Advanced Micro Devices Corporation

Globalfoundries Inc.

Xilinx, Inc.

Denis Rystsov

Benjamin Tsien

Alexander J Branover

Maurice B Steinman

Jonathan David Hauke

Mark Douglas Hummel

Jonathan Mercer Owen

Denis J Foley

Sebastien Nussbaum

Michael J Osborn

Weirong Jiang

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for securing a performance state change of one or more processors. A disclosed method includes detecting a request to change a current performance state of a processor to a target performance state, and adjusting an operating level tolerance range of the current performance state to include operating levels associated with a transition from the current performance state to the target performance state. A disclosed system includes an operating system module operative to transmit a request for a performance state change of at least one processing core. The system includes performance state control logic operative to change the performance state of the at least one processing core based on the request. The system further includes performance state security logic operative to adjust, in response to the request, an operating level tolerance range of the current performance state to include operating levels associated with a transition from the current performance state to the target performance state.

System and method for monitoring and controlling a performance state change

In an example, an integrated circuit (IC) includes a memory including at least one random access memory (RAM). Each of the at least one RAM stores bits representing match vectors indicative of whether search keys match ternary rules. The IC further includes a verification circuit, coupled to the memory, operable to verify the bits stored in the at least one RAM by performing at least one of: decoding at least one of the ternary rules from the bits stored in the at least one RAM; or checking the bits stored in the at least one RAM against expected content of at least one of the ternary rules.

Verification of a RAM-based TCAM

The present disclosure presents methods and apparatuses for controlling a power state, which may include a C-state, of one or more processing cores of a processor. In an aspect, an example method of securing a power state change of a processor is presented, the method including the steps of receiving a power state change request from the processor, the processor having a plurality of potential power states each including an operating power profile; determining a power state change request mode associated with the processor; forwarding the power state change request to a security processor where the power state change request mode is a one-time request mode; receiving a power state change request response from the security processor in response to the request; and adjusting the current power state of the processor to the target power state where the power state change request response comprises a power state change approval.

System and method for security processor control over CPU power states

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for securing a performance state change of one or more processors. A disclosed method includes intercepting a request for a change of a performance state of the processor and determining whether to execute the request based on a security condition of the processor. The performance state of the processor includes at least one of an operating voltage and an operating frequency. A disclosed system includes an operating system module operative to transmit a request for a performance state change of at least one processing core. The system includes performance state control logic in communication with the operating system module and operative to receive the request and to change the performance state of the at least one processing core based on the request. The computing system further includes performance state security logic operative to intercept the request transmitted from the operating system module to the performance state control logic and to selectively transmit the request to the performance state control logic based on a security condition of the computing system.

System and method for secure control over performance state

A method for transitioning power states in a device includes designating a first reduced power state as a target power state. A first expected residency for the target power state is determined based on a counting of activity requests associated with the device. The device is transitioned to the target power state responsive to the expected residency satisfying a first predetermined threshold.

Method and apparatus for transitioning devices between power states based on activity request frequency

A system may comprise a plurality of processing units and a scheduler configured to maintain a record for each respective processing unit. Each respective record may comprise entries which may indicate 1) how long the respective processing unit has been residing in an idle state, 2) a present power-state in which the respective processing unit resides, and 3) whether the respective processing unit is a designated default (bootstrap) processing unit. The scheduler may select one or more of the plurality of processing units according to their respective records, and assign impending instructions to be executed on the selected one or more processing units. Where additional processing units are required, the scheduler may also insert an instruction to trigger an inter-processor interrupt to transition one or more processing units out of idle-state. The scheduler may then assign some impending instructions to these one or more processing units.

Enhanced control of CPU parking and thread rescheduling for maximizing the benefits of low-power state

A device includes different clock domains. Each clock domain is synchronized to a different clock signal, and the data transfer between clock domains occurs through a FIFO memory. It is determined which clock domain has a slower clock frequency, and the clock domain associated with the slower clock is selected to generate pointers used to access the FIFO memory in both clock domains. Therefore, the pointers are used to read and write data at the FIFO memory resulting in a transfer of the data between the clock domains. Because the pointers used for data transfer are generated and provided by the clock domain associated with the slower clock, the latency resulting from transferring the pointer between the clock domains is reduced.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Denis Rystsov