Adaptive disk spin-down method for managing the power distributed to a disk drive in a laptop computer
US5493670A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 1, 1994 |
| Grant date | Feb 20, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 1, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02D10/00
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method for managing the power consumed by a disk drive in a portable laptop computer which includes spinning the disk up during period when the computer apparatus is in an active or idle mode, creating a threshold to determine when to spin down the disk as a function of a period of disk inactivity, spinning the disk down when the threshold is exceeded in order to reduce the power consumption of the disk, automatically increasing the threshold when an undesirable spin up of the disk has occurred and automatically decreasing the threshold when an acceptable spin up of the disk occurs. By virtue of this method, the threshold for disk inactivity is continually monitored and adjusted to maintain a balance between energy consumption and undesirable disk spin down.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.