System for reduced power consumption by monitoring instruction buffer and method thereof
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- identifying a rate of change of a number of pending instructions stored in an instruction buffer; and
adjusting a system characteristic based on the rate of change of the number of pending instructions, wherein a power consumption of a system is modified based on the system characteristic.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are provided for reducing power consumption within a video processing portion of a system. Activity associated with an instruction buffer is monitored to determine whether power consumption modes can be initiated within a system. If a number of pending instructions within an instruction buffer is greater than a particular threshold value, a normal mode of operation is initiated. If the number of pending instructions is less than the threshold value, the system is put in a reduced mode of operation. In the reduced mode of operation, processing is reduced to lower power consumption within the system. Accordingly, power consumption is altered to match a level of activity within the instruction buffer.
166 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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identifying a rate of change of a number of pending instructions stored in an instruction buffer; and adjusting a system characteristic based on the rate of change of the number of pending instructions, wherein a power consumption of a system is modified based on the system characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method comprising:
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identifying an operating characteristic of an instruction buffer, the operating characteristic comprising at least one of a buffer fullness or a rate of change of a number of pending instructions stored in the instruction buffer; and adjusting a system characteristic based on the operating characteristic, wherein a power consumption of a system is modified based on the system characteristic and wherein adjusting the system characteristic includes modifying a clock speed. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A system comprising:
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an instruction buffer to store pending instructions; a threshold register to store a statistic threshold; a buffer monitor to; track a buffer statistic; provide a buffer status of said buffer statistic to a power threshold, wherein said buffer status represents a comparison of said buffer statistic and said statistic threshold; and - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer readable medium tangibly embodying a program of instructions to manipulate a data processor to:
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identify a rate of change of a number of pending instructions stored in an instruction buffer; and adjust a system characteristic based on the rate of change of the number of pending instructions, wherein a power consumption of the system is modified based on the system characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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Specification