Flexible power management interface
AssigneeSiFive, Inc.
InventorsEdward Mclellan, Arjun Pal Chowdury
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods are described for a flexible and selectable power management interface. The flexible and selectable power management interface can provide multiple power management interfaces which are selectable based on a selected processor IP core, a selected power management controller, and a variety of factors. The flexible and selectable power management interface can be a direct handshake hardware interface, a memory-mapped bus interface, or a combination of the direct handshake hardware interface and the memory-mapped bus interface.
Claims20
A processing system comprising:
- a processor core selected from a plurality of selectable processor cores, wherein each of the plurality of selectable processor cores has a different architecture;
- a power management controller selected from a plurality of selectable power management controllers based on the processor core, wherein the plurality of selectable power management controllers are arranged in a hierarchy, wherein the power management controller includes functionality of one or more other power management controllers of the plurality of selectable power management controllers according to the hierarchy;
- and
- a power management interface for communication between the processor core and the power management controller.
A method comprising:
- selecting a processor core from a plurality of selectable processor cores, wherein each of the plurality of selectable processor cores has a different architecture;
- selecting a power management controller from a plurality of selectable power management controllers based on the processor core, wherein the plurality of selectable power management controllers are arranged in a hierarchy, wherein the power management controller includes functionality of one or more other power management controllers of the plurality of selectable power management controllers according to the hierarchy;
- and
- communicating between the processor core and the power management controller via a power management interface.
One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions, that upon execution, cause operations comprising:
- selecting a processor core from a plurality of selectable processor cores, wherein each of the plurality of selectable processor cores has a different architecture;
- selecting a power management controller from a plurality of selectable power management controllers based on the processor core, wherein the plurality of selectable power management controllers are arranged in a hierarchy, wherein the power management controller includes functionality of one or more other power management controllers of the plurality of selectable power management controllers according to the hierarchy;
- and
- communicating between the processor core and the power management controller via a power management interface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.