Scheduling threads in a processor based on instruction type power consumption

Abstract

Guiding OS thread scheduling in multi-core and/or multi-threaded microprocessors by: determining, for each thread among the active threads, the power consumed by each instruction type associated with an instruction executed by the thread during the last context switch interval; determining for each thread among the active threads, the power consumption expected for each instruction type associated with an instruction scheduled by said thread during the next context switch interval; generating at least one combination of N threads among the active threads (M), and for each generated combination determining if the combination of N threads satisfies a main condition related to the power consumption per instruction type expected for each thread of the thread combination during the next context switch interval and to the thread power consumption per instruction type determined for each thread of the thread combination during the last context switch interval; and selecting a combination of N threads.