Throttling device power
First Claim
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1. A method for throttling device power demand during critical power events, comprising:
- detecting a critical power event; and
in response to the detection of the critical power event, issuing a signal from a controller to a peripheral device to defer non-essential transactions including accesses to a main system memory during the critical power event, to indicate a condition of an opportunistic buffer flush and fill (OBFF) state during the critical power event, and to operate out of a local buffer of the peripheral device without accessing any device external to the peripheral device as long as the local buffer is not in an underflow condition, wherein the peripheral device, in response to a local buffer underflow condition during the OBFF state, performs a critical interruption to access the main system memory via a direct memory access operation, wherein the OBFF state allows the peripheral device to continue functioning without shifting to any idle states and wherein the OBFF state does not allow the peripheral device to access system busses except for the critical interruption.
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Abstract
An apparatus and system for throttling I/O devices in a computer system is provided. In an example, a method for throttling device power demand during critical power events. The method includes detecting a critical power event and issuing a signal to system devices to defer optional transactions during the critical power event.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for throttling device power demand during critical power events, comprising:
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detecting a critical power event; and in response to the detection of the critical power event, issuing a signal from a controller to a peripheral device to defer non-essential transactions including accesses to a main system memory during the critical power event, to indicate a condition of an opportunistic buffer flush and fill (OBFF) state during the critical power event, and to operate out of a local buffer of the peripheral device without accessing any device external to the peripheral device as long as the local buffer is not in an underflow condition, wherein the peripheral device, in response to a local buffer underflow condition during the OBFF state, performs a critical interruption to access the main system memory via a direct memory access operation, wherein the OBFF state allows the peripheral device to continue functioning without shifting to any idle states and wherein the OBFF state does not allow the peripheral device to access system busses except for the critical interruption. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for controlling power usage, comprising:
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a power-fault detection system; and a control system, wherein the control system is configured to; detect a signal from the power-fault detection system indicating a power fault event; and in response to detecting the signal from the power-fault detection system, send a signal from the control system to a peripheral device to defer non-essential transactions including accesses to a main system memory during the power fault event, to indicate a condition of an opportunistic buffer flush and fill (OBFF) state during the power fault event, and to operate out of a buffer local to the peripheral device without accessing any device external to the peripheral device as long as the local buffer is not in an underflow condition, wherein the peripheral device, in response to a local buffer underflow condition during the OBFF state, performs a critical interruption to access the main system memory via a direct memory access operation, wherein the OBFF state allows the peripheral device to continue functioning without shifting to any idle states and wherein the OBFF state does not allow the peripheral device to access system busses except for the critical interruption. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system that throttles back power usage in peripheral devices in a computer system, comprising:
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a system management engine comprising; a power detection system; and an opportunistic buffer flush and fill (OBFF) controller; a signal line coupling the OBFF controller to a peripheral device; a communications bus coupling the OBFF controller to a second peripheral device; and a module comprising code configured to direct the system management engine to detect a power fault event, and in response to the detection of the power fault event, issue a signal from the controller to the peripheral device to defer non-essential transactions including accesses to a main system memory during the power fault event, and to indicate a condition of an opportunistic buffer flush and fill (OBFF) state during the power fault event, and to operate out of a local buffer of the peripheral device without accessing any device external to the peripheral device as long as the local buffer is not in an underflow condition, wherein the peripheral device, in response to a local buffer underflow condition during the OBFF state, to access the main system memory via a direct memory access operation, wherein the OBFF state allows the peripheral device to continue functioning without shifting to any idle states and wherein the OBFF state does not allow the peripheral device to access system busses except for during the underflow condition. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A non-transitory, computer readable medium comprising code configured to control a node manager to throttle device power demand during critical power events, comprising:
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code configured to detect a critical power event; code configured to in, response to the detection of the critical power event, issue a signal from a controller to a peripheral device to defer non-essential transactions including accesses to a main system memory during the critical power event, issue a command over a bus to indicate a condition of an opportunistic buffer flush and fill (OBFF) state during the critical power event, and operate out of a local buffer of the peripheral device without accessing any device external to the peripheral device as long as the local buffer is not in an underflow condition, wherein the peripheral device, in response to a local buffer underflow condition during the OBFF state, performs a critical interruption to access the main system memory via direct memory access operation, wherein the OBFF state allows the peripheral device continue function without shifting to any idle states and wherein the OBFF state does not allow the peripheral device to access system busses except for the critical interruption. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification