System for reducing power consumption in computers

A system for reducing the amount of power consumed by a battery operated computer device is disclosed. A microcontroller continuously monitors the activity of at least one I/O device and sets an activity state variable (ASV) associated with the I/O device accordingly. Upon each the expiration of a p...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser:	WALKER, JIM, JONES, CRAIG S, PEARCE, JOHN J, ZELLER, CHARLES P
Format:	Patent
Sprache:	eng
Schlagworte:	CALCULATING CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION ANDCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION ANDCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THIR OWNENERGY USE COMPUTING COUNTING ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS PHYSICS TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:	A system for reducing the amount of power consumed by a battery operated computer device is disclosed. A microcontroller continuously monitors the activity of at least one I/O device and sets an activity state variable (ASV) associated with the I/O device accordingly. Upon each the expiration of a preselected time period, the microcontroller examines the state of the ASV to determine whether the I/O device was active during the expired time period. If so, the I/O device is caused to operate in a full power mode; otherwise, the I/O device is caused to operate in a reduced power consumption mode. In one embodiment, the I/O device is capable of operating in more than one reduced power consumption mode, in which case, responsive to a determination that the I/O device was not active during the expired time period, the I/O device is caused to operate in the next lowest power consumption mode. In an alternative embodiment, the frequency with which timer interrupts are generated is automatically adjusted after the expiration of each time period.