Power consumption management

• US 9,274,582 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2010
• Issued: 03/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Mangione-Smith, William Henry
• Primary Examiner(s): Choudhury, Zahid
• Application Number:
  US12/802,923
• Publication Number:
  US 20100318818A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,086 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300, 713/310, 713/320
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/329 by task scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0706 the processing taking place on a specific hardware platform or in a specific software environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0721 within a central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0724 in a multiprocessor or a multi-core unit multiprocessors per se G06F15/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1407 Checkpointing the instruction stream
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3836 Instruction issuing, e.g. dynamic instruction scheduling or out of order instruction execution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3863 using multiple copies of the architectural state, e.g. shadow registers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3869 Implementation aspects, e.g. pipeline latches; pipeline synchronisation and clocking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5094 where the allocation takes into account power or heat criteria power management in computers in general G06F1/3203; thermal management in computers in general G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Embodiments include a system, an apparatus, a device, and a method. A system includes a power module operable to determine respective indicia of power consumed in executing at least one instruction by a first subcircuit and by a second subcircuit of a synchronous circuit. The system also includes a scheduler module operable to direct an execution task to a subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit. The subcircuit selection is responsive to the determined respective indicia of power consumption by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining periodically an indicia of energy expended by a first subcircuit and by a second subcircuit of a synchronous circuit during respective executions of at least one instruction, wherein one or more time periods between periodic determinations is adjusted based on aging of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit; and

directing an execution task to a subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit, wherein the subcircuit selection is based upon comparing the indicia of energy expended by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit with the execution performance of the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining periodically an indicia of energy expended by a first subcircuit and by a second subcircuit comprises:

determining an energy expended by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of the synchronous circuit during respective executions of at least one instruction.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining periodically an indicia of energy expended by a first subcircuit and by a second subcircuit comprises:

determining a current consumed by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of the synchronous circuit during respective executions of at least one instruction.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining periodically an indicia of energy expended by a first subcircuit and by a second subcircuit comprises:

determining a temperature of the first subcircuit and of the second subcircuit of the synchronous circuit during respective executions of at least one instruction.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining periodically an indicia of energy expended by a first subcircuit and by a second subcircuit comprises:

determining the indicia of energy expended by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of the synchronous circuit during respective executions of a test instruction group.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein directing an execution task to a subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit comprises:

directing the execution task to the subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit based upon a determined lower power consumption by the selected subcircuit than for the non-selected subcircuit.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein directing an execution task to a subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit comprises:

directing the execution task to the subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit and based upon an availability of the selected subcircuit and determined indicia of energy expended by the selected subcircuit.

8. A device comprising:

means for determining periodically an indicia of energy expended by a first subcircuit and by a second subcircuit of a circuit during respective executions of at least one instruction, wherein one or more time periods between periodic determinations is adjusted based on aging of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit; and

means for directing an execution task to a subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit, wherein the selection is based upon comparing the indicia of energy expended by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit with the execution performance of the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit.

9. A system comprising:

a power module operable to determine periodically respective indicia of power consumed in executing a test operation by a first subcircuit and by a second subcircuit of a circuit, wherein the power module is configured to adjust one or more time periods between periodic determinations based at least partially on aging of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit; and

a scheduler module operable to direct an operation to a subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit, wherein the scheduler module is configured to perform a subcircuit selection based at least partially on comparing the indicia of power consumed by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit with the execution performance of the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module comprises:

a power module operable to determine periodically the respective indicia of power consumed in executing a task by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of the circuit.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module comprises:

a power module operable to determine periodically the respective indicia of power consumed in executing at least one instruction of a program by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of the circuit.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module comprises:

a power module operable to determine periodically the respective indicia of power consumed in executing at least one instruction of an application by first subcircuit and by second subcircuit of circuit.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module comprises:

a power module operable to determine periodically the respective indicia of power consumed in executing at least one instruction of an instruction group by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of the circuit.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module comprises:

a hardware-implemented power module operable to determine periodically respective indicia of power consumed in executing the test operation by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of the circuit.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module comprises:

a power module implemented in at least one of hardware, software, firmware, and/or a microengine and operable to determine periodically the respective indicia of power consumed in executing the test operation by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of the circuit.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module comprises:

a power module operable to respectively determine a power consumption to execute the test operation by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of the circuit.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module comprises:

a power module operable to respectively determine an indicia of temperature resulting from an executing of the test operation by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of the circuit.

18. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module comprises:

a power module operable to respectively determine an indicia of a current flow resulting from an executing of the test operation by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of a circuit.

19. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module comprises:

a power module operable to respectively determine a respective indicia of power consumed in executing at least one instruction by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit of a synchronous circuit.

20. The system of claim 9, wherein the scheduler module comprises:

a scheduler module implemented in at least one of hardware, software, firmware, and/or a microengine and operable to direct the operation to the subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit, the subcircuit selection further based upon the determined respective indicia of power consumption by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit.

21. The system of claim 9, wherein the scheduler module comprises:

a scheduler module operable to direct the operation to the subcircuit selected based upon a determined lower indicia of power consumption for the selected subcircuit than the non-selected subcircuit.

22. The system of claim 9 further comprising:

the scheduler module operable to direct an execution task to the subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit based upon the determined respective indicia of power consumption by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit.

23. The system of claim 9, wherein the scheduler module comprises:

a scheduler module operable to direct an execution of at least one instruction to the subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit, the subcircuit selection further based upon the determined respective indicia of power consumption by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit.

24. The system of claim 9, wherein the scheduler module comprises:

a scheduler module operable to direct the operation to the subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit based upon an availability of the selected subcircuit and the determined indicia of power consumption by the selected subcircuit.

25. The system of claim 9, wherein the power module and the scheduler module are formed on a single chip.

26. A system comprising:

a circuit including a first subcircuit and a second subcircuit;

a monitor circuit for determining periodically respective indicia of power consumption to execute a test operation by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit, wherein the monitor circuit is configured to adjust one or more time periods between periodic determinations based at least partially on aging of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit; and

a manager circuit for scheduling an execution task to a subcircuit selected from the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit, wherein the manager circuit is configured to perform a subcircuit selection based at least partially on comparing the indicia of power consumption by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit with execution performance of the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the circuit including a first subcircuit and a second subcircuit comprises:

a synchronous circuit including a first subsystem and a second subsystem.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the circuit including a first subcircuit and a second subcircuit comprises:

a synchronous processor including a first processor core and a second processor core.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the circuit including a first subcircuit and a second subcircuit comprises:

a synchronous uniprocessor including a first subsystem and a second subsystem.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the circuit including a first subcircuit and a second subcircuit comprises:

a circuit formed on one chip and including the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein the circuit including a first subcircuit and a second subcircuit comprises:

a circuit including the first subcircuit formed on a first chip and the second subcircuit formed on a second chip.

32. The system of claim 26, further comprising:

a computing device having the circuit that includes the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit.

33. The system of claim 26, further comprising:

a power supply configured to electrically couple with a portable power source and operable to provide power to the circuit.

34. The system of claim 26, wherein the monitor circuit comprises:

a monitor circuit for determining periodically respective indicia of power consumption to execute the test operation by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit, wherein the monitor circuit is configured to adjust the one or more time periods between periodic determinations based at least partially on the aging of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit, the aging based at least partially on processor hours of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit.

35. The system of claim 26, wherein the monitor circuit comprises:

a monitor circuit for determining periodically respective indicia of power consumption to execute the test operation by the first subcircuit and by the second subcircuit, wherein the monitor circuit is configured to adjust the one or more time periods between periodic determinations based at least partially on the aging of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit, the aging based at least partially on an elapsed time of aging of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit.

36. The system of claim 26 wherein the aging is based at least partially on a monthly aging of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit.

37. The system of claim 26, wherein the aging is based at least partially on a yearly aging of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit.

38. The system of claim 26, wherein the execution performance is based at least partially on execution speed of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit.

39. The system of claim 26, wherein the execution performance is based at least partially on error rate of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit.

40. The system of claim 26 wherein the circuit includes at least a memory circuit.

41. The system of claim 26, wherein the circuit includes at least one of an on-chip cache memory circuit or an off-chip cache memory circuit.

42. The system of claim 26, wherein the circuit includes at least an outboard memory circuit.

43. The system of claim 26 wherein the aging is based at least partially on a number of clock cycles of at least one of the first subcircuit or the second subcircuit.