Computer system and control method thereof

• US 8,756,448 B2
• Filed: 09/01/2011
• Issued: 06/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Kwang-hyun
• Primary Examiner(s): DU, THUAN N
• Application Number:
  US13/223,516
• Publication Number:
  US 20110314316A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,020 Days
• Field of Search: 713/323, 713/324, 713/321
• US Class Current: 713/323
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A computer system including at least one wake-up unit to sense whether a wake-up event occurs in a standby mode to decrease power consumption, a power supplying unit to supply power to the at least one wake-up unit, and a controlling unit to control a power supplying unit to the at least one wake-up unit in the standby mode according to predetermined setting corresponding to whether the at least one wake-up unit is operable.

Claims

1. A computer system having a normal mode and a standby mode to decrease power consumption, the computer system comprising:

at least one wake-up unit to sense if a wake-up event occurs in the standby mode;

a power supplying unit to supply power to the at least one wake-up unit;

a controlling unit to control the power supplying unit; and

a user inputting unit operable to receive a user input to set whether the at least one wake-up unit is to be in an operable state in the standby mode,

wherein, when the computer system transitions from the normal mode to the standby mode, the controlling unit is configured to control the power supplying unit to cut off power to the at least one wake-up unit if the at least one wake-up unit is set not to be in the operable state in the standby mode,

wherein, if the at least one wake-up unit is set to be in the operable state in the standby mode, the power from the power supplying unit is supplied to the at least one wake-up unit to enable detection of whether the wake-up event occurs in the standby mode.

2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the controlling unit comprises:

an operating system (OS) that performs an operation setting of the at least one wake-up unit of the standby mode according to an advanced configuration and power interface (ACPI) specification; and

a basic input/output system (BIOS) which controls the power supply to the at least one wake-up unit according to the operation setting of the at least one wake-up unit which is performed by the OS.

3. The computer system according to claim 2, further comprising:

a CPU where the OS and the BIOS are executed; and

an interrupt generating unit which generates an interrupt to the CPU after the operation setting of the at least one wake-up unit performed by the OS,

wherein the BIOS controls the power supply to the at least one wake-up unit if the interrupt is generated by the interrupt generating unit.

4. The computer system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a switching unit to selectively switch the power from the power supplying unit to the at least one wake-up unit,

wherein the controlling unit controls the power supplying unit to supply power to the at least one wake-up unit by controlling the switching unit.

5. A control method of a computer system comprising at least one wake-up unit to sense whether a wake-up event occurs in a standby mode, and a power supplying unit to supply power to the at least one wake-up unit, the method comprising:

receiving a user input to set whether the at least one wake-up unit is to be in an operable state in the standby mode;

when the computer system is in the standby mode, cutting off power supplied to the at least one wake-up unit if the at least one wake-up unit is set not be operable in the standby mode; and

supplying power to the at least one wake-up unit to enable detection of whether the wake-up event occurs in the standby mode if the at least one wake-up unit is set to be in the operable state in the standby mode.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

performing an operation setting of the at least one wake-up unit according to an advanced configuration and power interface (ACPI) specification; and

generating an interrupt after the performed operation setting of the at least one wake-up unit,

wherein the controlling the power supplying unit is performed when the interrupt is generated.

7. A computer apparatus comprising:

a wake-up unit to detect whether a wake-up event occurs in a standby mode;

a user inputting unit operable to receive a user input to set whether the wake-up unit is to be in an operable state in the standby mode; and

a controlling unit to control the power supplying unit to supply power to the at least one wake-up unit in the standby mode based on whether the wake-up unit is set to be in the operable state in the standby mode,

wherein, in the standby mode, the controlling unit is configured to cut off the power supplied from the power supplying unit to the wake-up unit if the wake-up unit is set not be operable in the standby mode.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a switching unit to selectively switch the power from the power supplying unit to the at least one wake-up unit,

wherein the controlling unit controls the power supplying unit by controlling the switching unit.