DISTRIBUTED POWER MANAGEMENT

• US 20080276110A1
• Filed: 05/03/2007
• Published: 11/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jean-Christophe Jiguet, Lorenzo Indiani, Philippe Perney, Pierre Carbou
• Original Assignee: Jean-Christophe Jiguet, Lorenzo Indiani, Philippe Perney, Pierre Carbou
• Inventors: Jiguet, Jean-Christophe, Indiani, Lorenzo, Perney, Philippe, Carbou, Pierre
• Granted Patent: US 7,840,239 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/330
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A power management bus for controlling power over multiple device subsystems includes a master power bus controller which transmits power management information to control one or more power resources through a transmit interface. The transmitted information is received at one or more receive interfaces. A broadcast message can be transmitted to control multiple power resources by subsystem, resource group and resource type. A single address message can be transmitted to control a single power resource. A power down can be initiated at any of the receive interfaces.

Claims

1. A electronic system comprising:

a plurality of electronic subsystems, with each subsystem having one or more power resources;

a power management bus coupled to registers associated with the power resources;

a master controller coupled to the power management bus for providing information to the registers for controlling the power resources.

2. The electronic system of claim 1 wherein the electronic system includes a plurality of separable integrated circuits, each integrated circuit having a power management port coupled to the power management bus.

3. The electronic system of claim 2 wherein each integrated circuit has at least one power resource controlled by the master controller.

4. The electronic system of claim 1 wherein information can be sent to multiple power resources using a single broadcast message from the master controller.

5. The electronic system of claim 4 wherein multiple subsystems can be addressed using hot-one coding.

6. The electronic system of claim 4 wherein specific groups of power resources within one or more subsystems can be addressed with a broadcast message.

7. The electronic system of claim 6 wherein a specific type of power resource within one or more groups can be addressed with a broadcast message.

8. The electronic system of claim 1 wherein the master controller is coupled to a transmit interface of the power management bus and wherein slave controllers are coupled to a receive interface of the power management bus.

10. The electronic system of claim 1 wherein the electronic system is a mobile communication device.

9. The electronic system of claim 9 wherein a power down sequence can be initiated at any receive interface responsive to a shutdown event.

11. A method of controlling power resources in an electronic system comprising the steps of:

allocating power resources in a plurality of electronic subsystems, with each subsystem having one or more power resources;

coupling a power management bus coupled to registers associated with the power resources;

providing information to the registers for controlling the power resources from a master controller coupled to the power management bus.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of allocating power resources comprises the step of distributing the power resources in a plurality of separable integrated circuits, with each integrated circuit having a power management port coupled to the power management bus.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein each integrated circuit has at least one power resource controlled by the master controller.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of providing information includes the step of sending information to multiple power resources using a single broadcast message from the master controller.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said step of sending information includes the step of addressing multiple subsystems using hot-one coding.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein said step of sending information includes the step of addressing a broadcast message to specific groups of power resources within one or more subsystems.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said step of sending information includes the step of addressing a broadcast message to a specific type of power resource within one or more groups.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein the master controller sends messages through a transmit interface of the power management bus and wherein slave controllers receive messages from the master controller through a receive interface of the power management bus.

19. The method of claim 18 and further comprising the step of initiating a power down sequence at any receive interface responsive to a shutdown event.