KR20060056643A - Method and apparatus for power management on computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for power management of a computer system is provided.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a power management method of a computer system may include selectively setting a power saving mode according to a computer usage environment and a power saving mode application time, and an interrupt signal related to the power saving mode according to whether a signal is input through an input unit. Determining whether the current CPU is operating in a low CPU clock mode according to the interrupt signal, and controlling a clock controller according to the determination result to switch the operation mode of the CPU to a low CPU clock mode. Doing; And counting the power saving mode application time using a timer unit, and maintaining the operation mode of the CPU in the low CPU clock mode according to the count result.

Central Processing Unit (CPU), clock, computer, power management

Description

Method and apparatus for power management of computer system

1 is a flowchart illustrating a power management method in a conventional computer system.

2 illustrates a structure of a power management device in a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a power management method of a computer system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

200: computer system

210: CPU

220: clock supply unit

230: clock control unit

240: input unit

250 bios

The present invention relates to power management, and more particularly, to a power management method and apparatus for a computer system.

Computer systems typically provide four power-saving modes: Doze Mode, Stand By Mode, Suspend Mode, and HDD Power Down.

The power saving mode of step 4 is as follows. First, the doze mode is a step of reducing power consumption by reducing the speed of the CPU, that is, the number of clocks supplied to the CPU, and allowing devices other than the CPU to operate as they are. Standby mode turns off hard disks and monitors, and the rest of the devices move at their original speed. The suspend mode is a step in which power consumption is reduced by automatically shutting down all devices except the CPU after a set time, for example, 1 minute to 1 hour. In contrast, HDD power down is a step in which the rotation of the disk of the hard disk is stopped to reduce power consumption.

On the other hand, the user can set whether to use the power management function in CMOS setup. Generally, three items are provided: Max Saving, Min Saving, and User Define. Here, Max Saving enters a power saving state in the following order: dose mode, standby mode, suspend mode, hard disk power down mode, and each step is performed at 1 minute intervals. Min Saving is an item in which power saving mode is set in every hour except for hard disks, and User Define is an item in which user can arbitrarily set the time to enter the power saving step. Operating system For example, to use the power saving management function provided by Windows, you have to select one of the above three items in the Power Management Setup of COMS Setup.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a process of executing a power management mode as described above. When the computer system is operating normally, the CPU operates by receiving a clock signal from the clock supply unit (S110). For example, if a CPU capable of operating at 1.8 GHz is used in a computer system, the CPU can be supplied with a clock of 1.8 GHz. Thereafter, the BIOS determines whether there is no signal input for a predetermined time from the keyboard or the mouse (S120).

As a result of the determination, if there is a signal input from the keyboard or the mouse, the BIOS enables the normal clock to be supplied to the CPU, so that the computer system can operate in the normal mode (S110). As a result of the determination, if there is no signal input from the keyboard or the mouse, it is determined that the user does not use the computer to execute the power management mode (S130). When the power management mode is executed, the operation speed of the CPU is reduced by reducing the speed of the clock supplied to the CPU, thereby reducing power consumption (S140). Thereafter, when a signal is input from the mouse or the keyboard (S150), the computer system wakes up from the power management mode and operates again in the normal mode (S110).

However, the power management method of the conventional computer system switches to the power management mode only when there is no input through an input device, for example, a keyboard or a mouse, for a predetermined time. In other words, no matter what your computer is doing while the computer system is in use, the CPU will run at its maximum.

Therefore, since the CPU is operated to the maximum even when the CPU is normally operated even in the minimum operating environment of the CPU, such as a typing operation using a keyboard or a simple input operation using a mouse, there is a problem in that unnecessary power consumption occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus capable of managing a power supply of a computer system by controlling a clock supplied to a CPU according to the presence or absence of an input signal.

However, the objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, a power management apparatus of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an input unit for generating an input signal by receiving a user's command, an interrupt generator for generating an interrupt signal according to the input signal, and the interrupt According to the signal, a CPU throttle ratio of any one of the plurality of CPU clock throttle ratios provided by the clock control unit is selected, and the clock according to the selected CPU throttle ratio is supplied to the CPU to lower the operation mode of the CPU BIOS to switch to clock mode.

In addition, in order to achieve the above object, a power management method of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of selectively setting a power saving mode and a power saving mode application time according to a computer usage environment, depending on whether a signal is input through an input unit; Generating an interrupt signal related to the power saving mode, determining whether the current CPU is operating in a low CPU clock mode according to the interrupt signal, controlling a clock controller according to the determination result, and operating mode of the CPU Switching to a low CPU clock mode and counting the power saving mode application time using a timer unit, and maintaining an operation mode of the CPU in the low CPU clock mode according to the count result.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings, and the advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings.

However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be embodied in various different forms, and the present embodiments merely make the disclosure of the present invention complete and common knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the person having the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 illustrates a structure of a computer system 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to this, a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The computer system 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an input unit 240, a clock supply unit 220, a basic input operation system (BIOS) 250, an interrupt generator 280, a clock control unit 230, The CPU 210, the memory 270, and the timer 260 are included.

The input unit 240 is a part generating an input signal by receiving a user's command and may be configured of at least one of a keyboard and a mouse. The keyboard is provided with a plurality of keys, and when applied by the user, each key generates a predetermined key signal. In the case of the mouse, an input signal is generated according to the movement of the wheel, the movement of the mouse, and the left and right button click.

When power is supplied to the computer system 200, the clock supply unit 220 generates a clock of a predetermined period and provides it to the CPU 210. For example, when the CPU 210 operating at a clock of 1.8 GHz is used in the computer system 200, the clock supply unit 220 generates a clock of 1.8 GHz and supplies it to the CPU 210.

Next, the BIOS 250 according to the embodiment of the present invention preferably provides a power saving mode and an application time of the power saving mode according to the use environment of the computer. That is, in addition to the power saving modes such as Max Saving, Min Saving, and User Define provided in the current CMOS setup, a power saving mode according to the computer usage environment is provided. Allows the user to optionally set.

When the power saving mode is set according to the user's selection, the BIOS 250 transmits an interrupt signal request command to the interrupt generator 280 when the computer system 200 is booted. The interrupt generator 280 generates an interrupt signal capable of applying the power saving mode set in the CMOS setup according to the interrupt signal request command.

In addition, the BIOS 250 receives the interrupt signal from the interrupt generator 280, confirms the operation mode of the current CPU 210, and switches the operation mode of the CPU to a lower CPU clock mode in accordance with the confirmation result. In this case, the BIOS 250 selects one of a plurality of CPU clock throttling ratios provided by the clock controller 230, and the clock reduced by the selected CPU clock throttling ratio is CPU 210. To be supplied).

Here, the CPU throttle ratio means a ratio indicating how much the reduced speed is compared with the original speed of the CPU. More specifically, the clock control unit 230 may be implemented with, for example, a PIIX4E chip, and the PIIX4E chip includes seven types of 12.5%, 25%, 37.5%, 50%, 62.5%, 75%, 87.5%, and the like. Level CPU clock throttle rate is supported. Here, the throttle ratio of 12.5% means that the clock is reduced by 12.5% compared to the clock currently supplied to the CPU. That is, assuming that the clock supplied to the CPU 210 is 100, it means a clock reduced by 100 to 12.5%, that is, a clock of 87.5.

When switching the operation mode of the CPU 210 to a low CPU clock mode for power management, the BIOS 250 selects one of the CPU clock throttle ratios from the CPU clock throttle ratios provided by the clock controller 230, Make sure that the clock corresponding to the selected CPU throttle rate is supplied to the CPU.

For example, when switching to the low CPU clock mode, if the BIOS switches the operation mode of the CPU according to the CPU clock throttle ratio of 12.5%, the clock control unit 230 controls the clock supply unit 220 to control 87.5 (the current CPU). The clock supplied to the controller 100 is supplied to the CPU 210 as many times as possible.

The clock controller 230 stops the clock output from the clock supply unit 220 for a predetermined time according to the signal provided from the BIOS 250 so that the reduced clock is supplied to the CPU 210. When the clock supplied to the CPU 210 is reduced, as a result, the operating speed of the CPU 210 is reduced, thereby reducing power consumption. At this time, the reduced clock is provided to the CPU 210 only for a predetermined time in the CMOS setup. For example, if the power saving mode application time according to the computer usage environment in the CMOS setup is set to 1 hour, the reduced clock is supplied to the CPU 210 for 1 hour. In other words, the CPU 210 operates in a low CPU clock mode for one hour. The clock control unit may be implemented as a PIIX4E chip as illustrated above, but is not limited thereto.

The CPU 210 operates by receiving a clock signal from the clock supply unit 220.

Meanwhile, the interrupt generator 280 detects whether there is a signal input through the input unit 240 according to the interrupt signal request command coming from the BIOS 250. If a signal is detected, an interrupt signal is generated and the generated interrupt signal is transmitted to the BIOS 250 so that a power saving mode according to the computer usage environment can be executed. The interrupt signal may be generated by an input signal such as a mouse signal and a key signal of a keyboard, such as a mouse movement, a wheel movement, a left and right button click, and the like. The interrupt generator 240 may be implemented in software or hardware, or may be implemented in the form of firmware in which software and hardware are merged. If implemented in software, as shown in FIG. 2, it may be implemented as part of the BIOS 250.

The memory unit 270 stores information on a normal CPU clock mode and the like. In this case, the normal CPU clock mode means a state not controlled by the interrupt signal generated by the interrupt generator. After the set time elapses after the operation mode of the CPU 210 is switched to the low CPU clock mode by the interrupt signal, the operation mode of the CPU 210 is restored to the normal CPU clock mode. At this time, the BIOS 250 refers to the information stored in the memory unit, so that the operation mode of the CPU is switched to the previous state. The memory unit 270 may be implemented as a memory device such as a cache, a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a flash, an SRAM, and a DRAM, but is not limited thereto.

On the other hand, after the operation mode of the CPU 210 is switched to the low CPU clock mode, the BIOS 250 uses the timer unit 260 to count the set time. At this time, the time counted through the timer unit 260 may be set or changed in the COMS setup. For example, in the CMOS setup, if the power saving mode application time according to the computer usage environment is set to '1 hour', the timer unit 260 counts a time of '1 hour'. As a result of counting the preset time, if the set time, for example, one hour has elapsed, the timer unit 260 generates a signal for this and informs the BIOS 250.

In addition, the computer system 200 according to the present invention may include an auxiliary storage device (not shown) such as a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a display unit (not shown) for outputting a command processing result by a CPU in a visible form. And a power supply unit (not shown) for supplying power to the computer system, and each device is connected to the CPU 210 and the data through at least one of a PCI interface, an IDE interface, an ISA interface, a memory bus, and a system bus. And exchange control signals.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a power management method of the computer system 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to this, a power management method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In order to explain the power management method of the computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the power saving mode and the power saving mode application time according to the computer use environment are set in advance (S300). In the following embodiment of the present invention, a power saving mode related to the input unit is enabled and the power saving mode application time is set to '1 hour'.

In this case, when booting the computer system 200, the BIOS 250 sends an interrupt signal generation request command (comand) to the interrupt generator 280, the signal through the input unit 240, such as a keyboard or mouse If input, it is possible to generate an interrupt signal (S310).

Meanwhile, after booting, the CPU 210 operates in a normal CPU clock mode according to a power management mode provided by an operating system. For example, an operating system such as Windows provides power management items such as [portable / laptop], [presentation], [always on], [minimum power management], and [maximum battery]. Among such power management items, if a power management item of [always on] is set to a default value, the BIOS 250 enables the CPU 210 to operate in a maximum operation mode. More specifically, if the CPU 210 operating at a 1.8 GHz clock is used in the computer system 200, the BIOS 250 enables the CPU 210 to be supplied with a 1.8 GHz clock, thereby providing a CPU 210. ) To operate in the maximum operation mode.

Thereafter, the interrupt generator 280 determines whether a signal is input through the input unit 240 (S320). As a result of the determination, when there is no signal input, the CPU 210 operates in the normal CPU clock mode (S370). As a result of the determination, when there is a signal input, the corresponding signal is transmitted to the interrupt generator 280 through the BIOS 250, and the interrupt generator 280 generates an interrupt signal and transmits the interrupt signal to the BIOS 250 (S330). . For example, when typing through a keyboard, a key signal generated at the time of typing is transmitted to the interrupt generator 280 through the BIOS 250, and the interrupt generator 280 detects the transmitted signal and interrupts the interrupt. Generate a signal.

