PRUNING OF LOW POWER STATE INFORMATION FOR A PROCESSOR

摘要

A processor prunes state information based on information provided by software, thereby reducing the amount of state information to be stored prior to the processor entering a low-power state. The software, such as an operating system or application program executing at the processor, indicates one or more registers of the processor as storing data that is no longer useful. When preparing to enter the low-power state, the processor omits the indicated registers from the state information stored to memory.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
receiving at a processor information indicating a first subset of state information is not designated for storage, the first subset of state information indicating a state of a first processor core of the processor; in response to receiving at the processor a request for a portion of the processor to enter a low-power state, storing a second subset of state information at the processor without storing the first subset; and placing the portion of the processor in the low-power state.