Methods and systems for power efficient instruction queue management in a data processing system
First Claim
1. A data processing system comprising:
- a processing unit;
at least one bus coupled to the processing unit;
at least one subsystem coupled to the at least one bus;
a power controller coupled to the processing unit and to the at least one subsystem, the power controller being configured to reduce power consumed by the at least one subsystem in response to a first state of an instruction queue in memory for the at least one subsystem, the instruction queue being accessible to a software driver for the at least one subsystem which communicates a status of the first state to the processing unit which in response reduces power, through the power controller, to the at least one subsystem, wherein the first state represents an instruction queue having only instructions for future events or actions, and wherein, over a period of time, the power for the processing unit is reduced after a first period of time and the power for the subsystem is turned on such that it is on for a second period of time after the first period of time and then power to the processing unit is turned on to allow the processing unit to reduce power for the subsystem after the second period of time.
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Abstract
Methods and systems for managing power consumption in data processing systems are described. In one embodiment, a data processing system includes a general purpose processing unit, a graphics processing unit (GPU), at least one peripheral interface controller, at least one bus coupled to the general purpose processing unit, and a power controller coupled to at least the general purpose processing unit and the GPU. The power controller is configured to turn power off for the general purpose processing unit in response to a first state of an instruction queue of the general purpose processing unit and is configured to turn power off for the GPU in response to a second state of an instruction queue of the GPU. The first state and the second state represent an instruction queue having either no instructions or instructions for only future events or actions.
59 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A data processing system comprising:
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a processing unit; at least one bus coupled to the processing unit; at least one subsystem coupled to the at least one bus; a power controller coupled to the processing unit and to the at least one subsystem, the power controller being configured to reduce power consumed by the at least one subsystem in response to a first state of an instruction queue in memory for the at least one subsystem, the instruction queue being accessible to a software driver for the at least one subsystem which communicates a status of the first state to the processing unit which in response reduces power, through the power controller, to the at least one subsystem, wherein the first state represents an instruction queue having only instructions for future events or actions, and wherein, over a period of time, the power for the processing unit is reduced after a first period of time and the power for the subsystem is turned on such that it is on for a second period of time after the first period of time and then power to the processing unit is turned on to allow the processing unit to reduce power for the subsystem after the second period of time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A machine readable non-transitory storage medium containing executable program instructions which cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:
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determining a state of an instructions queue of a graphics processing unit; turning off power to the graphics processing unit in response to determining that the instruction queue of the graphics processing unit (GPU) has instructions for only future events or actions; determining a state of an instruction queue of a general purpose processing unit; turning off power to the general purpose processing unit in response to determining that the instruction queue of the general purpose processing unit has instructions for only future events or actions, and wherein, over a period of time, the power for the general purpose processing unit is reduced after a first period of time and the power for the graphics processing unit (GPU) is turned on such that it is on for a second period of time after the first period of time and then power to the general purpose processing unit is turned on to allow the general purpose processing unit to reduce power for the GPU after the second period of time. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A data processing system on a monolithic semiconductor substrate which provides a system on a chip (SOC), the data processing system comprising:
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a general purpose processing unit; a graphics processing unit; at least one peripheral interface controller; at least one bus coupled to the general purpose processing unit, the graphics processing unit (GPU), and the at least one peripheral interface controller; a power controller coupled to at least the general purpose processing unit and the graphics processing unit, the power controller being configured to turn power off for the general purpose processing unit in response to a first state of an instruction queue of the general purpose processing unit, and the power controller being configured to turn power off for the graphics processing unit in response to a second state of an instruction queue of the graphics processing unit, and wherein over a period of time, the power for the general purpose processing unit is reduced after a first period of time and the power for the graphics processing unit (GPU) is turned on such that it is on for a second period of time after the first period of time and then power to the general purpose processing unit is turned on to allow the general purpose processing unit to reduce power for the GPU after the second period of time. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification