POWER CONTROL FOR INFORMATION HANDLING SYSTEM HAVING SHARED RESOURCES

• US 20100115314A1
• Filed: 10/31/2008
• Published: 05/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Sultenfuss, Andrew T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,065,540 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/323
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode

Abstract

An information handling system includes at least two processing systems that share system resources. In response to detecting a designated event, a power control module of the information handling system can select one of a plurality of available power profiles. The power profile can be selected based on the event and state information indicative of a state of the processing systems. Based on the selected profile, the power control module can set an operational power mode of one or more of the shared system resources.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting a first event at a first processing system of an information handling system having a plurality of system resources;

in response to detecting the first event at the first processing system, determining a first power mode for a first system resource based on the first event, first state information indicative of a state of the first processing system, and second state information indicative of a state of a second processing system of the information handling system, wherein the first power mode is one of an active power mode and a reduced power mode; and

setting an operating power mode of the first system resource to the first power mode.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first system resource comprises a resource that is shared between the first processing system and the second processing system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first system resource comprises a dedicated resource of the first processing system that is not shared with the second processing system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to detecting the first event at the first processing system, determining a second power mode for a second system resource based on the first event, the state of the first processing system, and the state of the second processing system; and

setting a power mode of the second system resource to the second power mode.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first system resource is a dedicated resource of the first processing system, and the second system resource is a dedicated resource of the second processing system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information corresponds to a plurality of operating power modes associated with a plurality of system resources.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information indicates an operating system associated with the first processing system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein further comprising selecting the operating power mode from a plurality of available power modes for the first system resource based on an event type associated with the first event.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to detecting a second event at the first processing system, determining a second power mode for a second system resource based on the second event, the state of the first processing system, and the state of the second processing system; and

setting a power mode of the second system resource to the second power mode.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a second event at the second processing system;

in response to detecting the second event at the first processing system, determining a second power mode for the first system resource based on the second event, the state of the first processing system, and the state of the second processing system; and

setting the power mode of the first system resource to the second power mode.

11. A processor readable medium tangibly embodying a program of instructions to manipulate a processor, the program of instructions comprising instructions to:

detect a first event at an information handling system;

in response to the first event;

select a first power profile from a plurality of available power profiles on the first event; and

set an operational power mode of a first plurality of system resources of the information handling system based on the first power profile, the first plurality of system resources comprising resources that are shared between a first processing system of the information handling system and a second processing system of the information handling system.

12. The processor readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions to select the first power profile comprise instructions to select the first power profile based on a state of the first processing system and a state of the second processing system.

13. The processor readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program of instructions further comprises instructions to:

in response to detecting a second event;

select a second power profile from a plurality of available power profiles based on the second event; and

set the power mode of each of the first plurality of system resources of the information handling system based on the second power profile.

14. The processor readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first power profile associates a first system resource of the first plurality of system resources with a low-power mode, and the second power profile associates the first system resource with an active mode.

15. The processor readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program of instructions further comprises instructions to:

in response to detecting the first event, set an operational power mode of each of a second plurality of system resources based on the first power profile, the second plurality of system resources comprising dedicated resources of the first processing system.

16. The processor readable medium of claim 15, wherein the program of instructions further comprises instructions to:

in response to detecting the first event, set an operational power mode of each of a third plurality of system resources based on the first power profile, the third plurality of system resources comprising dedicated resources of the second processing system.

17. An information handling system, comprising:

a first processing system;

a second processing system;

a first plurality of system resources comprising shared resources between the first processing system and the second processing system;

an event detection module configured to detect an event at the information handling system and communicate a first indication in response to the event; and

a power control module configured to, in response to the first indication, select a first power profile from a plurality of available power profiles based on an the first event and configured to set a power mode of each of the first plurality of system resources based on the first power profile.

18. The information handling system of claim 17, wherein:

the event detection module is configured to detect a second event and communicate a second indication in response to the second event; and

the power control module is configured to, in response the second indication, select a second power profile from the plurality of available power profiles based on an the first event and configured to set the power mode of each of the first plurality of system resources based on the second power profile.

19. The information handling system of claim 17, further comprising:

a second plurality of system resources comprising dedicated resources of the first processing system;

wherein the power control module is configured to, in response to the first indication, set a power mode of each of the second plurality of system resources based on the first power profile.

20. The information handling system of claim 17, wherein the power control module is configured to select the first power profile based on a state of the first processing system and a state of the second processing system.