System and method of dynamic clock and voltage scaling for workload based power management of a wireless mobile device

• US 8,671,413 B2
• Filed: 07/29/2010
• Issued: 03/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Salsbery, Brian J., Garash, Norman S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett, Scott L
• Application Number:
  US12/846,058
• Publication Number:
  US 20110173617A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,321 Days
• Field of Search: 718/100, 718/104, 718/105, 713/300, 709/223, 709/224, 709/226
• US Class Current: 718/105
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/324 by lowering clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/505 considering the load
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A method of executing a dynamic clock and voltage scaling (DCVS) algorithm in a central processing unit (CPU) is disclosed and may include monitoring CPU activity and determining whether a workload is designated as a special workload when the workload is added to the CPU activity.

Claims

1. A method of performing dynamic clock and voltage scaling (DCVS) on a central processing unit (CPU), the method comprising:

associating an unaltered DCVS algorithm with the CPU;

monitoring CPU activity in a processor to detect a new workload on the CPU;

determining whether the detected new workload is designated as a special workload;

querying a database to determine whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload;

retuning the associated DCVS algorithm based on the existing DCVS solution and executing the retuned DCVS algorithm on the CPU when it is determined that an DCVS solution is associated with the new workload;

determining whether a new DCVS solution should be created for the new workload when it is determined that an existing DCVS solution is not associated with the new workload by;

determining whether the new workload identifies specific workload requirements or includes a predetermined solution;

determining that the new DCVS solution should be created when the workload includes specific workload requirements; and

determining that the new DCVS solution should not be created when the workload includes a predetermined solution;

executing the associated DCVS algorithm on the CPU when it is determined that a new DCVS solution should not be created for the new workload; and

creating the new DCVS solution for the new workload based on the specific workload requirements, storing the created DCVS solution in the database, retuning the associated DCVS algorithm based on the created DCVS solution, and executing the retuned DCVS algorithm on the CPU when it is determined that a new DCVS solution should be created for the new workload.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the detected new workload is designated as a special workload comprises determining whether the new workload is an impulse workload, a defined workload, an isochronous workload, a pulsed workload, a best effort workload, a schedule workload, or a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the unaltered DCVS algorithm when it is determined that the workload is not designated as a special workload.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning a unique identifier to the new workload in response to determining that the new workload is designated as a special workload; and

querying the database to determine whether the database includes a record associated with the assigned unique identifier,

wherein determining whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload comprises determining whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload based on a result of the database query in response to determining that the database includes a record associated with the unique identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the created DCVS solution in a database comprises:

storing the new DCVS solution in conjunction with a unique identifier associated with the workload in the database.

6. A wireless device, comprising:

means for associating an unaltered dynamic clock and voltage scaling (DCVS) algorithm with a central processing unit (CPU) of the wireless device;

means for monitoring CPU activity to detect a new workload on the CPU;

means for querying a database to determine whether the detected new workload is designated as a special workload;

means for determining whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload;

means for retuning the associated DCVS algorithm based on the existing DCVS solution and executing the retuned DCVS algorithm on the CPU when it is determined that an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload;

means for determining whether a new DCVS solution should be created for the new workload when it is determined that an existing DCVS solution is not associated with the new workload, wherein the means for determining whether a new DCVS solution should be created for the new workload comprises;

means for determining whether the new workload identifies specific workload requirements or includes a predetermined solution;

means for determining that the new DCVS solution should be created when the workload includes specific workload requirements; and

means for determining that the new DCVS solution should not be created when the workload includes a predetermined solution;

means for executing the associated unaltered DCVS algorithm on the CPU when it is determined that a new DCVS solution should not be created for the new workload; and

means for creating the new DCVS solution for the new workload based on the specific workload requirements, storing the created DCVS solution in the database, retuning the associated DCVS algorithm based on the created DCVS solution, and executing the retuned DCVS algorithm on the CPU when it is determined a new DCVS solution should be created for the new workload.

7. The wireless device of claim 6, wherein means for determining whether the detected new workload is designated as a special workload comprises means for determining whether the new workload is an impulse workload, a defined workload, an isochronous workload, a pulsed workload, a best effort workload, a schedule workload, or a combination thereof.

8. The wireless device of claim 6, further comprising:

means for executing the unaltered DCVS algorithm when it is determined that the workload is not designated as a special workload.

9. The wireless device of claim 6, further comprising:

means for assigning a unique identifier to the new workload in response to determining that the new workload is designated as a special workload; and

means for querying the database to determine whether the database includes a record associated with the assigned unique identifier,

wherein means for determining whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload comprises means for determining whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload based on a result of the database query in response to determining that the database includes a record associated with the unique identifier.

10. The wireless device of claim 6 wherein means for storing the created DCVS solution in a database comprises:

means for storing the new DCVS solution in conjunction with the unique identifier associated with the workload in the database.

11. A wireless device, comprising:

a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

associating an unaltered dynamic clock and voltage scaling (DCVS) algorithm with a processing unit of the wireless device;

monitoring processing unit activity to detect a new workload on the processing unit;

determining whether the detected new workload is designated as a special workload;

querying a database to determine whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload;

retuning the associated DCVS algorithm based on the existing DCVS solution and executing the retuned DCVS algorithm on the processing unit when it is determined that an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload;

determining whether a new DCVS solution should be created for the new workload when it is determined that an existing DCVS solution is not associated with the new workload by;

determining whether the new workload identifies specific workload requirements or includes a predetermined solution;

determining that the new DCVS solution should be created when the workload includes specific workload requirements; and

determining that the new DCVS solution should not be created when the workload includes a predetermined solution;

executing the associated DCVS algorithm on the CPU when it is determined that a new DCVS solution should not be created for the new workload; and

creating the new DCVS solution for the new workload based on the specific workload requirements, storing the created DCVS solution in the database, retuning the associated DCVS algorithm based on the created DCVS solution, and executing the retuned DCVS algorithm on the processing unit when it is determined a new DCVS solution should be created for the new workload.

12. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that determining whether the detected new workload is designated as a special workload comprises determining whether the new workload is an impulse workload, a defined workload, an isochronous workload, a pulsed workload, a best effort workload, a schedule workload, or a combination thereof.

13. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

executing the unaltered DCVS algorithm when it is determined that the workload is not designated as a special workload.

14. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

receive a unique identifier to the new workload in response to determining that the new workload is designated as a special workload; and

querying the database to determine whether the database includes a record associated with the assigned unique identifier,

wherein determining whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload comprises determining whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload based on a result of the database query in response to determining that the database includes a record associated with the unique identifier.

15. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that storing the created DCVS solution in a database comprises:

storing the new DCVS solution in conjunction with the unique identifier associated with the workload in the database.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions configured to cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

associating an unaltered DCVS algorithm with a processing unit;

in a processor to detect a new workload on the processing unit;

determining whether the detected new workload is designated as a special workload;

querying a database to determine whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload;

retuning the associated DCVS algorithm based on the existing DCVS solution and executing the retuned DCVS algorithm on the processing unit when it is determined that an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload;

determining whether a new DCVS solution should be created for the new workload when it is determined that an existing DCVS solution is not associated with the new workload by;

determining whether the new workload identifies specific workload requirements or includes a predetermined solution;

determining that the new DCVS solution should be created when the workload includes specific workload requirements; and

determining that the new DCVS solution should not be created when the workload includes a predetermined solution;

executing the associated DCVS algorithm on the CPU when it is determined that a new DCVS solution should not be created for the new workload; and

creating the new DCVS solution for the new workload based on the specific workload requirements, storing the created DCVS solution in the database, retuning the associated DCVS algorithm based on the created DCVS solution, and executing the retuned DCVS algorithm on the processing unit when it is determined that a new DCVS solution should be created for the new workload.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the stored computer-executable instructions are configured to cause the processor to perform operations such that determining whether the detected new workload is designated as a special workload comprises determining whether the new workload is an impulse workload, a defined workload, an isochronous workload, a pulsed workload, a best effort workload, a schedule workload, or a combination thereof.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the stored computer-executable instructions are configured to cause the processor to perform operations further comprising:

executing the unaltered DCVS algorithm when it is determined that the workload is not designated as a special workload.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the stored computer-executable instructions are configured to cause the processor to perform operations further comprising:

assigning a unique identifier to the new workload in response to determining that the new workload is designated as a special workload; and

querying the database to determine whether the database includes a record associated with the assigned unique identifier,

wherein determining whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload comprises determining whether an existing DCVS solution is associated with the new workload based on a result of the database query in response to determining that the database includes a record associated with the unique identifier.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the stored computer-executable instructions are configured to cause the processor to perform operations such that storing the created DCVS solution in a database comprises:

storing the new DCVS solution in conjunction with the unique identifier associated with the workload in the database.