Maintenance Window Control for AC Power Savings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing computing systems face challenges in reducing energy consumption during idle periods, particularly when connected to AC power, due to unbounded and unaligned maintenance activities which lead to increased power usage.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system-controlled and tunable maintenance window for software administrative tasks, where maintenance activities are restricted until a notification is broadcast, allowing the system to limit power usage during idle periods and align maintenance with AC power availability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If maintenance activities are performed continuously without restriction, then system reliability is improved through regular software updates and administrative tasks, but AC power consumption increases during idle periods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic maintenance windows during which maintenance activities are permitted to execute. These windows are scheduled in advance and allow batch processing of administrative tasks, file system maintenance, and software updates only during specific time intervals, thereby enabling the system to enter low-power states during non-maintenance periods while still ensuring regular maintenance occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary scheduling of maintenance windows in advance, allowing the operating system and applications to prepare for upcoming maintenance periods. This enables maintenance activities to be batched and executed during predetermined intervals rather than continuously, allowing the system to optimize power consumption between these scheduled maintenance events.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the system enters low-power states during idle periods, then energy efficiency is improved, but maintenance activities cannot be performed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes periodic maintenance windows that guarantee maintenance activities occur at scheduled intervals. During these windows, the system transitions from low-power states to active states to perform necessary maintenance tasks, ensuring that energy efficiency during idle periods does not compromise the system's ability to perform maintenance when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the operating system and applications register for notifications about upcoming maintenance windows. This allows the system to coordinate maintenance activities with actual system state and power availability, ensuring maintenance is performed when both power and system resources are available while maintaining overall energy efficiency.
3Use of energy by moving object
If maintenance activities are aligned with AC power availability, then power consumption is optimized, but system complexity increases due to scheduling and notification mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal maintenance window notification interface that serves multiple functions: scheduling maintenance activities, notifying operating systems and applications, coordinating power state transitions, and managing registration of maintenance-requiring components. This multi-functional approach consolidates what could be separate complex systems into a single integrated mechanism, reducing overall system complexity while achieving power-optimized maintenance scheduling.
Data Source
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AI summary
A power delivery system of a computing system that is on alternating current (AC) power limits software administrative tasks to a system-controlled and tunable broadcast window. This window limitation allows a computing system to enter and stay in low-power states without variable disturbances from administrative functions that can be relegated to the window. For example, maintenance is restricted until the computing system broadcasts a notification. Legacy software and devices that do not understand these notifications can be told the AC power is not present nominally, and then be notified of AC power presence during maintenance intervals.