System and method for power management of devices connected to data processing systems

A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations for managing operation of a data processing system, the operations comprising:

• identifying an occurrence of an attachment of a device to a connector of the data processing system;
• in response to the occurrence:
• gating off primary power of the data processing system that is received via the connector;
• while the primary power is gated off, performing a discovery process for presence of a point-to-point communication link through the connector;
• in a first instance of the discovery process where the point-to-point communication link through the connector is present:
• continuing to gate off the primary power until an instruction is received via the point-to-point communication link;
• initiating use of the primary power by the device in response to receiving the instruction;
• initiating power management for the primary power while in use;
• and
• providing computer implemented services, in part, using the device while the primary power is in use by the device.

A device, comprising:

• hardware components;
• and
• a controller programmed to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• identifying an occurrence of an attachment of the device to a connector of a data processing system;
• in response to the occurrence:
• gating off primary power of the data processing system that is received by the device via the connector,
• while the primary power is gated off, performing a discovery process for presence of a point-to-point communication link through the connector;
• in a first instance of the discovery process where the point-to-point communication link through the connector is present:
• continuing to gate off the primary power until an instruction is received via the point-to-point communication link;
• initiating use of the primary power by the device in response to receiving the instruction;
• initiating power management for the primary power while in use;
• and
• contributing to computer implemented services provided by the data processing system using the hardware components while powered by the primary power.