Low Power Firmware Environment for Independent Wake Event Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current power management technologies, such as ACPI, require computing devices to transition to a higher power state to handle wake events, which increases power consumption and reduces efficiency, whereas there is an opportunity for firmware to perform work independently of the operating system during low power consumption states like sleep mode.
Innovation Solution
The firmware environment is re-instantiated during sleep mode to handle wake events independently of the operating system, allowing it to perform power management functions and provision or update firmware modules without waking the entire device, thereby maintaining low power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the computing device transitions to a higher power state to handle wake events, then wake events can be processed, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments wake event handling into two paths: simple events handled by firmware in low power state, and complex events requiring OS involvement. This segmentation allows the device to remain in low power state for routine events while still providing full functionality for important events.
Solution Approach 2:
The firmware acts as an intermediary between wake events and the operating system. It receives wake events, determines whether they require full OS activation, and handles simple events independently, thereby mediating between event processing needs and power consumption constraints.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the operating system is required to provision firmware updates, then firmware can be updated, but the device must wake fully increasing power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
A firmware update agent in the low power firmware environment serves as an intermediary that receives update requests, validates update packages, and installs firmware updates without requiring full OS activation. This intermediary enables update functionality while maintaining low power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The firmware environment performs self-service by handling its own update provisioning independently of the operating system. The low power firmware can receive, validate, and install updates autonomously, eliminating the need for costly full system wake events for update management.
3Use of energy by moving object
If firmware performs work independently during sleep mode, then power consumption is reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The low power firmware environment is designed with multi-functionality, serving as a universal platform that can handle wake event processing, firmware update provisioning, and system state management. This universality reduces the need for separate dedicated systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The firmware environment performs preliminary actions by pre-processing wake events and determining OS involvement requirements before full system wake. It also performs preliminary validation of firmware updates before installation, reducing the need for complex post-processing operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods and apparatuses for re-instantiating a firmware environment that includes one or more firmware functions available at pre-boot time when transitioning the computing device from a first, higher power consumption state to a second, lower power consumption state. The firmware environment determines whether a cryptographic signature on a firmware volume is verified; whether hardware resources of the computing device requested by a manifest of the firmware volume are available; and whether a firmware module of the firmware volume is compatible with installed firmware of the firmware environment. If so, the firmware environment reserves space in a memory to accommodate resources used by the firmware module, and executes the firmware module with the computing device in the second, lower power consumption state.