Patent ID: 7197652

Claim:
A method for managing energy use in a multi-threaded processing system, said method comprising: first measuring a per-thread usage of a device by each thread in a first set of multiple threads concurrently executing within said multi-threaded processing system, said measured usage comprising an indicator for each of said multiple threads, wherein said device is a device coupled to and external to a processor executing said first set of multiple threads; storing said measured per-thread usage for each of said first set of threads; determining a next set of threads scheduled for execution; retrieving a previously-stored per-thread measured usage of said device corresponding to said next set of threads; predicting a usage of said device by said next set of threads in conformity with said retrieved usage; and sending a power management command to said device in conformity with a result of said predicting, whereby a power management state of said device is set in conformity with said previously-stored measured usage corresponding to said next set of threads.