Integrating energy budgets for power management

• US 8,433,931 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2009
• Issued: 04/30/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Burg, David, Obr, Nathan Steven, Sadovsky, Vladimir
• Primary Examiner(s): AUVE, GLENN ALLEN
• Application Number:
  US12/465,362
• Publication Number:
  US 20100292854A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,448 Days
• Field of Search: 710/15, 710/16, 713/300, 713/320, 713/322, 713/330
• US Class Current: 713/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system

Abstract

Power consumption of a device (e.g., flash storage driver, hard drive, etc.) connected to a host computer system is managed to promote efficient power usage and improved service. Communication between a host computer system (e.g., an operating system) and a device is enabled so that the host system can ascertain a power footprint of the device. Taking the power footprint of the device into consideration, along with the power consumption of the system as a whole (e.g., including the power consumption needs of other devices), a power manager can provide a power budget to the device based upon an informed decision. This allows for improved system power management through a coordination of the device'"'"'s power consumption by the host system, specifically during operation allowing device performance to be enhanced for the task at hand.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a power footprint of a device associated with a host system, an information source of the power footprint selected from a hierarchy of ranked information sources; and

using the power footprint to determine a power budget for the device.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

allocating the power budget to the device, the power budget comprising a power policy governing an internal operation of the device, thereby allowing real time management of the internal operation by the power policy.

3. The method of claim 2, comprising:

receiving a request to change the power policy from the device; and

determining whether to enable the request based upon the received power footprint.

4. The method of claim 1, the power footprint comprising information pertaining to power consumption of the device and the power budget comprising an energy allotment for the device.

5. The method of claim 1, if a first information source in the hierarchy cannot provide the power footprint, the power footprint received from a lower ranked information source in the hierarchy.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving the power footprint from an information source external to the host system.

7. The method of claim 6, the information source external to the host system comprising a device specification provided by an original equipment manufacturer.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising changing the power budget if a determination is made that power saved by the changing is greater than power expended by the changing.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising issuing a message to a host system user that communicates when the host system does not have an available power for at least one of a plurality of devices to complete an operation.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising determining the power footprint as a function of an operation attempted to be performed by the device.

11. The method of claim 1, comprising selectively deactivating one or more devices associated with the host system so that the host system can operate within an available power.

12. A host system, comprising:

a driver configured to receive a power footprint of a device associated with the host system, an information source of the power footprint selected from a hierarchy of ranked information sources, selection of the information source comprising;

if the power footprint cannot be received from a first information source in the hierarchy, receiving the power footprint from a lower ranked information source in the hierarchy.

13. The system of claim 12, comprising:

a power manager configured to use the received power footprint to determine a power budget for the device.

14. The system of claim 13, the power manager configured to:

determine a first energy cost of performing an operation with the device;

determine a second energy cost of performing the operation with a second device; and

select one of the device or the second device to perform the operation based on a comparison of the first energy cost and the second energy cost.

15. The system of claim 13, the power budget determined as a function of an operation attempted to be performed by the device.

16. The system of claim 13, configured to:

dynamically monitor the power footprint of the device; and

dynamically change the power budget of the device.

17. The system of claim 12, the driver configured to communicate with the device via at least one of a system bus, storage bus or device bus.

18. The system of claim 12, the information source comprising a profile configuration file that is received during an update of an operating system of the host system.

19. A system, comprising:

one or more processing units; and

memory comprising instructions that when executed by at least some of the one or more processing units, perform a method comprising;

using a power footprint of a device associated with a host system to determine a power budget for the device, an information source of the power footprint selected from a hierarchy of ranked information sources.

20. The system of claim 19, the information source comprising at least one of:

a database connected to the host system;

or

an update to an operating system.