SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REDUCING SUBSYSTEM ENERGY COSTS

• US 20110066840A1
• Filed: 09/14/2009
• Published: 03/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pagan, William Gabriel, Bandholz, Justin Potok, Piazza, William Joseph
• Granted Patent: US 8,560,868 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode

Abstract

Power supply to system resources is managed by implementing a hardware hook. System resources that should be reconfigured for an application workload are identified. A present power profile in a non-volatile memory is then updated. The present power profile is updated according to the application workload. During a system restart, the present power profile is retrieved from the non-volatile memory. Power is applied to system resources through the hardware hook based on the present power profile.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for managing power supply to system resources, the computer implemented method comprising:

identifying system resources for reconfiguration for a different application workload;

responsive to identifying system resources for reconfiguration, updating a present power profile in a non-volatile memory, wherein the present power profile is updated according to the different application workload;

during a system restart, retrieving the present power profile in the non-volatile memory; and

applying power to system resources through a hardware hook based on the present power profile.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying system resources for reconfiguration for the different application workload, wherein the system resources include resources selected from the group consisting of processing units, network interface card ports, dual inline memory modules, application specific integrated circuits, hard disk drives, and combinations thereof.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application workload is provided by the application to be executed after the system restart, and wherein the present power profile is updated via a system management interrupt.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

during the system restart, executing a basic input/output software;

retrieving by the basic input/output software the present power profile in the non-volatile memory;

applying by the basic input/output software power to the system resources through the hardware hook based on the present power profile, wherein the basic input/output software applies power to the system resources by setting a set of control bits in the hardware hook.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of updating the present power profile in the non-volatile memory further comprises:

updating the present power profile in the non-volatile memory, wherein the non-volatile memory is selected from the group consisting of erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, FLASH memory, ferroelectric random access memory, magnetoresistive random access memory, programmable metallization cells, carbon nanotube memory, and combinations thereof.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying the application to be executed after the system restart;

identifying system resources for reconfiguration for the different application workload of an application to be executed after the system restart;

retrieving a power profile for the application to be executed after the system restart;

issuing a system management interrupt by a control software; and

responsive to issuing the system management interrupt, updating the present power profile in a non-volatile memory to correspond to the power profile for the application to be executed.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 6, wherein the step of issuing the system management interrupt by the control software further comprises:

issuing the system management interrupt by the control software, wherein the control software is the application to be executed after the system restart.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of applying power to the system resources through a hardware hook based on the present power profile further comprises:

applying power to the system resources through the hardware hook based on the present power profile, wherein the hardware hook is selected from the group consisting of a microcontroller, a staggered pin grid array, and an integrated circuit.

9. A tangible computer storage medium having computer readable program code stored thereon configured to manage power supply to system resources, the computer readable storage code comprising:

instructions for identifying system resources for reconfiguration for a different application workload;

instructions, responsive to identifying the system resources for reconfiguration for the different application workload, for updating a present power profile in a non-volatile memory, wherein the present power profile is updated according to the application workload;

instructions, during a system restart, retrieving the present power profile in the non-volatile memory; and

instructions for applying power to system resources through a hardware hook based on the present power profile.

10. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 9, the computer readable storage code further comprising:

instructions for identifying that the system resources for reconfiguration for the different application workload, wherein the system resources include resources selected from the group consisting of processing units, network interface card ports, dual inline memory modules, application specific integrated circuits, hard disk drives, and combinations thereof.

11. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 9, wherein the application workload is provided by the application to be executed after the system restart, and wherein the present power profile is updated via a system management interrupt.

12. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 9, the computer readable storage code further comprising:

instructions, during the system restart, for executing a basic input/output software;

instructions for retrieving by the basic input/output software the present power profile in the non-volatile memory;

instructions for applying by the basic input/output software power to the system resources through the hardware hook based on the present power profile, wherein the basic input/output software applies power to the system resources by setting a set of control bits in the hardware hook.

13. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for updating the present power profile in the non-volatile memory further comprises:

instructions for updating the present power profile in the non-volatile memory, wherein the non-volatile memory is selected from the group consisting of erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, FLASH memory, ferroelectric random access memory, magnetoresistive random access memory, programmable metallization cells, carbon nanotube memory, and combinations thereof.

14. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 9, the computer readable storage code further comprising:

instructions for identifying the application to be executed after the system restart;

instructions for identifying that the system resources for reconfiguration for the different application workload of an application to be executed after the system restart;

instructions for retrieving the power profile for the application to be executed after the system restart;

instructions for issuing a system management interrupt by a control software; and

instructions, responsive to issuing the system management interrupt, for updating the present power profile in a non-volatile memory to correspond to the power profile for the application to be executed.

15. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions for issuing the system management interrupt by the control software further comprises:

instructions for issuing the system management interrupt by the control software, wherein the control software is the application to be executed after the system restart.

16. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for applying power to the system resources through the hardware hook based on the present power profile further comprises:

instructions for applying power to the system resources through the hardware hook based on the present power profile, wherein the hardware hook is selected from the group consisting of a microcontroller, a staggered pin grid array, and an integrated circuit.

17. A data processing system comprising:

a bus system;

a storage having computer readable program code stored thereon configured to manage power supply to system resources;

a hardware hook; and

a processor, wherein the processor executes the computer readable program code to identifying system resources for reconfiguration for a different application workload;

responsive to identifying system resources for reconfiguration for the different application workload, to update a present power profile in a non-volatile memory, wherein the present power profile is updated according to the application workload;

during a system restart, to retrieve the present power profile in the non-volatile memory; and

to apply power to system resources through a hardware hook based on the present power profile.

18. The data processing system of claim 17, wherein the processor further executes the computer readable program code:

to identify system resources for reconfiguration for the different application workload, wherein the system resources include resources selected from the group consisting of processing units, network interface card ports, dual inline memory modules, application specific integrated circuits, hard disk drives, and combinations thereof.

19. The data processing system of claim 17, wherein the application workload is provided by the application to be executed after the system restart, and wherein the present power profile is updated via a system management interrupt.

20. The data processing system of claim 17, wherein the processor further executes the computer readable program code:

during the system restart, to execute a basic input/output software;

to retrieve by the basic input/output software the present power profile in the non-volatile memory; and

to apply by the basic input/output software power to the system resources through the hardware hook based on the present power profile, wherein the basic input/output software applies power to the system resources by setting a set of control bits in the hardware hook.

21. The data processing system of claim 17, wherein the processor executing the computer readable program code to update the present power profile in the non-volatile memory further comprises the processor executing the computer readable program code:

to update the present power profile in the non-volatile memory, wherein the nonvolatile memory is selected from the group consisting of erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, FLASH memory, ferroelectric random access memory, magnetoresistive random access memory, programmable metallization cells, carbon nanotube memory, and combinations thereof.

22. The data processing system of claim 17, wherein the processor further executes the computer readable program code:

to identify the application to be executed after the system restart;

to identify that the system resources for reconfiguration for a different application workload of an application to be executed after the system restart;

to retrieve the power profile for the application to be executed after the system restart;

to issue the system management interrupt by a control software; and

responsive to issuing the system management interrupt, to update the present power profile in a non-volatile memory to correspond to the power profile for the application to be executed.

23. The data processing system of claim 22, wherein the processor executing the computer readable program code to issue the system management interrupt by the control software further comprises the processor executing the computer readable program code:

to issue the system management interrupt by the control software, wherein the control software is the application to be executed after the system restart.

24. The data processing system of claim 17, wherein the processor executing the computer readable program code to apply power to system resources through a hardware hook based on the present power profile further comprises the processor executing the computer readable program code:

to apply power to the system resources through the hardware hook based on the present power profile, wherein the hardware hook is selected from the group consisting of a microcontroller, a staggered pin grid array, and an integrated circuit.