Hard Drive Power Saving via OS Extraction and Deep Sleep
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional power saving methods for hard drives do not effectively reduce power consumption during idle periods, as controlling mechanisms like PCB boards or chips continue to consume significant power even in sleep mode.
Innovation Solution
A power saving method that loads an operating system into memory, calculates idle time, and completely cuts power to the hard drive when idle for a predetermined period, allowing for deep sleep mode without disrupting normal operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If conventional disk hibernation is used to stop spindle and platter rotation, then power consumption is reduced by at least half, but controlling elements like PCB board and chip continue to consume significant power (1.2 watts for 2TB hard drive)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the operating system from the hard drive's internal memory to an external storage medium, allowing the hard drive's controlling elements to be completely powered off. This separation enables the drive to enter a deeper sleep state where even the PCB and control chips consume minimal or no power, while the OS remains accessible from external storage when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the power state parameter of the controlling elements from a partial sleep mode (where they remain powered) to a complete power-off state. By implementing different power consumption levels (first level with partial power, second level with complete power cutoff), the system achieves significantly lower idle power consumption while maintaining the ability to restore functionality when needed.
2Use of energy by moving object
If power is completely cut to the hard drive for deep sleep mode, then power consumption is minimized, but the hard drive cannot respond to access requests
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-loading the operating system to external storage before the hard drive enters deep sleep mode. This preparation ensures that when the drive wakes up from complete power cutoff, the OS is already available in external memory, minimizing the time needed to restore full functionality and reducing the impact on response time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (external storage medium containing the OS) that bridges the gap between complete power cutoff and system responsiveness. This intermediary allows the hard drive to be fully powered down while still maintaining the capability to restore operations quickly, as the OS can be loaded from the external intermediary storage when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
At startup of an apparatus including a memory and an operating device, an operating system is loaded to the memory as an operating system. While an idle time of the operating device exceeds a predetermined time, the loaded operating system cuts power to the operating device so that the operating device can be completely shut down. As a result, power consumption of the operating device is significantly reduced.