Computing system voltage control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9323300-B2
Application number	US-201213686367-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 27, 2012
Priority date	Nov 27, 2012
Publication date	Apr 26, 2016
Grant date	Apr 26, 2016

Abstract

An indication of a first performance state is received, the first performance state being associated with a first voltage. The first performance state applies to at least one computing system component and the indication is received by a computing system component distinct from the requesting computing system component. An indication of a second performance state is received. The second performance state is associated with a second voltage that is different from the first voltage. It is determined whether the second performance state is within a range defined by a minimum and maximum performance state. Responsive to a determination that the second performance state is within the minimum and maximum performance state, the voltage of the at least one computing system component is set equal to the voltage associated with the second performance state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer program product comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising computer usable program code to:
receive, from a first component, an indication of a first frequency/voltage pair;
set an operating frequency of a second component equal to the frequency of the first frequency/voltage pair;
receive, from a third component, an indication of a voltage offset;
determine a target voltage based, at least in part, on the voltage offset and the voltage of the first frequency/voltage pair, wherein the target voltage is different from the voltage of the first frequency/voltage pair;
determine whether the target voltage is less than a minimum voltage;
responsive to a determination that the target voltage is less than the minimum voltage, set an operating voltage of the second component equal to the minimum voltage without modifying the operating frequency of the second component;
responsive to a determination that the target voltage is not less than the minimum voltage, set the operating voltage of the second component equal to the target voltage without modifying the operating frequency of the second component;
wherein the indication of the first frequency/voltage pair is specified as a first performance state, wherein the voltage offset specifies a second performance state relative to the first performance state, and wherein the target voltage is a voltage associated with the second performance state.

2. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer usable program code further comprises computer usable program code to:
determine whether the target voltage is greater than a maximum voltage;
responsive to a determination that the target voltage is not greater than the maximum voltage, set the operating voltage of the second component equal to the target voltage without modifying the operating frequency of the second component; and
responsive to a determination that the target voltage is greater than the maximum voltage, set the operating voltage of the second component equal to the maximum voltage without modifying the operating frequency of the second component.

3. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the first component is one of a hypervisor, an operating system, an application, or a performance management unit.

4. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer usable program code to set the operating voltage of the second component equal to the target voltage comprises computer usable program code to:
send an indication of the target voltage to the second component.

5. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer usable program code further comprises computer usable program code to:
determine whether voltage control should be enabled based, at least in part, on one or more operating conditions of the second component;
wherein said computer usable program code to set the operating voltage of the second component equal to the target voltage comprises computer usable program code to set the operating voltage of the second component equal to the target voltage responsive to a determination that voltage control should be enabled.

6. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the second component is one of a processor, a processor core, or a computing system device.

7. An apparatus comprising:
memory;
a processor coupled with the memory; and
a first voltage/frequency controller configured to:
receive, from a first component, an indication of a first frequency/voltage pair;
set an operating frequency of the processor equal to the frequency of the first frequency/voltage pair,
determine a first voltage offset,
determine a first target voltage based, at least in part, on the first voltage offset and the voltage of the first frequency/voltage pair, wherein the first target voltage is different from the voltage of the first frequency/voltage pair,
determine whether the first target voltage is less than a first minimum voltage,
responsive to a determination that the first target voltage is less than the first minimum voltage, set an operating voltage of the processor equal to the first minimum voltage without modifying the operating frequency of the processor, and
responsive to a determination that the first target voltage is not less than the first minimum voltage, set the operating voltage of the processor equal to the first target voltage without modifying the operating frequency of the processor,
wherein the indication of the first frequency/voltage pair is specified as a first performance state, wherein the first voltage offset specifies a second performance state relative to the first performance state, and wherein the first target voltage is a voltage associated with the second performance state.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the first component is one of a hypervisor, an operating system, an application, or a performance management unit.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor comprises the first voltage/frequency controller.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the first voltage/frequency controller is further configured to:
determine whether the first target voltage is greater than a maximum voltage;
responsive to a determination that the first target voltage is not greater than the maximum voltage, set the operating voltage of the processor equal to the first target voltage without modifying the operating frequency of the processor; and
responsive to a determination that the first target voltage is greater than the maximum voltage, set the operating voltage of the processor equal to the maximum voltage without modifying the operating frequency of the processor.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor comprises:
a plurality of processor cores, wherein each processor core of the plurality of processor cores comprises:
a second voltage/frequency controller configured to:
receive, from the first component, an indication of a second frequency/voltage pair;
set an operating frequency of the respective processor core to the frequency of the second frequency/voltage pair;
determine a second voltage offset;
determine a second target voltage based, at least in part, on the second voltage offset and the voltage of the second frequency/voltage pair, wherein the second target voltage is different from the voltage of the second frequency/voltage pair;
determine whether the second target voltage is less than the first minimum voltage;
responsive to a determination that the second target voltage is less than the first minimum voltage, set the operating voltage of the respective processor core equal to the first minimum voltage without modifying the operating frequency of the respective processor core; and
responsive to a determination that the second target voltage is not less than the first minimum voltage, set the operating voltage of the respective processor core equal to the second target voltage without modifying the operating frequency of the respective processor core.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the second voltage/frequency controller is further configured to:
determine a greatest of the second target voltage, the first minimum voltage, and a second minimum voltage, wherein the second minimum voltage is associated with the respective processor core;
responsive to a determination that the second minimum voltage is the greatest, set the operating voltage of the respective processor core equal to the second minimum voltage;
wherein said setting the operatin

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Brock Bishop
• Gloekler Tilman
• Hallett Timothy G
• Lefurgy Charles R
• Rajamani Karthick
• Silva Guillermo J
• Still Gregory S
• Allen-Ware Malcolm S

Classifications

• Y02B60/1285

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• G06F1/26 Primary

  Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof (for memories G11C) · CPC title

• G06F1/3296

  by lowering the supply or operating voltage · CPC title

• Y02D10/00

  Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management · CPC title