Controlling a turbo mode frequency of a processor
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A processor comprising:
- a plurality of cores to independently execute instructions; and
a power controller coupled to the plurality of cores 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, wherein the power controller is to analyze a plurality of power state change events in which a change in a number of active cores of the plurality of cores occurs during an evaluation interval to determine, for each of N-core turbo frequencies, a number of frequency transitions if the processor was to operate at the N-core turbo frequency at occurrence of the plurality of power state change events, select one of the N-core turbo frequencies to be the maximum operating frequency for a next operating interval based at least in part on the number of frequency transitions, and control the plurality of cores to operate at no higher than the selected N-core turbo frequency for the next operating interval.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
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.
113 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A processor comprising:
-
a plurality of cores to independently execute instructions; and a power controller coupled to the plurality of cores 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, wherein the power controller is to analyze a plurality of power state change events in which a change in a number of active cores of the plurality of cores occurs during an evaluation interval to determine, for each of N-core turbo frequencies, a number of frequency transitions if the processor was to operate at the N-core turbo frequency at occurrence of the plurality of power state change events, select one of the N-core turbo frequencies to be the maximum operating frequency for a next operating interval based at least in part on the number of frequency transitions, 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, 10)
-
-
11. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which cause at least one machine to perform a method comprising:
-
analyzing a plurality of power state change events of a multicore processor having a plurality of cores in which a change in an active number of the plurality of cores occurs during an evaluation interval to determine a number of frequency transitions to be performed responsive to the plurality of power state change events, for each of N-core turbo frequencies; selecting 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 controlling the plurality of cores to operate at no higher than the selected N-core turbo frequency for the next operating interval. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A system comprising:
a multicore processor comprising; a plurality of cores; a power controller coupled to the plurality of cores, the power controller to; responsive to a power state change event of at least one core of the plurality of cores in which a change in a number of active cores of the plurality of cores occurs, determine a number of cores of the multicore processor to be in an active state after the power state change event; determine whether to update a first entry of a table stored in a storage, the entry associated with a N-core turbo frequency, based at least in part on whether a frequency transition would be performed if the multicore processor was to operate at the N-core turbo frequency; and update the first entry if the frequency transition would be performed. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
Specification