Apparatus and method to manage energy usage of a processor

摘要

In an embodiment, a processor includes at least one processor core and power control logic having energy usage logic to predict an energy usage of the processor and a voltage regulator coupled to the processor, during a low power period according to a first voltage regulator control mode and a second voltage regulator control mode, and to control the voltage regulator based at least in part on the predicted energy usage. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

主权项

1. A processor comprising:
at least one processor core; and power control logic to predict an energy usage of a voltage regulator coupled to the at least one processor core during a low power period according to a plurality of voltage regulator control modes and to determine a selected voltage regulator control mode of the plurality of voltage regulator control modes based at least in part on predicted energy usage, wherein the low power period includes a voltage reduction phase and a steady state phase, wherein the plurality of voltage regulator control modes includes a first voltage regulator control mode wherein during the voltage reduction phase the voltage regulator is to be deactivated and a voltage that is to be provided to the at least one processor core is to be passively reduced from a first voltage to a second voltage lower than the first voltage, and during the steady state phase the voltage regulator is to be activated and the voltage is to be actively maintained at approximately the second voltage by the voltage regulator.