The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 11, 2011
Filed:
May. 18, 2007
Alex Branover, Brookline, MA (US);
Frank P. Helms, Austin, TX (US);
Jonathan M. Owen, Northboro, MA (US);
Kurt Lewchuk, Austin, TX (US);
Maurice Steinman, Marlborough, MA (US);
Paul Mackey, Austin, TX (US);
Alex Branover, Brookline, MA (US);
Frank P. Helms, Austin, TX (US);
Jonathan M. Owen, Northboro, MA (US);
Kurt Lewchuk, Austin, TX (US);
Maurice Steinman, Marlborough, MA (US);
Paul Mackey, Austin, TX (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A processor can operate in different power modes. In an active power mode, the processor executes software. In response to receiving a halt indication from the software, hardware at the processor evaluates bus transactions for the processor. If the bus transactions meet a heuristic, hardware places a processor core in a lower power mode, such as a retention mode. Because the bus transactions are evaluated by hardware, rather than by software, and the software is not required to perform handshakes and other protocols to place the processor in the lower power mode, the processor is able to place the processor core into the lower power mode more quickly, thereby conserving power.