Patent ID: 8020009

Claim:
A first device comprising: a processor, a network interface coupled to the processor, and a performance management unit coupled to the processor and the network interface, wherein the performance management unit is to set a data transfer rate of the network interface to a maximum rate that is supported by the first device while initializing the first device, wherein the performance management unit is to negotiate the data transfer rate with a second device coupled to the first device over a link, wherein the performance management unit is to compare, after a delay time has elapsed after negotiating the data transfer rate, an actual power consumed by the network interface with a maximum power limit for the network interface, wherein the performance management unit is to dynamically reconfigure performance parameters of the network interface to change the data transfer rate to a maximum link rate based both on the negotiation of the data transfer rate with the second device and comparison of the actual power consumed by the network interface with the maximum power limit, and wherein the performance management unit is to enable the network interface to transmit data at the maximum link rate.