Virtual Machine Hardware Power Management Through a Privileged Guest

The patent introduces a privileged guest operating system as an intermediary between the virtual machine and the host system's power management hooks. This privileged guest acts as a trusted mediator that can safely access and control power management functions without requiring the host OS to expose its interfaces directly to the untrusted virtual machine, thereby resolving the security concern while enabling power management control.

The patent segments the power management control path by creating a dedicated privileged guest environment that has direct access to power management hooks, separating it from the traditional ACPI stack path. This segmentation allows power management operations to bypass the slower host OS ACPI processing layer, reducing latency while maintaining control.

The privileged guest operating system serves as a secure intermediary that mediates all power management requests from the virtual machine. It validates and filters these requests before executing them, preventing malicious exploitation while still allowing legitimate power mode control. The privileged guest maintains security boundaries while enabling the desired adaptability.

The patent segments the system into a privileged guest environment that handles power management operations directly, separating this efficiency-critical function from the security-managed host OS path. This segmentation allows power management to execute more efficiently in the privileged guest while the host OS maintains overall system security through its normal protective mechanisms.