Thereafter, the BIOS 250 determines whether the CPU 210 is currently operating in a low CPU clock mode (S340). That is, by checking the clock provided from the current clock supply unit 220 to the CPU 210, the operation mode of the current CPU 210 is determined.

As a result of the determination, if the current operation mode of the CPU 210 is not the low CPU clock mode, the number of clocks provided to the CPU 210 is lowered so that the operation mode of the CPU 210 can be switched to the low CPU clock mode (S350). ). In this case, the low CPU clock mode means a CPU speed that allows the user to type without any inconvenience. For example, when switching to a low CPU clock mode, even when the clock is reduced at a CPU clock throttle rate of 50%, if the user can perform mouse operation or typing without any inconvenience, the BIOS 250 may have a low CPU clock. When switching to mode, it can be switched at a CPU clock throttle rate of 50%. As a result, the clock controller 230 controls the clock output from the clock supply unit 220 so that the clock having a 50% reduction compared to the clock currently provided to the CPU 210 is supplied to the CPU 210. For example, if a clock of 1.8 GHz is being supplied to the CPU 210, a clock having a 50% reduction at 1.8 GHz, that is, a clock of 900 MHz is supplied.

Meanwhile, after receiving the interrupt signal, the bios 250 counts the set time using the timer unit 260 (S360). In the above-described example, since the power saving mode application time according to the computer usage environment is set to 1 hour, the timer unit 260 counts a time of '1 hour'. As a result of counting the set time, when the set time has elapsed, the timer unit 260 generates a signal accordingly and notifies the BIOS 250.

Thereafter, the BIOS 250 switches the operation mode of the CPU 210 to the normal CPU clock mode (S370). For example, if the operation mode of the CPU 210 was the maximum operation mode before the signal is input through the input unit 240, the operation mode of the CPU 210 is restored to the maximum operation mode.

Thereafter, the BIOS 250 again checks whether a signal is input through the input unit (S320). As a result of the check, if a signal is input, the input signal is transferred to the interrupt generator 280 to generate an interrupt signal (S330). Thereafter, it is determined whether the current operation mode of the CPU 210 is the low CPU clock mode (S340), and the operation mode of the CPU is switched to the low CPU clock mode according to the determination result (S350). By repeating the above-described process, the BIOS may execute the power saving mode according to the use environment of the computer, thereby managing power of the computer system even when a simple operation such as a typing operation using a keyboard is performed.

Although the power management method and apparatus of a computer system according to the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings illustrated as above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and drawings disclosed herein, and the technical spirit of the present invention. Of course, various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art within the scope.

As described above, the power management method and apparatus for a computer system according to the present invention have one or more of the following effects.

First, the power saving mode according to the use environment of the computer is executed, and thus, the power supply of the computer system can be managed even in a simple operation such as a typing operation using a keyboard.

Second, since the operation mode of the CPU can be adjusted while the system is in use, the portable computer system such as a notebook has an advantage of extending the battery usage time.

Claims (5)

An input unit configured to receive a command of a user and generate an input signal; An interrupt generator for generating an interrupt signal according to the input signal; And According to the interrupt signal, a CPU throttle ratio of any one of a plurality of CPU clock throttle ratios provided by a clock controller is selected, and a clock according to the selected CPU throttle ratio is supplied to the CPU to change an operation mode of the CPU. A power management device for a computer system, comprising a BIOS for switching to a low CPU clock mode. The method of claim 1, And the input signal is at least one of a key signal of a keyboard, a signal according to a movement of a mouse, and a signal according to a click of the mouse. The method of claim 2, And the bios checks the elapsed time so that the low CPU clock mode is maintained for a set time. Selectively setting a power saving mode and a time for applying the power saving mode according to a computer usage environment; Generating an interrupt signal for executing the power saving mode according to whether a signal is input through an input unit; Determining, according to the interrupt signal, whether the current CPU is operating in a low CPU clock mode; Controlling a clock controller according to a result of the determination, and switching the operation mode of the CPU to a low CPU clock mode; And Counting the power saving mode application time by using a timer, and maintaining the operation mode of the CPU in the low CPU clock mode according to the count result. The method of claim 4, wherein The switching of the operation mode of the CPU to a low CPU clock mode may include converting the CPU clock by any one of a plurality of CPU clock throttle ratios provided by the clock controller, and converting the converted CPU clock into the CPU clock throttle ratio. And supplying the CPU.

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