Customized Power Management Software (26078)
The invention personalizes and optimizes computing speed and power management for a given application user and manufactured computing device. To the best of our knowledge, the invention is the only solution that personalizes and customizes user experience to the levels that it does.The invention can be marketed either as a stand-alone software product or as software pre-incorporated into computing devices. It uses two distinct methods to customize power consumption of the device. Both methods can be used to enhance a personal user’s experience while at the same time minimizing power requirements of his or her computing device.
The first method, called “Process Driven Voltage Scaling (PDVS),” takes advantage of two observations: (a) that minimum voltage levels set by CPU manufactures are set very conservatively in order to compensate for large process variations during manufacture; and (b) that minimum voltage levels should include consideration of operating temperature, which currently available methods omit. For each individual computer manufactured and sold, PDVS runs a series of experiments to determine the minimum voltage needed to achieve stability at each combination of CPU frequency and temperature. By running experiments offline, PDVS reduces voltage levels far lower than the conservatively set, temperature and process variation ignorant, minimum operating voltages specified in CPU data sheets. PDVS can be immediately applied to existing DVFS algorithms.
The second method, called “User Driven Frequency Scaling (UDFS),” takes advantage of the observation that personal preferences vary greatly among users (and that a user’s preferences vary dynamically during application run-time). UDFS dynamically adapts CPU frequency based upon direct user feedback – as opposed to tracking CPU utilization, as is done by current methods. The inventors have also invented specific algorithms for UDFS that dramatically reduce operating frequencies in common interactive applications. These algorithms automatically adapt dynamic scaling policies to user preferences and keep performance at a satisfactory level with minimal user feedback.
Both PDVS and UDFS ensure that computational speed is satisfactory for a given application user. Both methods are customized power management tools in that they customize the tradeoff between speed and power management for a given manufactured computer and user. When used together, PDVS and UDFS operate synergistically. UDFS decreases the average clock frequency. PDVS reduces the operating voltage for a given frequency. PDVS’s benefits tend to increase at higher clock frequencies. For more details on PDVS and UDFS, see A. Mallik, B. Lin, P. Dinda, G. Memik, and R. Dick, Process & User Driven Dynamic Voltage & Frequency Scaling, Technical Report NWU-EECS-06-11, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Northwestern University, August, 2006.
APPLICATIONS: Power Management for Embedded Processors (&Computers in general). Can be marketed together with AJAX solutions, which seek similar benefits.
RESULTS: In comparison to Microsoft Windows XP “DVFS” scheme for dynamic scaling, the following results are observed when using the PDVS and UDFS methods:
PDVS & UDFS in combination: 55% average power savings; 83% peak power savings PDVS alone: 34% average power savings UDFS alone: 21% average power savings
Inventor(s): Peter Dinda, Gokhan Memik, Robert Dick, Arindam Mallik, Bin Lin
Type of Offer: Licensing
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