Application processors, mobile devices including the same and methods of managing power of application processors

A mobile device, comprising:

• a display unit configured to display an image data;
• a memory configured to store the image data;
• and
• an application processor configured to transmit the image data to the display unit;
• wherein the application processor comprises:
• a memory controller configured to control the memory;
• and
• a power management unit coupled to the memory controller;
• wherein the power management unit is configured to control a power mode of the application processor based on a characteristic of the image data, based on a comparison of memory resources of an internal frame buffer and a memory request mount of the image data and based on a power control overhead index wherein the waver control overhead index represents a time required for the application processor to transition from a first power mode to a second power mode and wherein the internal frame buffer is included in the application processor.

A method of operating an application processor including a memory controller that controls a memory that stores an image data, the method comprising:

• determining a characteristic of the image data;
• determining a power control overhead index wherein the power control overhead index represents a time required for the application processor to transition from a first power mode to second power mode;
• and
• controlling a power mode of the application processor in response to the characteristic of the image data based on a comparison of memory resources of an internal frame buffer and a memory request amount of the image data and based on the power control overhead index, wherein the internal frame buffer is included in the processor.