Die power management

Abstract

A processor includes two or more core dies each including one or more processor cores and/or associated with one or more input/output dies. A hypervisor, firmware in a central processing unit (CPU), or software or firmware located outside of the CPU assigns virtual machines or threads to a first core die and disconnects power from a second core die with no active threads or cores, e.g., by adjusting one or more voltage regulators associated with the second core die, while still providing power to the first core die. In some implementations, active threads or processing cores are migrated from sparsely allocated processing cores or core dies into a reduced number of core dies. Power usage is minimized by disconnecting one or more inactive core dies from power while performance is maximized by increasing the clock frequency of remaining active core dies or remaining active processing cores located therein.