Method for realizing low-power-consumption mode of domestic portable equipment by powering off dGPU (Digital Graphics Processing Unit)

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for realizing a low-power-consumption mode of domestic portable equipment by powering off a dGPU (Digital Graphics Processing Unit), and belongs to the technical field of domestic portable equipment. According to the method, through cooperative operation of an operating system kernel layer of the portable equipment and EC firmware, when a user selects an extreme energy-saving mode or a system detects that the load of a dGPU working for a long time is smaller than 2%, an instruction is sent to EC through a serial port, the EC controls a power switch circuit and a video switching circuit of the dGPU, and the dGPU works for a long time. Therefore, all power supply rails (such as core voltage, video memory voltage and the like) leading to the dGPU are physically cut off, so that the power consumption of the dGPU is reduced to true zero, and the extreme energy conservation is realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of domestic portable device technology, specifically relating to a method for achieving a low-power mode for domestic portable devices by powering off the dGPU. Background Technology

[0002] With the improvement of the performance of domestically produced portable devices, dGPUs (discrete graphics cards) have become standard configurations in high-performance laptops and portable workstations. dGPUs primarily handle high-performance rendering, high frame rates, and high image quality. However, users don't need the performance of dGPUs in all office scenarios. For example, in situations like word processing or web browsing where image rendering requirements are not high, integrated GPUs (integrated graphics cards) can meet the needs without the need for dGPUs. Furthermore, dGPUs consume significantly more power than integrated GPUs. This severely impacts the battery life of portable devices in mobile usage scenarios.

[0003] Currently, mainstream Intel and AMD platforms use dGPU power management technologies (such as NVIDIA's Optimus and AMD's Switchable Graphics) that are based on software drivers. These drivers command the dGPU to enter a low-power state (such as ACPI's D3 state), but do not completely cut off its power supply. In this state, the graphics card's memory and some core circuits still need to be powered, resulting in a standby power consumption of 1-3W or even higher for the dGPU. Furthermore, domestically produced hardware and software platform architectures are diverse, and their power management mechanisms differ from those of the general x86 platform. Directly applying traditional solutions may face compatibility and stability challenges.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a low-power solution that is deeply optimized for domestic platforms, which can achieve more thorough energy saving, improve the user experience and market competitiveness of domestic portable devices, and maximize the battery life of domestic portable devices during mobile office work. Summary of the Invention

[0005] (a) Technical problems to be solved The technical problem to be solved by this invention is: 1. Solve the problem of reduced battery life in existing domestic portable devices due to power consumption caused by dGPU standby during use; 2. Solve the problem that the power consumption of DGPU in domestically produced portable devices on the market cannot be reduced to zero in certain scenarios.

[0006] (II) Technical Solution To address the aforementioned technical problems, this invention provides a system for achieving a low-power mode in domestically produced portable devices by powering off the dGPU. This system is integrated onto the motherboard of the portable device and includes: dGPU: Target hardware that needs to be power managed; CPU: The CPU integrates an iGPU, which is responsible for taking over all graphics display tasks after the dGPU is powered off; Power switch circuit: Located between the power supply circuit of the portable device's motherboard and the dGPU; this power switch circuit is a controlled power control chip used to switch on and off all power to the dGPU. The power switch circuit is used to switch the power supply to the dGPU on and off, including VDDQ, +3.3V, +1.8V, and Vcore; Main control unit: connected to the power switch circuit, used to send control signals to the power switch circuit to turn on or off power; this main control unit is the embedded controller EC of the portable device.

[0007] The present invention also provides a method for implementing a low-power mode for domestically produced portable devices based on the aforementioned system.

[0008] (III) Beneficial Effects This invention provides a smart power-off method for dGPU in domestically produced portable devices. This method, through the collaborative operation of the portable device's operating system kernel layer and EC firmware (Embedded Controller Firmware), sends a command to the EC via serial port when the user selects "extreme power-saving mode" or when the system detects that the load on the dGPU, which has been operating for an extended period, is less than 2%. The EC then controls the dGPU's power switching circuit and video switching circuit, thereby physically cutting off all power rails (such as core voltage and memory voltage) to the dGPU, reducing its power consumption to a true zero, thus achieving extreme energy saving. Attached Figure Description

