Systems and methods for power optimization at input/output nodes of an information handling system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9864719-B2
Application number	US-201514645657-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 12, 2015
Priority date	Mar 12, 2015
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

In accordance with methods of the present disclosure, a system may include a switch and a management controller communicatively coupled to the switch. The switch may be configured to route input/output communications between a processor and a device. The management controller may be configured to, based on a measured bandwidth of communications of a communication link between the switch and the device, dynamically control at least one of a link width and a per-lane link speed of the communication link.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a switch configured to route input/output communications between a processor and a device; and
a management controller communicatively coupled to the switch configured to:
measure a measured bandwidth of a communication link between the switch and the device by determining an actual number of datagrams communicated over the communication link during a particular interval of time, wherein the particular interval of time is user-configurable and is an integer multiple of a polling interval of the communication link; and
based on the measured bandwidth, dynamically control at least one of a link width and a per-lane link speed of the communication link.

2. The system of claim 1 , the management controller further configured to dynamically control at least one of the link width and a per-lane link speed of the communication link based on the measured bandwidth and at least one of a minimum bandwidth and a maximum bandwidth for the communication link.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the minimum bandwidth and the maximum bandwidth are user-configurable.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the management controller is further configured to communicatively couple to a sideband interface of the device via a sideband interface physically separate from that of communication links between the switch and the device.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the management controller is further configured to, via the sideband interface, cause components of deactivated lanes of the device to sleep in a power saving mode.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the management controller is communicatively coupled to the switch via a sideband interface physically separate from that of any input/output communication channel between the processor and the device.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the management controller is further configured to, via the sideband interface:
monitor the measured bandwidth of the communication link; and
display information regarding the measured bandwidth of the communication link to a user.

8. A method comprising, in a system comprising a switch for routing communications between a processor and a device:
measuring bandwidth of input/output communications of a communication link between the switch and the device by determining an actual number of datagrams communicated over the communication link during a particular interval of time, wherein the particular interval of time is user-configurable and is an integer multiple of a polling interval of the communication link; and
based on the measured bandwidth, dynamically controlling at least one of a link width and a per-lane link speed of the communication link.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising dynamically controlling at least one of the link width and a per-lane link speed of the communication link based on the measured bandwidth and at least one of a minimum bandwidth and a maximum bandwidth for the communication link.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the minimum bandwidth and the maximum bandwidth are user-configurable.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising communicating to a sideband interface of the device via a sideband interface physically separate from that of communication links between the switch and the device.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising, via the sideband interface, causing components of deactivated lanes of the device to sleep in a power saving mode.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising measuring bandwidth and dynamically controlling the switch via a sideband interface of the switch physically separate from that of any input/output communication channel between the processor and the device.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising, via the sideband interface:
monitoring the measured bandwidth of the communication link; and
displaying information regarding the measured bandwidth of the communication link to a user.

15. An article of manufacture comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable medium; and
computer-executable instructions carried on the computer readable medium, the instructions readable by a controller, the instructions, when read and executed, for causing the controller to, in a system comprising a switch for routing communications between a processor and a device:
measure bandwidth of input/output communications of a communication link between the switch and the device by determining an actual number of datagrams communicated over the communication link during a particular interval of time, wherein the particular interval of time is user-configurable and is an integer multiple of a polling interval of the communication link; and
based on the measured bandwidth, dynamically control at least one of a link width and a per-lane link speed of the communication link.

16. The article of claim 15 , the instructions for further causing the controller to dynamically control at least one of the link width and a per-lane link speed of the communication link based on the measured bandwidth and at least one of a minimum bandwidth and a maximum bandwidth for the communication link.

17. The article of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the minimum bandwidth and the maximum bandwidth are user-configurable.

18. The article of claim 15 , the instructions for further causing the controller to communicate to a sideband interface of the device via a sideband interface physically separate from that of communication links between the switch and the device.

19. The article of claim 18 , the instructions for further causing the controller to, via the sideband interface, cause components of deactivated lanes of the device to sleep in a power saving mode.

20. The article of claim 15 , the instructions for further causing the controller to measure bandwidth and dynamically control the switch via a sideband interface of the switch physically separate from that of any input/output communication channel between the processor and the device.

21. The article of claim 20 , the instructions for further causing the controller to, via the sideband interface:
monitor the measured bandwidth of the communication link; and
display information regarding the measured bandwidth of the communication link to a user.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Jose Cyril
• Lambert Timothy M
• Kwahk Jonathan Adonis

Classifications

• G06F1/3296

  by lowering the supply or operating voltage · CPC title

• G06F13/4022

  using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network (G06F13/4009 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y02B60/1235

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• G06F13/4221 Primary

  being an input/output bus, e.g. ISA bus, EISA bus, PCI bus, SCSI bus · CPC title

• Y02B60/1228

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic