Building the Power Efficient PC: A Developer's Guide to ACPI Power Management

Here is the first comprehensive hardware and software engineering guide for designing power-managed PCs. Written by PC experts, this book provides developers and integrators with practical knowledge and design techniques for building PCs that address the increasing demand for energy conservation.

With power management, a PC can have lower overall power utilization, automated off-hours maintenance, and an improved end-user experience. Recent regulations and labeling programs mandate tighter restrictions on platform power consumption. PC hardware developers, software programmers, and system integrators must work together to build systems that meet the new power management guidelines.

Instead of rehashing specifications, Building the Power-Efficient PC clearly explains how a properly designed system functions during power state transitions and shows you in detail how those transitions can be implemented in the hardware and software. Topics include:

• Background and history of PC power management
• Key power management concepts
• Control flow through power states
• Design considerations for desktop and mobile hardware
• Drivers for Microsoft Windows and Linux
• Specific techniques for application software
• Testing and validation

In addition, a companion CD-ROM provides all of the latest power management specifications and reference materials to help you design your product.

Jerzy Kolinski developed the first desktop PC to showcase new ACPI power management concepts. As an Intel Systems and Hardware Architect, he has worked with OEMs during their development process to deliver Instantly Available PC (IAPC) products. Jerzy joined Intel in 1989 and has led teams developing desktop and server systems.

Ram Chary is a Systems Architect in the Intel Platform Architecture Lab focused on the software aspects of enabling IAPC. In his 14 years at Intel, Ram has developed processor microcode, real-time kernels, networking products, and managed the development of audio/video conferencing products.

Andrew Henroid led the early development of ACPI and power management for Linux, and has contributed on a wide variety of projects within the open-source community. Andy's experience at Intel includes OS design, network architecture, and security.

Barry Press has designed leading-edge computer hardware, software, and networks for over 25 years. He has taught as an adjunct professor of computer science at the University of Southern California. Barry is the author of PC Upgrade and Repair Bible, Networking by Example, and Teach Yourself PCs.