[0009] Figure 1 This is a hardware structure block diagram of the system of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a flowchart of the dGPU power-off and recovery process of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the dGPU power supply hardware implementation of the present invention. Figure 4 This is a circuit diagram of the display switching circuit of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0010] To make the objectives, contents, and advantages of the present invention clearer, the specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

[0011] This invention provides a smart power-off method for dGPU in domestically produced portable devices. This method, through the collaborative operation of the portable device's operating system kernel layer and EC firmware (Embedded Controller Firmware), sends a command to the EC via serial port when the user selects "extreme power-saving mode" or when the system detects that the load on the dGPU, which has been operating for an extended period, is less than 2%. The EC then controls the dGPU's power switching circuit and video switching circuit, thereby physically cutting off all power rails (such as core voltage and memory voltage) to the dGPU, reducing its power consumption to a true zero, thus achieving extreme energy saving.

[0012] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: I. System Composition The system of this invention is integrated onto the motherboard of a portable device and mainly includes: 1.dGPU: Target hardware that needs to be powered.

[0013] 2. CPU: The CPU integrates an iGPU, which is responsible for taking over all graphics display tasks after the dGPU is powered off; 3. Power Switch Circuit: Located between the power supply circuit of the portable device's motherboard and the dGPU. This power switch circuit is a controlled power control chip used to switch on and off all power supplies to the dGPU, including VDDQ, +3.3V, +1.8V, and Vcore. 4. Main Control Unit: Connected to the power switch circuit, it sends control signals to the power switch circuit to turn it on or off. This main control unit is an embedded controller (EC, built into the motherboard) of the portable device. Because it is independent of the main operating system, it has a fast response and extremely low power consumption. 5. Detection and Switching Logic Module (Software / Firmware): Integrated into the driver layer and EC of the portable device's operating system, it is used to monitor system load and user settings, and to decide when to trigger the power-off or power-on process.

[0014] II. Method and Flow The method described in this invention includes the following steps: 1. Power outage triggering and execution process: a) Determine if the conditions for triggering a power-off are met. A power-off assessment is triggered when the user-preset power mode (such as "Extreme Energy Saving Mode" or "Power Saving Mode"), or when the dGPU load remains ≤1% for a preset time (such as 5 consecutive minutes) and no high-performance applications (whitelisted in the system that use dGPU, such as games or 3D rendering software) request power-off. If yes, proceed to the next step; otherwise, reassess. b) Preparation for switching: The graphics driver of the portable device's operating system notifies all processes to hand over the graphics processing task to the iGPU; at the same time, the CPU sends a serial port command to the EC, and the EC controls the power switch circuit to switch the display signal to the iGPU signal. c) Initiate a power-off request. The CPU sends a "Request dGPU power-off" command to the EC via the serial port. d) Perform a physical power-off. After receiving the instruction, the EC sends a control signal to the power switch circuit (such as setting the enable pin of the dGPU power supply chip to a low level) to disconnect all power supplies to the dGPU. e) Status Confirmation and Recording: The EC detects the feedback signal of the power switch circuit (such as whether the power_good signal of the dGPU power supply chip has become low level). After confirming that the power supply to the dGPU has been completely cut off, the operating system enters the ultimate power saving mode.

[0015] 2. Power restoration procedure: a) Determine if the recovery conditions are met; when the user starts an application that requires a high-performance graphics card (the system is set to use the dGPU whitelist, such as games or 3D rendering software), or manually switches from extreme power saving mode to high performance mode, or when a charger is plugged in, the system sends a request to the graphics driver to use the dGPU. b) Initiate a power-on request; the driver detects the request and sends a "Request dGPU power-on" command to the EC via the serial port; c) Perform physical power-on; EC sends a control signal to the power switch circuit (such as setting the enable pin of the graphics card power supply chip to a high level) to restore all power to the dGPU; d) Hardware initialization; After the dGPU is powered on, the EC sends a PCIe reset request, and the CPU enumerates PCIe devices (including dGPU and iGPU) through the PCIe bus; then it begins to load and initialize the dGPU, restoring its working state; e) Switch graphics output; After the driver completes initialization, it sends an initialization completion signal to the EC via the serial port, requesting a switch to dGPU display. Upon receiving the instruction, the EC switches the current display signal back to dGPU display; the operating system resumes normal high-performance mode.

