Patent · US Expired

Fast suspend to disk

US6647472B2 · kind B2 · utility

56Cited by
1References
9Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 14, 2003
Grant dateNov 11, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 14, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02D10/00
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A computer system supports a fast hibernation operation to save power, while minimizing the amount of time it takes to enter the hibernation mode, and to resume normal operations. The system periodically stores data from system memory to non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive, during normal operations when the system is idle. The system includes activity monitors that detect when the data in memory pages is changed. The system periodically sweeps the monitors, and performs save operations to the non-volatile memory. When the system enters hibernation mode, the system determines which memory pages have been changed since the last save operation, and then saves those pages to memory. As an alternative, the system immediately can enter hibernation by supplying power to the memory pages that have not been saved since the last save operation. To implement this, independent switches under the control of the CPU of memory controller selectively turn off power to unsaved memory pages. The system can also implement a fast resume procedure by restoring the memory pages that have the highest priority, and saving the other pages in the background, or as need by the system devices. Prio…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.