Method and apparatus for information handling system sleep regulation

• US 6,901,523 B2
• Filed: 06/14/2002
• Issued: 05/31/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Verdun, Gary J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, VINCENT HUY
• Application Number:
  US10/171,950
• Publication Number:
  US 20030233588A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,082 Days
• Field of Search: 713/330, 713/320, 713/321, 713/323, 713/324
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/325 Power saving in peripheral device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

An information handling system includes a microprocessor, a storage, a plurality of devices operatively connected to said microprocessor and a run voltage rail, a sleep regulator, and a power management controller. The plurality of devices are further operatively connected to a run voltage power rail to operate in a run mode in response to a run voltage Vrun applied to the run voltage power rail. The sleep regulator provides a sleep voltage Vsleep output. Lastly, the power management controller determines a power savings sleep voltage for a run/sleep mode power management condition and controls the sleep power voltage output of the sleep regulator according to the power savings sleep voltage. The power management controller is further configured to enable select ones of the plurality of devices to be operatively disconnected from the Vrun power rail and connected to the sleep voltage Vsleep output, wherein devices operatively connected to the sleep voltage Vsleep output operate in a sleep power mode.

Claims

1. An information handling system comprising:

a microprocessor;

a storage coupled to said microprocessor;

a plurality of devices operatively connected to said microprocessor, and further being operatively connected to a run voltage power rail and configured to operate in a run mode in response to a run voltage Vrun applied to the run voltage power rail;

a sleep regulator configured to provide a sleep voltage Vsleep output; and

a power management controller, configured to determine a power savings sleep voltage for a run/sleep mode power management condition and to control the sleep power voltage output of said sleep regulator according to the power savings sleep voltage, and further configured to enable select ones of the plurality of devices to be operatively disconnected from the Vrun power rail and connected to the sleep voltage Vsleep output, whereby devices operatively connected to the sleep voltage Vsleep output operate in a sleep power mode.

2. The information handling system of claim 1, wherein said power management controller determines the power savings sleep voltage from a look-up table of power savings as a function of sleep voltages for respective ones of the plurality of devices.

3. The information handling system of claim 1, wherein said power management controller determines the power savings sleep voltage from a calculation of power savings as a function of sleep voltages for respective ones of the plurality of devices.

4. The information handling system of claim 3, wherein said power management controller performs the calculation of power savings in real-time.

5. The information handling system of claim 1, wherein said power management controller is further configured to render a device of the plurality of devices operative in the run mode in response to a determination that an overall power savings of the plurality of devices could be achieved by rendering the device operative in a run mode, even though, the device would otherwise be operative in a sleep mode for reasons other than total system power savings.

6. The information handling system of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of Vrun/sleep power selectors, wherein respective ones of said plurality of Vrun/sleep power selectors operatively connect to corresponding respective ones of the plurality of devices; and

wherein said power management controller is further configured to output sleep enable signals to said plurality of Vrun/Vsleep power selectors.

7. The information handling system of claim 6, wherein said power management controller outputs the output sleep enable signals according to the run/sleep mode power management condition.

8. The information handling system of claim 7, wherein a respective Vrun/sleep power selector operates in response to a corresponding sleep enable signal to connect a respective one of the devices to one of the run power voltage Vrun and the sleep power voltage Vsleep.

9. The information handling system of claim 6, wherein said Vrun/sleep power selectors are disposed to one of internal and external to a respective one of the plurality of devices.

10. The information handling system of claim 1, further comprising:

a sleep power rail, wherein said sleep regulator outputs the sleep voltage to the sleep power rail and further wherein said power management controller enables select ones of the plurality of devices to be operatively disconnected from the run voltage power rail and operatively connected to the sleep power rail.

11. A method for implementing run/sleep mode power management in an information handling system, the method comprising:

querying whether a device of a plurality of devices in the information handling system is to be added to removed from a sleep mode;

in response to the device being added to or removed from the sleep mode, updating a power savings sleep voltage, the power savings sleep voltage being a function of a power savings for various device/sleep voltage combinations of the plurality of devices;

transitioning a sleep regulator to the updated power savings sleep voltage; and

if removing the device from the sleep mode, then adding the device to the run mode at a run voltage, otherwise adding the device to the sleep mode at the updated power savings sleep voltage of the sleep regulator.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the power savings sleep voltage is a function of a cumulative power savings for various device/sleep voltage combinations of the plurality of devices.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein updating the power savings sleep voltage includes calculating a cumulative power savings for various potential device/sleep voltage combinations of the plurality of devices.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein calculating the cumulative power savings is in real-time.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein updating the power savings sleep voltage include determining the updated power savings sleep voltage from a look-up table of power savings as a function of sleep voltages for respective ones of the plurality of devices.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein updating the power savings sleep voltage include determining the updated power savings sleep voltage from a calculation of power savings as a function of sleep voltages for respective ones of the plurality of devices.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein each device of the plurality of devices is configured to have a respective minimum sleep voltage, below which operation or recovery of device state information cannot be maintained.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

rendering a device of the plurality of devices operative in the run mode in response to a determination that an overall power savings of the plurality of devices could be achieved by rendering the device operative in a run mode, even though, the device would otherwise be operative in a sleep mode for reasons other than total system power savings.

19. A computer program for run/sleep power management, the computer program processable by an information handling system for causing the information handling system to:

determine a power savings sleep voltage for a run/sleep mode power management condition of a plurality of devices operatively connected to a microprocessor and further being operatively connected to a run voltage power rail, the devices configured to operate in a run mode in response to a run voltage Vrun applied to the run voltage power rail;

control a sleep power voltage output of a sleep regulator according to the power savings sleep voltage; and

enable select ones of the plurality of devices to be operatively disconnected from the Vrun power rail and connected to the sleep voltage Vsleep output, wherein devices operatively connected to the sleep voltage Vsleep output operate in a sleep power mode.

20. The computer program of claim 19, wherein the power savings sleep voltage is determined from a look-up table of power savings as a function of sleep voltages for respective ones of the plurality of devices.

21. The computer program of claim 19, wherein the power savings sleep voltage is determined from a calculation of power savings as a function of sleep voltages for respective ones of the plurality of devices.

22. The computer program of claim 21, wherein the calculation of power savings in done in real-time.

23. The computer program of claim 19, further processable by the information handling system for causing the information handling system to:

render a device of the plurality of devices operative in the run mode in response to a determination that an overall power savings of the plurality of devices could be achieved by rendering the device operative in a run mode, even though, the device would otherwise be operative in a sleep mode for reasons other than total system power savings.