[0016] In summary, this invention provides an efficient, reliable, and practical power consumption control solution for portable device dGPUs, which has significant industrial application value. This method has the following characteristics: 1. Extreme Energy Saving: By physically shutting down the power, the standby power consumption and leakage power consumption of the dGPU in any state are completely eliminated, reducing the relevant power consumption to 0W, significantly improving the battery life of portable devices when used on the go.

[0017] 2. Enhanced user experience: Users can automatically enjoy longer battery life without having to manually disable the graphics card in Device Manager, achieving a seamless and automatic switch between performance and battery life.

[0018] 3. Revolutionary improvement in battery life: Physical power-off reduces graphics card power consumption to zero, greatly extending the battery life of domestic laptops in mobile office scenarios and enhancing product competitiveness.

[0019] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A system for achieving low power mode for a domestic portable device by powering off a dGPU, characterized in that, The system is integrated onto the motherboard of the portable device and includes: dGPU: Target hardware that needs to be power managed; CPU: The CPU integrates an iGPU, which is responsible for taking over all graphics display tasks after the dGPU is powered off; Power switch circuit: Located between the power supply circuit of the portable device's motherboard and the dGPU; this power switch circuit is a controlled power control chip used to switch on and off all power to the dGPU. The power switch circuit is used to switch the power supply to the dGPU on and off, including VDDQ, +3.3V, +1.8V, and Vcore; Main control unit: connected to the power switch circuit, used to send control signals to the power switch circuit to turn on or off power; this main control unit is the embedded controller EC of the portable device.

2. The system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The system also includes a detection and switching logic module: integrated into the driver layer and EC of the portable device's operating system, used to monitor the operating system load, user settings, and decide when to trigger a power-off or power-on process.

3. The system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, EC is an operating system independent of portable devices.

4. A method for implementing a low-power mode for domestically produced portable devices based on the system described in any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The method as described in claim 4, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: 1) Power outage triggering and process: a) Determine if the conditions for triggering a power outage are met; if yes, proceed to the next step; otherwise, re-evaluate. b) Preparation for switching: The graphics driver of the portable device's operating system notifies all processes to hand over the graphics processing task to the iGPU; at the same time, the CPU sends a serial port command to the EC, and the EC controls the power switch circuit to switch the display signal to the iGPU signal. c) Initiate a power-down request: The CPU sends a "Request dGPU power-down" command to the EC via the serial port; d) Perform physical power cut: After receiving the instruction, the EC sends a control signal to the power switch circuit to disconnect all power to the dGPU; e) Status confirmation and recording: After the EC detects the feedback signal of the power switch circuit and confirms that the power supply to the dGPU has been completely cut off, the operating system enters the ultimate power saving mode. 2). Power restoration procedure: a') Determine if the recovery conditions are met; if yes, send a request to the graphics driver to use the dGPU; otherwise, re-determine. b') Initiate a power-on request; the graphics driver detects the request and sends a "Request dGPU power-on" command to the EC via the serial port; c') Perform physical energization; EC sends a control signal to the power switching circuit to restore all power to the dGPU; d') Hardware initialization; After the dGPU is powered on, the EC sends a PCIe reset request, and the CPU enumerates PCIe devices through the PCIe bus; then it begins to load and initialize the dGPU, restoring its working state; e') Switch graphics output; After the graphics driver completes initialization, it sends an initialization completion signal to the EC via serial port, requesting a command to switch to dGPU display. Upon receiving the command, the EC switches the current display signal back to dGPU display, and the operating system resumes normal high-performance mode.

6. The method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The power-off condition is considered met when the user-preset power mode is selected, or when the dGPU load is consistently ≤1% for a preset time period and there are no preset high-performance application requests.

7. The method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The request is sent to the graphics driver when the user launches an application that requires the dGPU, switches from power-saving mode to a higher-performance mode, or when a charger is plugged in.

8. The method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, In step d), after receiving the instruction, the EC sends a control signal to the power switch circuit to set the enable pin of the dGPU power supply chip to a low level.

9. The method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, In step e), when the feedback signal from the power switch circuit detected by the EC indicates that the power_good signal of the dGPU power supply chip has gone low, it is confirmed that the power supply to the dGPU has been completely cut off.

10. The method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, In step c'), EC sends a control signal to the power switch circuit, causing the enable pin of the graphics card power supply chip to be set to a high level.

Images