METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING POWER CONSUMPTION OF A DISK DRIVE

摘要

Consumer electronic devices that run on a battery or an accumulator-i.e. particularly portable applications such as mobile phones, laptops or MPEG players or recorders-require the management of power consumption. They consist essentially of a host and a storage medium like a disk or means for receiving a storage medium like a disk drive that are coupled with an interface. Power management is very important because long battery life enhances user convenience. According to the invention, it is determined whether it is more efficient either to leave the disk drive in the idle mode or to switch the drive to standby until the next data request appears. The disk drive is entered into the most efficient power mode. The time until the next request is determined by the host.