a power controller and a plurality of processing units, the method comprising:

detecting a power budget allotted for the system;

converting the allotted power budget into a plurality of power tokens, wherein each power token is a portion of the allotted power budget; and

assigning one or more of the plurality of power tokens to each of the processing units, wherein the assigned power tokens determine the power allotted for each of the processing units.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising receiving one or more requests from the plurality of processing units for one or more additional power tokens.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising, in response to receiving the one or more requests, determining whether to change the distribution of power tokens among the processing units.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising each of the processing units detecting its current power usage, and comparing its current power usage to the allotted power corresponding to the assigned power tokens for the processing unit.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising, if its current power usage is more than the allotted power for the processing unit, the processing unit reducing the current power usage and sending a request for one or more additional power tokens to the power controller.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising, if its current power usage is less than the allotted power for the processing unit by at least the power amount of a power token, the processing unit returning one or more power tokens to the power controller.

18. A processor unit comprising:

a plurality of processor cores;

a power controller configured to detect a power budget allotted for the processor unit;

wherein the power controller is configured to convert the allotted power budget into a plurality of power tokens, wherein each power token is a portion of the allotted power budget;

wherein the power controller is further configured to assign one or more of the plurality of power tokens to each of the processor cores, wherein the assigned power tokens determine the power allotted for each of the processor cores.

19. The processor unit of claim 18, wherein the power controller is configured to receive one or more requests from the plurality of processor cores for one or more additional power tokens.

20. The processor unit of claim 19, wherein, in response to receiving the one or more requests, the power controller is configured to determine whether to change the distribution of power tokens among the processor cores.