Controlling a turbo mode frequency of a processor
First Claim
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1. An article comprising a non-transitory machine-accessible storage medium including instructions that when executed cause a system to:
- analyze a plurality of power state change events of a multicore processor including a plurality of cores during an evaluation interval to determine a number of frequency transitions responsive to the plurality of power state change events for each of N-core turbo frequencies;
select one of the N-core turbo frequencies to be a maximum operating frequency of the multicore processor for a next operating interval based at least in part on the number of frequency transitions, the selected N-core turbo frequency less than a configured maximum operating frequency of the multicore processor; and
control the plurality of cores to operate at no higher than the selected N-core turbo frequency for the next operating interval.
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Abstract
In one embodiment, the present invention includes a multicore processor with a power controller to control a frequency at which the processor operates. More specifically, the power controller can limit a maximum operating frequency of the processor to less than a configured maximum operating frequency to enable a reduction in a number of frequency transitions occurring responsive to power state events, thus avoiding the overhead of operations performed in handling such transitions. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
101 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An article comprising a non-transitory machine-accessible storage medium including instructions that when executed cause a system to:
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analyze a plurality of power state change events of a multicore processor including a plurality of cores during an evaluation interval to determine a number of frequency transitions responsive to the plurality of power state change events for each of N-core turbo frequencies; select one of the N-core turbo frequencies to be a maximum operating frequency of the multicore processor for a next operating interval based at least in part on the number of frequency transitions, the selected N-core turbo frequency less than a configured maximum operating frequency of the multicore processor; and control the plurality of cores to operate at no higher than the selected N-core turbo frequency for the next operating interval. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A processor comprising:
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a plurality of cores to independently execute instructions; and a power controller to control a frequency at which the processor is to operate, the power controller to limit a maximum operating frequency of the processor to less than a configured maximum operating frequency to enable a reduction in a number of frequency transitions that occur responsive to power state events, wherein the power controller is coupled to a table including a plurality of entries each associated with an N-core turbo frequency and to store a counter value corresponding to a first number of frequency transitions during an evaluation interval if the processor were to operate at the N-core turbo frequency, and analyze a plurality of power state change events during the evaluation interval to determine the first number of frequency transitions. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system comprising:
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a multicore processor including a plurality of cores and a controller to, responsive to a power state change event of at least one core of the plurality of cores, determine a number of cores of the multicore processor to be in an active state after the power state change event, and determine whether to update a first entry of a turbo demotion table associated with a N-core turbo frequency based at least in part on whether a frequency transition would be performed if the multicore processor were in operation at the N-core turbo frequency, the turbo demotion table including a plurality of entries each associated with an N-core turbo frequency and to store a counter value corresponding to a potential number of frequency transitions during an evaluation interval; and a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) coupled to the multicore processor. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification