System and method for task performance based dynamic distributed power management in a computer system and design method therefor

A distributed power management apparatus for a computer system having a processor and at least one bus coupled for communication with said processor, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of devices each having a particular unique device identifier and coupled for communication with said bus;
• a plurality of monitoring circuits monitoring communications over said bus during each predetermined time period to determine any device identifiers broadcast over said bus during said predetermined time period and comparing said broadcast device identifiers to said particular unique device identifiers, each of said monitoring circuits being associated with only one of said devices and only one of said particular unique device identifiers;
• and
• a control circuit selectively controlling a device operating input to a particular device when none of said broadcast device identifiers match said unique particular device identifier, and for dynamically controlling a characteristic of said device operating input to its associated device when one of said broadcast device identifiers match said unique particular device identifier for its associated device.

In a computer system having a device, and a communications link for communicating a broadcast device identifier to said device, said computer system operating to perform a plurality of overlapping tasks in a multi-tasking environment, a method for managing power consumption in said computer system comprising:

• associating a unique device identifier with said device;
• monitoring communications over said communications link, by said device, during a time period to determine broadcast device identifiers contained within said monitored communication;
• comparing said broadcast device identifier with said unique device identifier associated with said device to determine whether said broadcast device identifiers match said unique device identifier for said device;
• controlling a device operating input to said device in response to said broadcast device identifier matching or not matching said unique device identifier associated with said device;
• and
• providing said device operating input to said device only when said broadcast device identifier matches said unique device identifier for said device;
• modifying a characteristic of said operating input in response to performance requirements associated with a task using said device for said task;
• said computer system operating to perform a plurality of substantially simultaneous operational tasks in a multi-tasking environment,
• broadcasting said unique device identifier only during a time period in which said device is actually being accessed by said computer system, independent of whether a particular processing task using said device associated with said unique device identifier during said time period has been completed;
• and
• controlling said characteristic to match said performance requirement during a time period in which said device is actually being accessed by said computer system to perform said task associated with said performance requirement.