S3 Plus State Mechanism for Faster Suspend Resume
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current suspend/resume operations in computing systems, particularly in the S3 power state, suffer from significant latencies and delays due to the need for CPU context reinitialization upon resuming, which consumes time and energy, especially as they rely on slow BIOS flash processes.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a novel S3 Plus (S3P) state that preserves the CPU context in local memory, allowing direct restoration from RAM instead of rebuilding it through BIOS and OS flows, thereby skipping conventional BIOS-related processes and initiating the resume operation from RAM.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If conventional S3 power state is used with BIOS flash process, then system can enter low power state, but resume operation is slow due to CPU context reinitialization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by preserving CPU context in RAM before suspend occurs, so that when resume is needed, the context is already available for immediate restoration without requiring slow reinitialization processes
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the CPU context in RAM during suspend, allowing the system to restore from this copy rather than rebuilding the context from scratch through BIOS flash, significantly reducing resume time
2Speed
If CPU context is preserved in local memory for S3P state, then resume operation speed is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the existing RAM serve multiple functions: it serves as both the system memory for normal operation and as the context storage medium for S3P state, eliminating the need for separate dedicated hardware and reducing overall system complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A mechanism is described for facilitating faster suspend/resume operations in computing systems according to one embodiment of the invention. A method of embodiments of the invention includes initiating an entrance process into a first sleep state in response to a sleep call at a computing system, transforming from the first sleep state to a second sleep state. The transforming may include preserving at least a portion of processor context at a local memory associated with one or more processor cores of a processor at the computing system. The method may further include entering the second sleep state.