The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems (IHSs), and more particularly to IHS processor performance state optimization.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
IHSs are generally understood in the art to operate using a processor to process information. Current processor control algorithms have been found through experimentation when running bursty applications to give higher performance and lower power consumption when using minimum and maximum performance states and transitioning between the two. A processor may process information by running as fast as possible to get a piece of work done and then sleeping the system until the next piece of work arrives. Traditionally, processors begin running at a lowest performance state and let the voltage continue to slew to a voltage required by the intended performance state and then transition the operating frequency once this occurs. However, with a processor having many performance states, the processor spends a large amount of time at the lowest speed with much higher voltages than required for the given operating frequency. This results in a power penalty for the performance of the processor obtained at the low operating frequency.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved processor performance state optimization absent the deficiencies described above.
According to one embodiment, a system to change a performance state of a processor includes a processor and a step logic sub-system operatively coupled with the processor and is operable to communicate a performance state change request to the processor. A core voltage regulator is operatively coupled with the step logic sub-system. An end performance state sub-system to determine a desired end performance state is coupled with the step logic sub-system. And, an enable sub-state transition sub-system to enable sub-state transitions is coupled with the step logic sub-system.
For purposes of this disclosure, an IHS 100 includes any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an IHS 100 may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The IHS 100 may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, read only memory (ROM), and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the IHS 100 may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The IHS 100 may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.
Other resources can also be coupled to the system through the memory I/O hub 104 using a data bus, including an optical drive 114 or other removable-media drive, one or more hard disk drives 116, one or more network interfaces 118, one or more Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports 120, and a super I/O controller 122 to provide access to user input devices 124, etc. The IHS 100 may also include a solid state drive (SSDs) 126 in place of, or in addition to main memory 108, the optical drive 114, and/or a hard disk drive 116. It is understood that any or all of the drive devices 114, 116, and 126 may be located locally with the IHS 100, located remotely from the IHS 100, and/or they may be virtual with respect to the IHS 100.
Not all IHSs 100 include each of the components shown in
The advanced configuration and power interface (ACPI) performance states are commonly used as processor 102 and other device performance standards and are commonly understood by those having ordinary skill in the art. ACPI specification is an open industry standard that defines common interfaces for hardware recognition, motherboard and device configuration and power management. Using ACPI, an operating system (OS) for an IHS is generally in control of the power management of the IHS. As is also commonly understood by those having ordinary skill in the art, processor 102 power states are generally know as C0 (operating state), C1 (halt), C2 (stop-clock), and C3 (sleep). Performance states for the processor 102 and other devices are generally implementation-dependent, where P0 is the highest performance state, with P1 to Pn being successively lower-performance states. Power consumption in semiconductor type devices equals a switching function (Voltage2·frequency·capacitance·constant) plus a leakage function (Voltage2/Resistance). Therefore, it follows that changing both voltage and frequency of operation for the processor yields exponential changes in power consumption for the device (e.g., a processor 102). It is generally understood that there is a minimum operating frequency for the semiconductor device for a given voltage.
Referring to
In an embodiment, when transitioning up in voltage, the system 170, 180 would compare a present voltage to a voltage required for all supported performance states with higher voltage requirements than the present performance state. Then, the system 170, 180 would initiate a processor performance state change when the present voltage is greater than or equal to the next supported performance state voltage as defined on performance state table.
In an embodiment, when transitioning down in voltage, the system 170, 180 may transition by determining when present voltage is substantially equal to a present performance state minimum voltage plus a preset offset voltage and when so, initiating a transition to a next lower voltage performance state. The offset assures that transition occurs before voltage gets below a minimum for the present performance state. As such, this allows a voltage reduction to be continuous.
In an embodiment, when transitioning down in voltage, the system 170, 180 may transition by reducing voltage to a minimum for the present performance state and pause the voltage reduction. Then, the system 170, 180 may initiate a performance state change, wait for it to complete and reduce voltage to the minimum for the new performance state.
In an embodiment, a hardware change from present processor architecture supports transitions to intermediate performance states during ramping of voltage between performance states that have intermediate states. This allows the processor performance to adjust as the voltage slews and gains more performance relative to the higher power dissipation due to the higher voltage. A similar situation exists on transitions from higher performance states to lower ones.
In IHS operating systems software drivers generally perform performance state changes for the processors 102. However, most operating systems do not change faster than about every 50 msec. A slow part of the performance state transition is the voltage slew from one value to another value. To the contrary, frequency changes may take place in a few micro seconds to a few clock cycles. Therefore, it is generally desirable to slew the voltage first and then tell the controller to change the frequency. This can be performed in reverse when transitioning to a lower performance state. In an embodiment, the transition to intermediate performance states is performed by hardware, such as shown in
Although illustrative embodiments have been shown and described, a wide range of modification, change and substitution is contemplated in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances, some features of the embodiments may be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the embodiments disclosed herein.
The present application claims priority to and is a continuation of co-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/025,839, filed Feb. 5, 2008, and is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/178,111 filed Jul. 7, 2011, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12025839 | Feb 2008 | US |
Child | 13178154 | US |