Processor Sleep State Management via Hardware Trigger Sets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional portable computing devices face significant lag and power savings delays when processors enter low power sleep states due to the need for software handshakes to coordinate shared resource states across multiple subsystems, which are slow and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that maintain sleep and active resource states in memory, allowing a controller to switch processor states without software handshakes by using trigger sets and a system power manager to determine shutdown conditions and select appropriate resource sets based on detected events.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If software handshakes are used to coordinate shared resource states before entering sleep state, then resource coordination reliability is improved, but entry speed into sleep state deteriorates and power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces software-based handshake mechanisms with a hardware-based event-driven system. Event sets and trigger sets are maintained in hardware memory, allowing the system to detect shutdown conditions and switch resource states through hardware logic rather than software processing. This substitution eliminates the time-consuming software instruction execution and context switching, achieving rapid state transitions while maintaining coordination reliability through deterministic hardware behavior.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent pre-configures event sets and trigger sets in memory before shutdown conditions occur. The system maintains multiple event sets corresponding to different operational states, with each set containing pre-defined trigger conditions. When a shutdown condition is detected, the system can immediately switch to the appropriate pre-configured state without performing real-time analysis or software handshaking, thus achieving rapid entry into sleep states.
2Reliability
If software handshakes are used to coordinate shared resource states, then resource state coordination is improved, but power consumption during shutdown increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces power-intensive software execution with low-power hardware logic operations. The event-driven system uses hardware memory to store event sets and trigger sets, and hardware logic to detect shutdown conditions and switch resource states. This eliminates the need to keep processor cores active for software handshake completion, dramatically reducing power consumption during the shutdown transition to sleep states.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-configures resource state transitions in hardware memory, allowing immediate switching upon detecting shutdown conditions without activating full processor functionality. This preliminary configuration enables the system to bypass power-intensive software processing and directly transition to low-power states, minimizing energy consumption during shutdown.
3Measurement precision
If processor cores remain active to complete software handshakes, then coordination accuracy is improved, but power savings are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces software-based coordination with hardware-based event detection and state switching. The hardware logic continuously monitors for shutdown conditions and automatically triggers state transitions, eliminating the need to keep processor cores active. This hardware automation maintains coordination accuracy through deterministic state management while enabling immediate power savings upon condition detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service through automatic state transitions triggered by hardware detection of shutdown conditions. The event-driven architecture autonomously manages resource state coordination without requiring active processor intervention, allowing the system to transition to sleep states immediately when conditions are met, thus maximizing power savings while maintaining coordination integrity.
4Reliability
If multiple software communications are used to enter sleep state, then resource state coordination is improved, but entry speed into sleep state deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces multiple software communication steps with a single hardware-based event detection and state switching operation. The hardware logic monitors for shutdown conditions and directly triggers state transitions, eliminating the need for sequential software handshakes between multiple subsystems. This substitution reduces the entry process to a single atomic operation, dramatically improving speed while maintaining coordination reliability through hardware-enforced state consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-configures event sets and trigger sets that encapsulate all necessary coordination logic before shutdown conditions occur. When a shutdown condition is detected, the pre-configured hardware logic immediately executes the appropriate state transition, bypassing the need for multiple sequential software communications. This preliminary configuration enables single-step state changes while maintaining comprehensive resource coordination.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for managing sleep states of a portable computing device are described. They include maintaining a sleep set of resource states and an active set of resource states in memory. A request may be issued for a processor to enter into a sleep state. This causes a controller to review a trigger set to determine if a shut down condition for the processor matches one or more conditions listed in the trigger set. Each trigger set may comprise a “trigger event” that may allow a controller to select a specific resource set which is desired by a particular processor based on a trigger event detected by a system power manager. If a trigger set matches a shut down condition, then switching states of one or more resources in accordance with the sleep set may be made by the controller without using a software handshake.