Information processing apparatus having electronic device whose operating speed is controlled, and method of controlling the operating speed of the electronic device

Abstract

A power supply circuit generates a power supply voltage. The power supply voltage is applied to an electronic device. A voltage monitoring unit monitors a power supply voltage that is applied to the electronic device, and makes a request to a bus control unit to switch the operating speed of the electronic device in accordance with the power supply voltage such that the operating speed of the electronic device becomes lower as the power supply voltage drops. The bus control nit switches the transfer speed of a bus at the request of the voltage monitoring unit to switch the operating speed of the electronic device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

A general architecture that implements various features of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and their associated descriptions are provided to illustrate the embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary system configuration of a battery-operated notebook personal computer according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a CPU, a PCI device and a power supply circuit shown in FIG. 1 together with their peripheral circuit;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary waveform chart of a power supply voltage, illustrating a change in transfer speed made by the PCI device in the embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is an exemplary waveform chart of a power supply voltage, illustrating a change in transfer speed made by the PCI device in a modification to the embodiment of the invention.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a power supply circuit which generates a power supply voltage;an electronic device to which the power supply voltage generated by the power supply circuit is applied;a voltage monitoring unit configured to monitor the power supply voltage applied to the electronic device and make a request to switch an operating speed of the electronic device to a lower operating speed as the power supply voltage is low; andan operating-speed control unit configured to switch the operating speed of the electronic device at the request of the voltage monitoring unit.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device includes the voltage monitoring unit and the operating-speed control unit.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the voltage monitoring unit requests the operating-speed control unit to switch the operating speed of the electronic device from a first operating speed to a second operating speed that is lower than the first operating speed upon detecting that the power supply voltage drops below a first reference voltage, and requests the operating-speed control unit to switch the operating speed of the electronic device from the second operating speed to the first operating speed upon detecting that the power supply voltage rises over a second reference voltage that is higher than the first reference voltage.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a power management controller configured to make a request to the power supply circuit to switch the power supply voltage, wherein the power supply circuit switches the power supply voltage at the request of the power management controller.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the power supply circuit switches the power supply voltage from a first voltage that is higher than the second reference voltage to a second voltage that is lower than the first reference voltage when the request of the power management controller is a first request, and switches the power supply voltage from the second voltage to the first voltage when the request of the power management controller is a second request.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a battery which applies a first DC voltage to the power supply circuit; andan adapter configured to generate a second DC voltage from an AC power supply and apply the second DC voltage to the power supply circuit,wherein:the power supply circuit generates the power supply voltage from the second DC voltage under normal conditions, and generates the power supply voltage from the first DC voltage when the AC power supply is shut off; andthe power management controller makes the first request to the power supply circuit when the AC power supply is shut off, and makes the second request to the power supply circuit when the AC power supply is restored from the shutoff.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a battery which applies a first DC voltage to the power supply circuit; andan adapter configured to generate a second DC voltage that is higher than the first DC voltage, from an AC power supply and apply the second DC voltage to the power supply circuit,wherein the power supply circuit generates the power supply voltage corresponding to the second DC voltage, from the second DC voltage under normal conditions, and generates the power supply voltage corresponding to the first DC voltage, from the first DC voltage when the AC power supply is shut off.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the electronic device is connected to a bus; andthe operating-speed control unit is a bus control unit configured to switch the operating speed by switching a transfer speed of the bus.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the electronic device is a processor; andthe operating-speed control unit is a core frequency switching unit configured to switch the operating speed by switching a core frequency of the processor.

10. A method of controlling an operating speed of an electronic device included in an information processing apparatus, a power supply voltage that is generated by a power supply circuit being applied to the electronic device, the method comprising: monitoring the power supply voltage that is applied to the electronic device; andswitching the operating speed of the electronic device such that the operating speed becomes lower as the power supply voltage drops, in accordance with a result of monitoring of the power supply voltage.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: the monitoring includes detecting a first state in which the power supply voltage drops below a first reference voltage and a second state in which the power supply voltage rises over a second reference voltage, the second reference voltage being higher than the first reference voltage; andthe switching includes switching the operating speed from a first operating speed to a second operating speed that is lower than the first operating speed in accordance with a detection of the first state and switching the operating speed from the second operating speed to the first operating speed in accordance with a detection of the second state.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein: the electronic device is connected to a bus; andthe operating speed is switched by switching a transfer speed of the bus.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein: the electronic device is a processor; andthe operating speed is switched by switching a core frequency of the processor.