Adaptive power control
DC CAFCFirst Claim
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1. A method for controlling power consumption of a computer processor on a chip comprising the steps of:
- determining a maximum allowable power consumption level from an operating condition of the processor,said computer processor determining a maximum frequency which provides power not greater than the allowable power consumption level,said computer processor determining a minimum voltage which allows operation at the maximum frequency determined, anddynamically changing the power consumption of the processor by changing frequency and voltage, respectively, to the maximum frequency and the minimum voltage determined, wherein said dynamically changing the power consumption comprises executing instructions in said computer processor while changing voltage at which said computer processor is operated.
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Abstract
A method for controlling the power used by a computer including the steps of measuring the operating characteristics of a central processor of the computer, determining when the operating characteristics of the central processor are significantly different than required by the operations being conducted, and changing the operating characteristics of the central processor to a level commensurate with the operations being conducted.
202 Citations
59 Claims
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1. A method for controlling power consumption of a computer processor on a chip comprising the steps of:
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determining a maximum allowable power consumption level from an operating condition of the processor, said computer processor determining a maximum frequency which provides power not greater than the allowable power consumption level, said computer processor determining a minimum voltage which allows operation at the maximum frequency determined, and dynamically changing the power consumption of the processor by changing frequency and voltage, respectively, to the maximum frequency and the minimum voltage determined, wherein said dynamically changing the power consumption comprises executing instructions in said computer processor while changing voltage at which said computer processor is operated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computing device comprising:
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a power supply furnishing selectable output voltages, a clock frequency source, a central processor including; a processing unit for providing values indicative of operating conditions of the central processor, and a clock frequency generator receiving a clock frequency from the clock frequency source and providing one of a plurality of selectable output clock frequencies to the processing unit; means for detecting the values indicative of operating conditions of the central processor and causing the power supply and clock frequency generator to furnish an output clock frequency and voltage level for the central processor and to generate concurrently frequencies which are selected for optimum operation of a plurality of functional units of the computing device; and means for executing instructions in said central processor while changing voltage at which said central processor is operated. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A method for controlling the power used by a computer comprising the steps of:
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utilizing control software dedicated to a central processor to measure the operating characteristics of the central processor of the computer, determining when the operating characteristics of the central processor are significantly different than required by the operations being conducted, and changing the operating characteristics of the central processor to a level commensurate with the operations being conducted in which; the step of determining when the operating characteristics of the central processor are significantly different than required by the operations being conducted comprising utilizing the control software to determine desirable voltages and frequencies for the operation of the central processor based on the measured operating characteristics, and the step of changing the operating characteristics of the central processor to a level commensurate with the operations being conducted comprises; providing signals; for controlling voltages furnished by a programmable power supply to the central processor, for controlling frequencies furnished by the central processor to the central processor, and providing signals for controlling frequencies furnished by the central processor to other functional units of the computer; and executing instructions in said central processor while changing voltage at which said central processor is operated.
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11. A computer comprising:
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a power supply furnishing selectable output voltages, a clock frequency source, a bus, system memory, a central processor including; a processing unit for providing values indicative of operating conditions of the central processor, and a clock frequency generator receiving a clock frequency from the clock frequency source and providing a plurality of selectable output clock frequencies to the processing unit; and means for detecting the values indicative of operating conditions of the central processor and causing the power supply and clock frequency generator to furnish an output clock frequency and voltage level for the central processor and to generate concurrently frequencies which are selected for optimum operation of a plurality of functional units of the computing device including system memory, wherein the means for detecting the values indicative of operating conditions of the central processor is further for causing execution of instructions in said central processor while changing voltage at which said central processor is operated. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of controlling a computer processor, comprising:
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monitoring operating conditions internal to said computer processor; determining a frequency and a voltage at which to operate said computer processor, based on said internal operating conditions; and implementing the determined frequency and voltage, wherein said implementing comprises; executing instructions in said computer processor while changing voltage at which said computer processor is operated. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of controlling a computer processor, comprising:
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monitoring idle time of said computer processor; said computer processor determining a frequency and a voltage at which to operate said computer processor, based on said idle time; and implementing the determined frequency and voltage, wherein said implementing comprises executing instructions in said computer processor while changing voltage at which said computer processor is operated. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method of controlling a computer processor, comprising:
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monitoring a state of said computer processor; said computer processor determining a frequency and a voltage at which to operate said computer processor, based on said state; and implementing the determined frequency and voltage, wherein said implementing comprises executing instructions in said computer processor while changing voltage at which said computer processor is operated. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method of managing power consumption comprising:
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monitoring internal conditions of a computer processor; based on said internal conditions, determining an allowable power consumption level; a computer processor determining a voltage-frequency pair for said allowable power consumption level; and dynamically changing power consumption of the computer processor by implementing said voltage-frequency pair, wherein said dynamically changing power consumption comprises changing voltage at which said computer processor is operated while executing instructions in said computer processor. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A computing device comprising:
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a power supply furnishing selectable output voltages; a clock frequency source; and a central processor comprising; a clock frequency generator receiving a clock frequency from the clock frequency source; and a processing unit operable to provide values indicative of operating conditions of the central processor and to cause the power supply and the clock frequency generator to furnish a voltage level and an output clock frequency for the central processor, wherein said processing unit is further operable to cause the power supply to cause voltage furnished to the central processor to change while the central processor is executing instructions. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59)
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Specification