Method and apparatus for saving device state while a computer system is in sleep mode

An apparatus for storing and retrieving device state characteristics from a device driver, comprising:

• a data processing system;
• a power manager in communication with the data processing system and including logic to store serializable objects and to manage retrieval and storage of specific characteristics of a state of a device;
• logic within the power manager for saving the specific characteristics of the state of the device as a serializable object;
• a storage location accessible to the data processing system and selected based on predetermined parameters at which the serializable object is saved;
• logic within the power manager for saving the serializable object in the storage location upon entering a sleep mode;
• and
• logic within the power manager for restoring the specific characteristics from the serializable object to the device upon detecting an interrupt signaling departure from the sleep mode.

A computer program product within a computer readable medium for saving a state of a device during sleep mode, comprising:

• instructions within the computer readable medium for utilizing a data processing system power manager to manage storage and retrieval of specific characteristics of a state of a device;
• instructions within the computer readable medium for saving the specific characteristics from a driver for the device as a serializable object;
• instructions within the computer readable medium for determining a storage location for the serializable object based on predetermined parameters;
• instructions within the computer readable medium for saving the serializable object in the storage location upon entering a sleep mode;
• and
• instructions within the computer readable medium for restoring the specific characteristics to the device from the serializable object upon detecting an interrupt signaling departure from the sleep mode.