Power control for information handling system having shared resources

• US 8,583,953 B2
• Filed: 10/19/2011
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Sultenfuss, Andrew T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Spittle, Matthew D
• Application Number:
  US13/276,951
• Publication Number:
  US 20120036379A1
• Time in Patent Office: 755 Days
• Field of Search: 713 20-324, 713/501, 307/23, 307/29, 307/38, 307/39
• US Class Current: 713/323
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode

Abstract

An information handling system includes at least two processing systems that share system resources. In response to detecting a designated event, a power control module of the information handling system can select one of a plurality of available power profiles. The power profile can be selected based on the event and state information indicative of a state of the processing systems. Based on the selected profile, the power control module can set an operational power mode of one or more of the shared system resources.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting a first event at a first processing system of an information handling system having a plurality of system resources;

in response to detecting the first event at the first processing system, determining a first power mode for a first system resource based on the first event, first state information indicative of a state of the first processing system, and second state information indicative of a state of a second processing system of the information handling system, wherein;

the first power mode is one of an active power mode and a reduced power mode;

the first system resource consumes power in the reduced power mode and consumes less power in the reduced power mode than in the active power mode;

the first system resource comprises a hardware resource coupled to the first processing system and the second processing system via an interconnect;

the first processing system and the second processing system are independent processing systems;

the first processing system is coupled to a north bridge of the information handling system;

the second processing system is coupled to a south bridge of the information handling system; and

setting an operating power mode of the first system resource to the first power mode by coupling the first system resource to one of a plurality of voltage rails based on the first power mode, the setting comprising switching the operating power mode of the first system resource from one of the active power mode and the reduced power mode to the other of the active power mode and the reduced power mode.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to detecting the first event at the first processing system, determining a second power mode for a second system resource based on the first event, the state of the first processing system, and the state of the second processing system; and

setting a power mode of the second system resource to the second power mode.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first system resource is a dedicated resource of the first processing system, and the second system resource is a dedicated resource of the second processing system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first state information corresponds to a plurality of operating power modes associated with a plurality of system resources.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first state information indicates an operating system associated with the first processing system.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the operating power mode from a plurality of available power modes for the first system resource based on an event type associated with the first event.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a second event at the second processing system;

in response to detecting the second event at the second processing system, determining a second power mode for the first system resource based on the second event, the state of the first processing system, and the state of the second processing system; and

setting the power mode of the first system resource to the second power mode.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first processing system and the second processing system do not share tasks and do not execute program threads from a common application program or operating system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second processing system comprises a wireless wide area network Minicard.

10. An information handling system, comprising:

a first processing system comprising;

a first processor; and

an event detection module configured to detect a wireless transmission and communicate a first indication in response to the wireless transmission;

a second processing system comprising a second processor;

a plurality of system resources comprising shared resources between the first processing system and the second processing system; and

a power control module configured to, in response to the first indication, first state information indicative of a state of the first processing system, and second state information indicative of a state of the second processing system, select a first power profile from a plurality of available power profiles based on the detected wireless transmission and configured to set a power mode of each of the system resources based on the first power profile, wherein each of the system resources consumes power in the power mode and wherein the setting of the power modes of each of the system resources places the system resources in appropriate power modes to process and respond to the detected wireless transmission, the placing comprising enabling a keyboard, a touchpad module, a flash module, a video module, and a display.

11. The information handling system of claim 10, wherein:

the wireless transmission is a Bluetooth message; and

the placing the system resources in appropriate power modes comprises initiating an operating system and one or more applications sufficient to output a response to the Bluetooth message.

12. The information handling system of claim 10, wherein the wireless transmission is a Bluetooth message, a cell phone message, or a transmission from any other handheld wireless device.

13. The information handling system of claim 10, wherein the first processing system comprises a wireless wide area network Minicard.

14. The information handling system of claim 10, wherein the power control module is to set the power modes of each of the system resources while leaving the second processor in a low-power mode.

15. The information handling system of claim 10, wherein the placing the system resources in appropriate power modes comprises initiating an operating system and one or more applications sufficient to output a response to the wireless transmission.

16. A method comprising:

detecting a first event at a first processing system of an information handling system having a plurality of system resources;

in response to detecting the first event at the first processing system, determining a first power mode for a first system resource based on the first event, first state information indicative of a state of the first processing system, and second state information indicative of a state of a second processing system of the information handling system, wherein;

the first power mode is one of an active power mode and a reduced power mode;

the first system resource consumes power in the reduced power mode and consumes less power in the reduced power mode than in the active power mode;

the first system resource comprises a hardware resource coupled to the first processing system and the second processing system via an interconnect;

the first processing system and the second processing system are independent processing systems;

the second processing system comprises a wireless wide area network Minicard; and

setting an operating power mode of the first system resource to the first power mode by coupling the first system resource to one of a plurality of voltage rails based on the first power mode, the setting comprising switching the operating power mode of the first system resource from one of the active power mode and the reduced power mode to the other of the active power mode and the reduced power mode.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

in response to detecting the first event at the first processing system, determining a second power mode for a second system resource based on the first event, the state of the first processing system, and the state of the second processing system; and

setting a power mode of the second system resource to the second power mode.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first system resource is a dedicated resource of the first processing system, and the second system resource is a dedicated resource of the second processing system.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the first state information corresponds to a plurality of operating power modes associated with a plurality of system resources.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the first state information indicates an operating system associated with the first processing system.