Hardware Agent for Platform Agnostic Display Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional computing devices lack effective power management of displays during startup and firmware updates, leading to increased power consumption, battery depletion, and extended boot times, as the BIOS operates at maximum resource usage without OS control.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a hardware agent that offloads decision-making from the host CPU/OS to manage display panels dynamically, using environmental sensors and OS-initiated commands to reduce power and memory consumption, even when the OS is not in control, by controlling panel backlight and resolution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the BIOS operates at maximum resource usage to manage display during startup and firmware updates, then the display control functionality is ensured, but power consumption increases and battery life decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hardware agent as an intermediary component between the BIOS and the display panel. This agent, implemented as a separate microcontroller or logic unit, handles display control tasks during boot and firmware update operations, allowing the main CPU to enter low-power states while the hardware agent maintains display functionality with minimal power consumption.
2Reliability
If the BIOS operates at maximum resource usage to manage display during startup, then the display control functionality is ensured, but boot time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hardware agent is pre-configured with display control capabilities and can immediately接管 display management when the BIOS cedes control, without requiring the main CPU to remain active. This preliminary setup of the hardware agent enables seamless transition and reduces the time the system spends in high-power boot state.
3Use of energy by moving object
If the hardware agent dynamically manages display panels using environmental sensors, then power and memory usage are reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the display control functionality from the main system by implementing it in a dedicated hardware agent with its own microcontroller and memory space. This segmentation isolates the power-intensive display management tasks from the main CPU, allowing independent optimization and reducing overall system power consumption despite the added hardware component.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture to perform platform agnostic control of a display using a hardware agent are disclosed. An example apparatus includes memory; instructions in the apparatus; and hardware agent to execute the instructions to: obtain a battery level; and during a boot protocol: determine that the battery level is below a threshold; determine a panel brightness based on the battery level, the panel brightness being less than a maximum brightness of the panel; and transmit instructions to a driver corresponding to the panel to cause the panel to operate at the determined amount of brightness.