Method and apparatus for power management of a graphics processing core in a virtual environment

A method comprising:

• receiving a unique identifier for each of a plurality of virtual machines having access to a graphics processing core;
• receiving a virtual machine power control setting request for a power management unit of the graphics processing core for each of the plurality of virtual machines;
• storing the plurality of virtual machine power control setting requests in a memory electrically coupled to the power management unit, the stored virtual machine power control setting requests being linked to the unique identifier of an associated virtual machine;
• determining which of the plurality of virtual machines are actively using the graphics processing core during a predetermined time period;
• processing the plurality of stored virtual machine power control setting requests linked to the unique identifiers of the active virtual machines to determine the power control request for the power management unit of the graphics processing core;
• and
• controlling power levels of the graphics processing core with the power management unit based on the determined power control request.

An apparatus comprising:

• a graphics processing core operative to host a plurality of virtual machines;
• a power management unit configured to control power levels of the graphics processing core based on a power control request;
• and
• a blending and arbitration module in operative communication with the power management unit, the blending and arbitration module being operable to process a plurality of virtual machine power control setting requests to determine the power control request for use by the power management unit.