Methods and apparatus for decreasing power consumption and bus activity
First Claim
1. A data device adapted to communicate with a second device over a serial bus, the data device comprising:
- logic configured to poll the second device, the polling occurring according to a first polling scheme;
logic configured to receive a signal from the second device, the signal indicating to the data device to poll the second device according to a second scheme; and
logic configured to poll the second device according to the second scheme.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for enhancing efficiency (e.g., reducing power consumption and bus activity) in a data bus. In an exemplary embodiment, a client-driven host device state machine switches among various states, each comprising a different polling frequency. A client device on the data bus (e.g., serial bus) checks for non-productive periods of polling activity, and upon discovering such a period, informs the host. The state machine then alters its polling scheme; e.g., switches to a lower state comprising a reduced polling frequency, and polling continues at this reduced frequency. In one variant, the client device continuously monitors itself to determine whether it has any data to transmit to a host device and if so, the host is informed, and the state machine restarts (e.g., to its highest polling state). By eliminating extraneous polling, power consumption and serial bus activity is optimized, potentially on both the host and the client.
91 Citations
43 Claims
-
1. A data device adapted to communicate with a second device over a serial bus, the data device comprising:
-
logic configured to poll the second device, the polling occurring according to a first polling scheme; logic configured to receive a signal from the second device, the signal indicating to the data device to poll the second device according to a second scheme; and logic configured to poll the second device according to the second scheme. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method of operating a data device, comprising:
-
in a first state, polling a client of said data device according to a first scheme; receiving a signal from the client to change to a second state; changing said data device to a second state; and in the second state, polling the client according to a second scheme. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method of operating a data device that polls a client device in data communication therewith, comprising:
-
operating said data device in a first state, said first state comprising at least one of a first polling scheme and a first state transition scheme; identifying an event; based at least in part on said act of identifying, changing at least one of the first polling scheme or the first state transition scheme to a second polling scheme or state transition scheme, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
-
-
18. A client device adapted to communicate with a host device over a serial bus, the host device adapted to poll the second device to determine whether the client device has data to be transferred to the host device, the client device comprising:
-
a first module adapted to determine whether the host device should poll the client device at a different frequency than the client device is currently being polled; and a second module adapted to transmit a signal to the host device, the signal indicating to the host device to poll the client device at said different frequency. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. A method for use in a data device, the data device adapted for being polled by a second device, the method comprising:
-
determining whether the second device should poll the data device according to a different scheme than a first scheme used currently to poll the data device; and transmitting a signal to the second device, the signal indicating to the second device to poll the data device according to said different scheme. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
-
-
40. A control system for efficiently polling and transferring data between first and second devices across a serial bus, comprising:
-
a state machine having a plurality of polling states associated therewith; and control logic adapted to communicate with said state machine and implement at least one polling scheme using said state machine and polling states. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
-
-
43. For use on a first devices in data communication over a bus with a second device, a computer-readable apparatus comprising a storage medium, said storage medium comprising at least one computer program, said at least one program being configured to:
-
poll, using the first device, the second device, the polling occurring according to a first polling scheme; receive at the first device a signal from the second device, the signal indicating to the first device to poll the second device according to a second scheme; and poll the second device according to the second scheme.
-
Specification