Embedded Controller Power State Failure Diagnosis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing information handling systems lack effective mechanisms to track and remediate power state change failures, particularly during transitions in and out of modern standby (MODS) modes, leading to inefficiencies and user experience issues.
Innovation Solution
An embedded controller is integrated into the information handling system to track and store context data associated with power state transitions, including software deepest runtime identification platform states. This controller determines problematic device drivers that prevent system exit from standby modes and provides identifiers for corrective actions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the system enters modern standby mode to save energy, then power consumption is reduced, but the system may fail to exit standby mode due to device driver issues
Solution Approach 1:
The embedded controller stores context data including software deepest runtime identification platform states before the system enters standby mode. This preliminary action captures the state of device drivers and other system components, enabling post-failure analysis without requiring additional hardware or complex diagnostic procedures after the failure occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the embedded controller monitors power state transitions, stores context data about the system state, and provides diagnostic information back to identify which device driver prevented successful exit from standby mode. This feedback loop enables targeted remediation of the specific driver causing the failure.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If the system tracks detailed power state changes to improve diagnosis, then diagnostic capability is enhanced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The embedded controller serves as an intermediary component that bridges the host operating system and the detailed power state context data. Rather than having the host OS directly manage complex tracking of all power state changes, the embedded controller intercepts and stores relevant context data, simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining comprehensive diagnostic capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the essential context data needed for diagnosis (software deepest runtime identification platform states, device driver information) from the complex power state transition process. This selective extraction focuses diagnostic capabilities on the most relevant information without requiring the system to track and manage all possible power state parameters.
3Measurement precision
If the system stores context data for each power state transition to identify failures, then failure identification accuracy is improved, but memory usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The embedded controller stores context data with granular detail focused specifically on the power state transition being monitored. Rather than maintaining comprehensive system state information for all possible scenarios, the system captures localized context data relevant to each specific power state transition, including only the software deepest runtime identification platform states necessary for identifying the failing device driver.
Data Source
AI summary
An information handling system includes a storage and an embedded controller. The storage stores context data associated with a standby mode for the information handling system. The embedded controller receives the context data from a host operating system of the information handling system. The context data includes data associated with a software deepest runtime identification platform state. The embedded controller further stores the context data in the storage. In response to a restart of the information handling system, the embedded controller determines a device driver that prevented the information handling system from exiting the standby mode based on the context data, and provides an identifier of the device driver a software service of the host operating system.