Processor Core State Transition for Hot-Unplug Latency Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing techniques for reducing processor power consumption, such as dynamic voltage and frequency scaling and hot plugging, face challenges in latency time due to the need for transitioning cores to offline states, which involves cleanup operations and delays.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device and method that transition a core from an online state to a power save state instead of an offline state, using the ACPI specification, reducing the need for cleanup operations and thus minimizing latency time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a core is transitioned to an offline state to reduce power consumption, then power consumption is reduced, but latency time increases due to cleanup operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the state parameter of the core from transitioning to an offline state to transitioning to an idle state with restricted usage. This parameter change avoids the cleanup operations required for offline state transitions, thereby reducing latency time while still achieving power consumption reduction through the restricted usage state.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a core is transitioned to an offline state to place restrictions on processor usage, then processor usage is restricted, but the transition process requires cleanup operations that increase latency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the state parameter from offline state to idle state with usage restriction. This allows the core to be restricted from executing new tasks while avoiding the full cleanup sequence required for offline transitions, thus reducing transition time while maintaining usage restriction capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of performing the complete cleanup operation required for offline state transitions, the patent applies a partial action by transitioning to an idle state with restriction. This partial approach achieves the necessary usage restriction without the excessive time cost of full cleanup operations.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device capable of placing restrictions on processor usage is disclosed. The electronic device may include: a memory; and a processor including a first core and a second core. The memory may store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the first core to transition from an active state to an idle state in response to a restriction signal for the first core, and cause the first core to transition to a power save state when the first core remains in the idle state for at least a preset time. For hot-unplugging, as the electronic device does not transition a core to an offline state, it does not have to perform cleanup operation on the memory and variables. Hence, it is possible to reduce the latency time due to hot-unplugging.