Method and apparatus for estimating overshoot power after estimating power of executing events
First Claim
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1. A method for controlling power in a computer chip, the method comprising:
- during a cycle of power control, accumulating power information relating to power consumed during issuing instructions;
comparing accumulated power information against a predetermined threshold;
preventing further instructions from being issued to reduce power consumption in the computer chip, in an event the accumulated power information exceeds the predetermined threshold;
determining power consumed after preventing further instructions from being issued;
adding the power consumed after preventing further instructions from being issued to accumulated power information of a subsequent cycle of power control to obtain a total power value; and
preventing further instructions from being issued in the subsequent cycle of power control in an event the total power value exceeds the predetermined threshold.
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Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention relate to limiting maximum power dissipation occurred in a processor. Therefore, when an application that requires excessive amounts of power is being executed, the execution of the application may be prevented to reduce dissipated or consumed power. Example embodiments may stall the issue or execution of instructions by the processor, allowing software or hardware to reduce the power of an application by imposing a decrease in the performance of the application.
30 Citations
48 Claims
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1. A method for controlling power in a computer chip, the method comprising:
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during a cycle of power control, accumulating power information relating to power consumed during issuing instructions; comparing accumulated power information against a predetermined threshold; preventing further instructions from being issued to reduce power consumption in the computer chip, in an event the accumulated power information exceeds the predetermined threshold; determining power consumed after preventing further instructions from being issued; adding the power consumed after preventing further instructions from being issued to accumulated power information of a subsequent cycle of power control to obtain a total power value; and preventing further instructions from being issued in the subsequent cycle of power control in an event the total power value exceeds the predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. The method of 1 further including determining the predetermined threshold as a function of one or more chip fuses.
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13. A processor comprising:
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a power accumulator unit configured to accumulate power information relating to power consumed during issuing instructions during a cycle of power control; a comparison unit configured to compare accumulated power information against a predetermined threshold during the cycle of power control; a controller unit configured to prevent further instructions from being issued to reduce power consumption, in an event the accumulated power information exceeds the predetermined threshold during the cycle of power control; an overshoot power estimator configured to estimate power consumed after preventing further instructions from being issued, the consumed power being added to accumulated power information of a subsequent cycle of power control to obtain a total power value; and the controller unit further configured to prevent further instructions from being issued in the subsequent cycle of power control in an event the total power value exceeds the predetermined threshold during the subsequent cycle of power control. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for controlling power in a processor, the method comprising:
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during a cycle of power control, estimating a first power consumption estimate of power consumed by the processor during processing of one or more events; preventing further processing in the processor as a function of the first power consumption estimate to reduce power consumption; estimating power consumed after preventing further processing to determine an overshoot power value; and in a subsequent cycle of power control, estimating a second power consumption estimate of power consumed by the processor during processing of one or more events and preventing further processing of one or more events in the processor as a function of the second power consumption estimate and the overshoot power value. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A processor comprising:
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a power estimator configured to estimate a first power consumption estimate of power consumed by the processor during processing of one or more events during a cycle of power control and a second power consumption estimate of power consumed by the processor during processing of one or more events during a subsequent cycle of power control; a power controller configured to prevent further processing in the processor as a function of the first power consumption estimate to reduce power consumption; and an overshoot power estimator configured to estimate power consumed after preventing further processing to determine an overshoot power value, wherein the power controller is configured to prevent further processing of one or more events in the processor in the subsequent cycle of power control as a function of the second power consumption estimate and the overshoot power value. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for controlling power consumption, the method comprising:
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during a cycle of power control, accumulating first power information relating to power consumed in a unit during execution of one or more tasks and during a subsequent cycle of power control, accumulating second power information relating to power consumed in a unit during execution of one or more tasks; controlling power consumption in the unit by preventing further execution of the one or more tasks executing during the cycle of power control in an event the accumulated first power information exceeds a predetermined threshold; estimating overshoot power information relating to power consumed after the preventing of further execution of the one or more tasks; and preventing further execution of one or more tasks in the subsequent cycle of power control if a combination of the overshoot power information and the second power information exceeds the predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. An apparatus for controlling power consumption, the apparatus comprising:
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a power accumulator to accumulate first power information relating to power consumed in a unit during execution of one or more tasks during a cycle of power control and second power information relating to power consumed in a unit during execution of one or more tasks in a subsequent cycle of power control; and a power controller to control power consumption in the unit by preventing further execution of the one or more tasks executing during the cycle of power control in an event the accumulated first power information exceeds a predetermined threshold, wherein the power controller is arranged to; estimate overshoot power information relating to power consumed after the preventing of further execution of the one or more tasks; and in the subsequent cycle of power control, prevent further execution of one or more tasks if a combination of the overshoot power information and the second power information exceeds the predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification